Soccer
European Championships: Sweden, Denmark advance

By Bloomberg News and The Associated Press

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PORTO, Portugal — Italy should blame itself for exiting the European Championships in the first round rather than seek conspiracy theories, Sweden coach Lars Lagerback said.

Sweden and Denmark entered their final Group C match knowing a 2-2 draw would qualify both sides for the quarterfinals and send Italy home, regardless of its result against Bulgaria.

An 89th-minute goal by Sweden's Mattias Jonson made it 2-2. For the 140 seconds between that goal and the final whistle, the Swedes kept the ball in their penalty area as the Danish players looked on from afar.

Italy won 2-1 in Guimaraes, Portugal, on Antonio Cassano's goal in second-half injury time.

"Both teams gave their all and can leave with heads held high," Lagerback said at a news conference. "The Italians should blame themselves. Had they done better in their previous games, they wouldn't have been in this situation."

The results left Italy, Denmark and Sweden with five points from three games.

But Italy missed out because it had the fewest goals in head-to-head Euro 2004 matches among the three teams. If Sweden or Denmark had won yesterday, Italy would have advanced.

"It's an international scandal," Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said. "I feel shame. Not for us. I feel it for the Swedes and Danes. They've been really dirty."

Talk of collusion between the Scandinavian rivals dominated the buildup to the final Group C games.

English bookmaker William Hill offered the 2-2 final score at odds of 7-2, the shortest it ever quoted for that outcome in a competitive match. William Hill said it would normally have offered 14-1 odds on a 2-2 score.
 
In the quarterfinal round, England plays Portugal, France meets Greece and Denmark faces the Czech Republic. Sweden will play Germany, the Netherlands or Latvia.

Notes

• English fan Stephen Smith, 28, was stabbed to death in Lisbon, Portugal, after trying to defend himself against a suspected Ukrainian pickpocket, police said.

• FC Porto reportedly sold fullback Paulo Ferreira, 25, to Chelsea of the English Premier League for $24.2 million.

• Jim Smith, president and general manager of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, is leaving to become vice president of marketing for the NFL Atlanta Falcons. He starts the new job July 9.

• Steve Sampson, former coach of the U.S. team, was fired as Costa Rica's coach after his team struggled past a traditionally weak Cuba team in World Cup qualifying.