Sweden and Italy meet after triumphs

Sweden and Italy meet in Turku on Friday after both sides opened their Group C campaigns at UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ with a victory, meaning another win for either side would ensure a quarter-final place.

• At worst, six points would mean finishing as one of the two best third-placed teams. If Sweden win, they would ensure first place in the group unless England beat Russia. If Italy win, they would ensure first place in the group unless Russia also prevail.

• Goals from defender Charlotte Rohlin and captain Victoria Sandell Svensson inside the opening 15 minutes put the Swedes on their way to a victory that was wrapped up by Caroline Seger's fine shot from distance with eight minutes left to play.

• The victory was a welcome relief for Sweden, who had not made a winning start to a major tournament since the 1997 UEFA European Women's Championship.

• Her goal will be a special one for Svensson, who is retiring from international football after this tournament.

• Italy were helped in their task against Hope Powell's side after England were reduced to ten players in the 28th minute following the dismissal of Casey Stoney.

• Though England went on to take the lead, with a Fara Williams penalty in the 38th minute, Italy hit back with a 56th minute equaliser from captain Patrizia Panico and a superb long-range winner from Alessia Tuttino in the 82nd.

• Sweden and Italy have always reached the last eight or better in every previous edition of this tournament but have not met in the finals for 20 years – though they have encountered each other in the last two qualifying competitions.

• Overall these teams have played 16 times, with Sweden winning eleven to Italy's two and three draws. The Scandinavian side lead the goal count 31-9.

• Their first encounters were in the inaugural UEFA Competition for National Representative Women Teams in 1984, when they met in the two-legged semi-finals. Sweden won 3-2 in Rome and 2-1 in Linkoping before going on to beat England for the trophy.

• Five years later the two teams faced off for third place in Germany and Sweden won 2-1 after extra time in Osnabruck.

• The next time Sweden and Italy met in this competition was in UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2005™ qualifying, Sweden winning 5-0 in Solna with a Hanna Ljungberg hat-trick and two Svensson goals. They had clinched first place by the time they travelled to Berevento on 26 June 2004 and lost 2-1, Frida Nordin's first-half goal trumped after the break by Chiara Gazzoli and Panico.

• In 2009 qualifying, Sweden prevailed in both encounters as part of their superb group record in not dropping a point nor conceding a goal. The losses were the only points dropped by Italy in finishing second before beating the Czech Republic in the play-offs, as they had four years previously.

• In what was both teams' first qualifier, Sweden won 2-0 in Trento on 5 May 2007 thanks to goals late in each half from Seger and Nilla Fischer, making light of the recent retirements of Malin Moström and Anna Sjöström.

• The teams were:
Italy: Chiara Marchitelli, Sara Gama, Daniela Tavalazzi, Alessia Tuttino, Elisabetta Tona, Giulia Perelli, Giulia Domenichetti, Michela Greco (Venusia Paliotti, Melania Gabbiadini), Patrizia Panico, Tatiana Zorri, Silvia Fuselli.
Sweden: Caroline Jönsson, Anna Paulson, Hanna Marklund, Stina Segerström, Frida Östberg, Caroline Seger, Nilla Fischer, Therese Sjögran (Maria Aronsson), Josefine Öqvist (Sara Johansson), Victoria Svensson, Lotta Schelin (Frida Nordin).

• Before the return, Sweden beat Italy 3-0 in the Algarve Cup in Olhao on 12 March 2008 with a Josefine Öqvist goal followed by two from Svensson.

• The teams were:
Sweden: Hedvig Lindahl, Frida Östberg (Anna Paulson), Karolina Westberg, Stina Segerström, Sara Thunebro, Caroline Seger (Nilla Fischer), Frida Nordin (Therese Sjögran), Therese Lundin (Victoria Svensson), Johanna Almgren, Josefine Öqvist (Charlotte Rohlin), Maria Aronsson (Jessica Landström).
Italy: Anna Maria Picarelli, Giorgia Motta, Giulia Perelli, Roberta D'Adda, Sara Gama, Alessia Tuttino, Tatiana Zorri, Carolina Pini (Silvia Fuselli), Pamela Conti (Cristina Cassanelli), Melania Gabbiadini (Ilaria Mauro), Patrizia Panico.

• In the second qualifier in Orebro on 7 May 2008 substitute Jessica Landström's added-time goal secured Sweden a 1-0 home win that all but sealed automatic qualification.

• On that occasion the teams were:
Sweden: Hedvig Lindahl, Frida Östberg, Sara Larsson, Stina Segerström, Sara Thunebro, Nilla Fischer, Therese Sjögran, Caroline Seger, Johanna Almgren (Madelaine Edlund), Therese Lundin (Jessica Landström), Josefine Öqvist.
Italy: Chiara Marchitelli, Giorgia Motta, Viviana Schiavi (Piera Maglio), Giulia Perelli, Roberta D'Adda, Giulia Domenichetti, Alessia Tuttino, Tatiana Zorri, Melania Gabbiadini, Patrizia Panico, Venusia Paliotti (Sandy Iannella).

• Sweden have never failed to reach the last eight of this tournament and have missed out on the semi-finals only twice. They won the first UEFA Competition for National Representative Women Teams in 1984, beating England in a penalty shoot-out in Luton after each side had recorded a 1-0 home win in the two-legged encounter. They lost the 1987 final 2-1 to Norway and finished third in 1989.

• Sweden were involved in the first match in the history of the original European competition, winning 6-0 away to Finland in Vammala on 18 August 1982.

• In the UEFA European Women's Championship era, they departed in the two-legged 1991 and 1993 quarter-finals but reached the final in 1995 and 2001, losing both games to Germany. They progressed to the last four in 1997 and 2005. Germany also beat them in the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup final, Sweden's best run in the global event.

• Italy have been among the last eight in every edition of this competition with their best performances being runs to the 1993 and 1997 finals, though in 2001 and 2005 they departed in the group stage. They have twice qualified for the World Cup, reaching the 1991 quarter-finals and the group stage eight years later.

• Swedish champions Umeå IK got the better of their Italian counterparts ASD CF Bardolino Verona in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Women's Cup on 14 October 2008, though both teams were already through to the quarter-finals at that point.

• Anna Paulson and Lisa Dahlqvist played for Umeå in that game while Anna Maria Picarelli, Giorgia Motta, Roberta D'Adda, Tuttino and Panico took part for Bardolino.