Swedes snatch place in last eight
PORTO, Portugal (Reuters) -- Mattias Jonson struck a minute from time to earn Sweden a 2-2 draw with Denmark that sent both Scandinavian sides through to the Euro 2004 last eight on Tuesday.
Jon Dahl Tomasson's second goal of the game had looked like giving Denmark victory but Jonson's close-range shot saved the Swedes and sent out Italy.
Sweden topped the group and will play the Group D runners-up, Germany, the Netherlands or Latvia, in the last eight, while Denmark face the Czech Republic.
Tomasson beat Swedish keeper Andreas Isaksson with a dipping 20-meter shot into the top right-hand corner to put the Danes ahead after 28 minutes.
Sweden striker Henrik Larsson won and converted a penalty at the start of the second half to equalize with his third goal of the tournament but Tomasson matched the feat with a close-range finish after 66 minutes.
"Fantastic, fantastic," was Larsson's reaction after Sweden grabbed their place in the quarterfinals.. "It's a feeling of joy you just can't describe."
Sweden coach Lars Lagerback said his team had put up a "great fight" before their 89th minute equaliser through Mattias Jonson that earned them a precious point.
"It was a great fight for 90 minutes," Lagerback said. "We had some problems with the Danes' attacks.
"We got off to a better start than in our earlier games. We improved to some extent but did not really hit form."
Goalscorer Jonson said: "I did not think very much, it was only a matter of hitting the goal."
Midfielder Fredrik Ljungberg added: "We are very happy, obviously."
Italy had raised fears about the local rivals engineering a high-scoring to send both sides through but the way the tackles came flying in hardly pointed to a friendly fix.
With the ball skidding around on a pitch that had already been watered before kickoff, Denmark worried their opponents continually with sharp balls through the middle and the fizzing runs of wingers Jesper Gronkjaer and Martin Joergensen.
Gronkjaer popped up to take Tomasson's pass on 14 minutes and fire a shot into the side netting.
With Sweden sitting deep, Denmark continued to attack and Tomasson's spectacular strike gave them the opener just before the half-hour mark.
Sweden nearly equalized twice at the end of the first half, with defender Olof Mellberg and midfielder Jonson both sending in dangerous headers from corners, and they were level within two minutes of the re-start through Larsson's successful raid.
Sweden enjoyed a period of dominance but outstanding goalkeeping by Thomas Sorensen kept Denmark in the game, and Tomasson's sharpness clinched victory after 66 minutes.
Substitute Kasper Bogelund had a shot half blocked by the defence and the ball fell straight to Tomasson who slipped a low shot past Isaksson from eight meters.
