Germany checked in Swedish stalemate

Neither side managed to break the deadlock at the Ullevi Stadium as Sweden held a youthful Germany side to a goalless draw.

With Zlatan Ibrahimović and Johan Elmander rested, goals would always be hard to come by for the hosts, while Germany had notable absentees in Mesut Özil, Philipp Lahm and Thomas Müller, who gave way for several newcomers.

Sweden and Germany were both well-organised defensively, but cautious in attack. The first shot on goal arrived in the 32nd minute when Lewis Holtby tried his luck from outside the area, Andreas Isaksson palming the shot away.

Sweden's best chance came five minutes before the break when Christian Wilhelmsson beat Jerome Boateng and sent a cross in from the left but, under pressure from Bastian Schweinsteiger, Ola Toivonen failed to connect.

Of the two goalkeepers, Isaksson was busier than his German counterpart, René Adler, and midway through the second half the PSV Eindhoven man was at full stretch to keep out Toni Kroos' powerful effort.

After crashing 4-1 to the Netherlands in their last match, keeping the visitors goalless was important for Sweden. "We were outplayed and outscored in Amsterdam," said Anders Svensson. "We wanted to make sure we could play it tight against a side of this quality."

"It was difficult today," said Germany striker Mario Gomez, who was kept in check by the robust Swedish centre-backs. "Sweden were good defensively so it was difficult for us to create chances – 0-0 was OK. It was a good test for our young players."