Spain fail to find way past stubborn Sweden

Spain 0-0 Sweden
Spain completed their preparation for this summer's UEFA European Under-21 Championship with a 0-0 draw against tournament hosts Sweden in Alicante on Tuesday.

Bright start
Despite dominating for large periods, Juan Ramón López Caro's side failed to find a way past Pär Hansson in the visiting goal and the result left the Spanish without a win from four friendly matches played since they qualified for the finals last October. With the hosts bursting out of the blocks from the opening whistle, a different result looked on the cards. Esteban Granero's clever one-two with José Manuel Jurado earned the latter a clear sight of goal but the RCD Mallorca attacking midfielder's shot came back off Hansson's legs.

Goalkeeping heroics
With 20 minutes gone it was Bojan Krkić's turn to test the Helsingborgs IF shot-stopper, who first beat away an effort from the 18-year-old before somehow getting a palm to a near post-header from the same player. Shortly afterwards, Jurado raced into the Sweden area before providing a precise cut-back to Bojan who was denied by Rasmus Bengtsson's solid tackling. With half-time approaching, Hansson palmed away another Jurado effort before Pedro León saw his dipping free-kick bounce off the top of the crossbar.

Close calls
Spain continued to press in the second half and Granero went close with a curling shot from the edge of the area which glanced the bar. A small Swedish revival produced little more than a flurry of corners while Spain's counterattacking was time and again curtailed by a heavy pitch. Raúl García thumped a flighted shot at goal with seven minutes remaining which Hansson pushed over and Javi Martínez could have won it at the death with a header that came back off the upright.