Henrik Larsson demonstrated why is one of the best strikers in soccer on Friday, scoring two goals in helping Sweden defeat Nigeria 2-1 in World Cup action from the Kobe Wing Stadium in Japan.
"I'm really glad for him because he's a good goal-scorer," Sweden co-coach Lars Lagerback said of Larsson's performance. "He works very, very hard for the team."
Sweden teammates Fredrik Ljungberg and Marcus Allback, left, embrace after their 2-1 victory Friday. Lying on the ground is Nigeria midfielder Justice Christopher. (AP/Kevork Djansezian)
"We have players with very good character and they really are a team and enjoy each other off the pitch. Nigeria has very good individual skills but they have some problems on their defence and we took advantage of that right away."
"We scored two goals (and) we had a bit of luck with them hitting the post twice," Larsson said. "But over the whole game, I felt we deserved to win."
With the win, Sweden is tied with England atop Group F with four points, while Nigeria becomes the second nation to be knocked out of the tournament - Saudi Arabia being the other - after losing its second game. England upset Argentina 1-0 later on Friday, relegating the Argentines to third place with three points.
Sweden's final game comes on June 12 against Argentina, a match up that could not only decide first place in the group, but that could knock Argentina, ranked second in the world, out of the World Cup.
"I would not say we are in the driving seat. Argentina are in the driving seat, but we have got a good chance," Larsson said. "But it will all count for nothing if we don't get a good result in our last game."
Sweden and Nigeria produced an entertaining 90 minutes of soccer, rife with dazzling displays of dribbling, enterprising play and end-to-end action. Sweden's Anders Svensson and Nigeria's Jay Jay Okocha orchestrated the attacks for their respective sides with their inventive play in midfield.
Nigerian forward Julius Aghahowa put the "Super Eagles" up 1-0 in the 27th minute. Joseph Yobo breezed down the right wing before sending a cross deep into the box where Aghahowa out-jumped two Swedish defenders and headed the ball into the back of the net past Swedish goalkeeper Magnus Hedman.
The 19-year-old provided the 42,000 fans in attendance with a spectacular sight as he celebrated the goal with seven high-arcing back flips, easily winning the award for the best goal celebration at the World Cup so far.
Henrik Larsson tied the score for Sweden eight minutes later when he collected a pass from Freddie Ljungberg, slipped past a trio of Nigerian defenders, and slotted the ball past Nigerian goalkeeper Ike Shorunmu.
"It was a nice goal. Getting that in a World Cup is obviously a tremendous feeling," Larsson said.
Nigeria nearly regained the lead in the 38th minute thanks to a forward attack led by Okocha. The Nigerian captain tore down the right wing and blew by a quartet of Swedish defenders, but couldn't get much on the shot. Still, it proved problematic, as Sweden's Teddy Lucic cleared Okocha's shot off the goal line only for it to ricochet off of teammate Johan Mjallby and bounce back against the post -- nearly resulting in an own goal.
Larsson scored the game winner in the 62nd minute on a penalty shot after being pulled down in Nigeria's penalty area by defender Ifeanyi Udeze. The goal was Larsson's 22nd of his international career in 70 appearances for Sweden.
Forward John Utaka almost equalized for Nigeria eight minutes from time when Mjallby cleared his chance off the goal line. A minute later, Yobo ran into Sweden's penalty area and fired a blistering shot that hit the post.
"I think it was rather unfortunate. It was a good game, just like the first one, but probably there was an element of luck involved," Nigeria coach Adegboye Onigbinde said. "We hit the post a number of times, and I think it was just their luck that they won the match."
Seconds after Yobo's near-miss, Bolivian referee Rene Ortube blew the final whistle to end the game, dashing Nigeria's World Cup dreams in the process.
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With files from the Associated Press
