Experimental Sweden conclude winter tour

Sweden concluded their winter tour with a 1-1 draw against South Africa on Saturday.

Erik Hamrén's 20-man squad for the tour was picked solely from the Scandinavian leagues, now on their winter breaks, and contained 11 previously uncapped players. They began with a 2-1 defeat of Botswana in Cape Town on Wednesday, taking the lead through Alexander Gerndt after the Swedish First Division top scorer had been fed an excellent pass by Sebastian Eriksson. Both players were collecting their second senior caps, but it was Anders Svensson, making his 112th international appearance, who struck the winner after Joel Mogorosi had drawn level for Botswana.

Sweden were then made to dig deep against South Africa, who were fielding a development side, after some lax defending allowed Tiyane Mabunda to put the hosts ahead in Nelspruit. Hamrén's charges nevertheless bounced back to secure a share of the spoils through Tobias Hysén, who side-footed in following fine build-up play from Nordin Gerzic and Emil Salomonsson.

"We have away with both positives and negatives," said Hamrén. "Had today's result been the priority, then perhaps we would have played differently, or selected a different squad with more experienced players. But we wanted the chance to see these players."

Sweden resume UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying at home against Moldova on 29 March. They are currently third in Group E having picked up six points from their opening three fixtures.