Too little too late for Sweden's Toivonen

Sweden striker Ola Toivonen opened his goalscoring account in the 2-1 Group A defeat by Italy, but the 22-year-old knows it was too little too late as the hosts came up short in Helsingborg.

'Uphill'
After Sweden had spurned a succession of chances, Toivonen finally struck in the 89th minute, by which time the damage had been done – Italy's Mario Balotelli and Robert Acquafresca having scored a well-taken goal in each half. "We wanted to go out and stamp our authority on the game," the PSV Eindhoven forward told uefa.com. "I think we managed that. But when you concede a goal, it becomes an uphill struggle against a very defensively-skilled Italy."

Self-criticism
Italy finished the match without a striker after Balotelli was dismissed after 38 minutes, and Sebastian Giovinco and Acquafresca substituted in the second period. The Azzurrini sat back and soaked up the pressure as the Blågult created a number of opportunities they were unable to take. Sweden, who dominated possession with 60 per cent of the ball, took 21 shots during the game, but only six hit the target compared with seven shots for Italy of which three were on target. Toivonen was his own harshest critic. "The sending-off affected the match a lot," Toivonen said. "They retreated into defence and we got to have most of the possession. We kept slogging away, slogging away, slogging away at them, but we were too weak inside the box, particularly me."

Serbia next
In Sweden's opening win against Belarus, Toivonen and his attacking partner Marcus Berg, in particular, found their way through the opposition back line time and again. Playing Italy was an altogether different matter. "We didn't get much space if you compare this with the Belarus game, but that's something you have to accept." Sweden must hope Toivonen and company rediscover their shooting boots in time to take on Serbia with a place in the semi-finals at stake.