Elmander predicts swift Sweden recovery

Coach Lars Lagerbäck will be encouraged that, from the mixed zone after the last-gasp Group D defeat by Spain in Innsbruck, came the positive vibe that Sweden will still reach the knockout stage.

Painful goal
However, there were distinctly differing views about how long David Villa's stoppage-time winner will sting for, how much damage it may do to morale, and whether or not Sweden actually merited a draw. Without question there is a resilience and character about this Sweden side which will be required if physical and spiritual wounds are to be licked and repaired in time for Wednesday's match against Guus Hiddink's Russia – when a draw will be enough to take Sweden through.

'Dream alive'
Petter Hansson, who was edged out of the way by Fernando Torres for Spain's opener and turned by Villa for the clincher after an otherwise solid game, said of the 2-1 reverse: "Losing a match like that lives with you. The Swedish dream is alive, there is no doubt about that, but I'll be thinking about those final seconds for a long time yet, believe me. We made a really good effort and I think that tells you much about this team. But if Torres and Villa have one chance each and score both of them, then that tells you they are world class." The 31-year-old Stade Rennais FC centre-back believes Russia will offer a contrasting test as Sweden try to shrug off this loss and sift the positive from the negative. "I know we can defeat Russia and although I've not spent too much time analysing them, I think they are a team which likes to get forward at you, to overlap, but which doesn't have quite as much quality as Spain."

'Spirit and character'
Meanwhile, the man whom Luis Aragonés spent all week praising, Johan Elmander, insists the agonising loss is no more than a marker that their opponents have evolved massively since qualifying for UEFA EURO 2008™. He is also from the camp that says this match and result are already irrelevant as attentions turn to the Group D finale against Russia. "By Sunday this is history and by the morning I'll have forgotten all about it," said the Toulouse FC forward. "Spain are a little more hard-nosed than when we played them in our qualifier in Stockholm [which Sweden won 2-0] but I don't run around the pitch thinking about them. I'll admit they were the better side over the 90 minutes but we'd earned our draw. Now we just have to go out and prove the spirit and character we have by winning the last match."