Ljungberg: I'll play through pain

Freddie Ljungberg's club season may have ended in crushing disappointment in Paris, but hopes are high in his home country that the injury-plagued midfielder can cast off his fitness problems to spearhead Sweden's challenge at the 2006 FIFA World Cup™. Ljungberg・s performance for Arsenal, along with Henrik Larsson・s for Barcelona, in that UEFA Champions League final would certainly have been greeted by a huge sigh of relief by their watcing countrymen. After another interrupted and inconsistent season with Arsenal, the 29-year-old produced a sparkling display, matched only by Larsson・s - now familiar - cameo role for Barcelona, rising from the bench to provide the killer passes for victory.

：It was great to have two Swedes playing in the final,； the midfielder, who has hit a rich vein of form in the past few months,：I・m happier now because I prefer to play centrally, where I・m more involved and can break through from deeper positions.；

Following injuries to hip, calf, shoulder, rib, hand and toe, Ljungberg revealed last month that he was once again playing through the pain barrier, this time requiring to drain blood from his foot after every match.

"It swells up with blood and we have to leak it out,； he said. ：It hurts during a match but the pain doesn・t prevent me from running.； A grisly account, and one that will worry expectant Swedish fans already concerned by the loss of form suffered by the third part of Sweden・s star forward line, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The trio had excited with a series of devastating displays during UEFA EURO 2004 in Portugal before being eliminated on penalties by the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. An impressive FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign followed, during which Sweden hit 30 goals in ten games, leading to the Juventus forward boasting that, "with the right attitude, we can win the World Cup".

The new year, however, has not smiled kindly on Ibrahimovic, whose outstanding performances for club and country in 2005 won him Sweden・s player of the year award, and he arrives in Germany having scored just seven times in Serie A this season. "I can・t comment on Zlatan because I haven・t seem him play recently but I can understand Swedish people being worried about it,； Ljungberg said.

Disappointment in 2002

Form, though, can be a unreliable barometer of success when it comes to FIFA World Cup finals. Few players arrived in Korea/Japan in hotter form, after all, than Ljungberg, then sporting a shock of red hair, but a much-publicised training ground bust-up with defender Olof Mellberg and more injury woe ensured that he left Asia with bitter-sweet memories.

Approaching his second finals, the midfielder, now shaven-headed, is taking a more judicious view of Sweden・s chances. Emerging from a group comprised by Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago and, once again, England - a team Sweden have not lost to in 38 years - may appear none too difficult for some, but the former Halmstad player remains cautious.

"Everyone thought we would beat Senegal last time," said Ljungberg, who missed that second-round defeat through injury. "The trouble was they thought that was an easy game - but it was only easy in theory. That has been our main problem, winning when people expect it.；

As Scandinavia・s sole representatives this time, Sweden are nevertheless hopeful of performing well once the quadrennial football showpiece begins on 9 June. "We know that on a good day we can beat anyone," said the team's coach, Lars Lagerback. ：If you want to go far in the World Cup, then you must play 100 per cent in each match and you have to do that in seven games, which is very, very hard.；

For Ljungberg, meanwhile, the tournament motto will be 'no pain, no gain'. ：It・s pain I am willing to take,； he added. ：I・m going to have to cope with this.；