Olympic aims for defeated duo

By Tim Dykes in Dusseldorf

Torbjörn Nilsson believes he has successfully lifted his Sweden squad for Tuesday's Olympic Games decider following the disappointment of losing their UEFA European Under-21 Championship semi-final on penalties at the weekend.

Focus shifted
Ahead of the third-place play-off in Oberhausen, Nilsson revealed: "I told them at dinner after the game that they were allowed to be sad but by the following morning I wanted them to have forgotten about it. Since then everyone has been in a jokey mood. We've shifted the focus by doing things like having competitions in the swimming pool and the players are happy again."

Defenders out
Injury and illness respectively have ruled out centre-halves Martin Andersson and Patrik Gerrbrand for a game Nilsson described as "very important." The coach continued: "We learned a lot when we lost to them in a friendly in February but they learnt how we played in the first Group B game. This will be a true test and I think we will have to push up the field to surprise them."

Romão unconvinced
Nilsson's opposite number José Romão believes quite the opposite. "We know how the Swedish team plays and they will never change their tactics," he said. "Their defence will be compact and the team will look for an opportunity to play on the counterattack - they have some players with special skills to do that."

Elmander threat
The Portugal coach is concerned about the threat of Johan Elmander, the Swede who has been awarded man-of-the-match in each of the three games he has played, including the opener against Portugal when he scored twice. Romão admitted: "We had a lot of problems with him in our first match in spite of paying him extra attention, but we shall take a measure and try to stop him."

Resources limited
The Portuguese coach rued his side being without the injured Hugo Almeida and three suspended players for the semi-final, explaining that his team had "reached today the limit of its resources." In Oberhausen they will again be missing key personnel, with Boswinga banned after picking up his second booking against Italy. It is Portugal's fifth suspension in as many games but Romão is unperturbed. "That's why we have 22 players available in these kind of tournaments," he said.

Almeida doubt
In addition, Romão could once again be without Almeida. "I don't know if he will recover in time," the coach added. "We won't take any risks - if he is not fit he will be not in the starting eleven, perhaps on the bench. It depends on the doctor's report.

'True champions'
"Our goal is to go for the Olympic tournament, to dominate the match and to win but also we need also to be careful in the defence. We must be patient and wait for the right moment to attack. We were disappointed after losing to Italy, but true champions are those who, after they fall, rise up and go for their goals."