SWEDEN-PARAGUAY: Coach's and Players' Quotes (SWE side)

Lars LAGERBACK

It was a really good team effort from us tonight. I have a lot of respect for the Paraguay team but we created more goalscoring chances. Of course there is relief, but the players did a marvellous job and deserved to win. 

Of course it's always frustrating when you're sitting on the bench and so many chances are being wasted, but it would have been worse if we weren・t playing well and weren・t creating any chances. If you don・t score goals, there are generally two reasons. One is that you are not doing well enough with your chances and the other, which was also true, is that the other team is working very hard. 

With Zlatan (Ibrahimovic), he had a muscle injury to his leg and our medical people said that if he went out for the second half, we might not see him again through the World Cup. So we decided not to risk him. With the substitutions, I・m just really happy they worked. Sometimes they come off, sometimes they don't. We're going to enjoy tonight first and then focus on England. 


Freddie LJUNGBERG, Man of the Match
It will be a massive game against England and both teams will want to win to top the group. It's going to be very difficult because England are a very good team, but we・re looking forward to it. The goal was important, but not just because it was me who scored it. We needed the three points tonight. Plus, it was important for the fans because you saw the support we had here. It made me very proud and I would have been disappointed not to give something back to those fans. 

Henrik LARSSON 
Of course I am very happy. Paraguay are a very good team, but in the end luck was on our side. We are pleased that we managed to score the goal. We played well today and against Trinidad and Tobago, but that・s how football is: sometimes you make the chances, sometimes you don・t. A victory like this gives you an extra edge and it was fantastic having 50,000 fans here for us. 

Christian WILHEMSSON 
We created a lot, again, and finally we did it. We have the three points and that・s all that matters. 

Zlatan IBRAHIMOVIC 
We are happy with our situation and are not thinking about playing Germany in the round of 16. We take it game-by-game and will play the next match against England like we have played all our other matches so far. Let's see what will happen.