Natural leader
He may have missed his country's first game of UEFA EURO 2004 through suspension, but the 28-year-old Everton FC player returned to good effect in the 2-0 Group C win against Bulgaria last Friday. A man-of-the-match performance was capped by the through-ball from which Jon Dahl Tomasson opened the scoring. Little wonder his coach, Morten Olsen, recently described him as Denmark's "leader".

Onus on Gravesen
Accordingly, Gravesen went into tonight's deciding group match against Sweden in Porto with a weight of expectation on his shoulders, hoping to inspire his team to the victory that would take them into the quarter-finals and, if his agent's words were to be believed, put himself in the transfer shop window.

Creative Källström
Sweden, meanwhile, turned to Kim Källström for creativity. The attacking midfield player helped Djurgårdens IF to two consecutive Swedish titles before joining French club Stade Rennais FC in January. The 21-year-old took another step forward at the Estˆhdio do Bessa Sˆmculo XXI with his first starting appearance of the tournament in a revamped Swedish midfield - and 21st cap.

Nervous opening
Taking the place and playmaking duties of Anders Svensson, with Anders Andersson operating behind him in a more defensive role, Källström began nervously, losing possession on a number of occasions. A little on the chunky side in this increasingly athletic world of top-class football, when the ball is not running for him, he can appear cumbersome.

Chance created
Yet it was his 15th-minute combination with Zlatan Ibrahimovic that produced the Swedes' first glimpse of goal with a Henrik Larsson strike. Later, he swung in a dangerous left-footed corner that Olof Mellberg headed against a post.

Key pass
By contrast, Gravesen was straight into his usual routine: from charging around the midfield - all bald head and barrel chest - through an incisive range of passing, to cajoling his colleagues. Occasionally brilliant, Gravesen is nothing if not enthusiastic. When he burst forward shortly before the half-hour, he married the two, pinging a ball into the feet of Ebbe Sand who laid on Tomasson for the opening goal.

Sleepy Sweden
On the eve of this 98th meeting of the sides - a rivalry that stretches back to 1913 - Sweden's joint coach Lars Lagerbäck had complained of his team's slow start to matches. This failing applied here too. But just as Henrik Larsson's penalty early in the second half revived the team in yellow and blue, so Källström began to figure more prominently.

Willing contributor
He hit one 40-yard pass with the outside of his left foot that almost sent Fredrik Ljungberg racing through on goal. He also assisted his more senior partners, Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, in their approach work but, before his substitution after 72 minutes, he was fooled by Gravesen and booked for a late tackle.

Clever feet
Gravesen, of course, had not finished. The No7 drove his team forward with two dangerous runs towards the Sweden penalty area, one a dribble that revealed clever footwork but resulted in a saved shot from Sand. Tomasson would do better with his and Denmark's second goal. But as Sweden's EURO vision became blurred, and the oompah strains sounded from the Danish end, Mattias Jonson ensured a Scandinavian one-two in Group C.