Da Silva strikes gold for Croatia

Croatia secured their progress to the play-offs for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals with a 1-0 win in Sweden. Needing only a draw to progress as Group 8 winners, they went one better as Eduardo Da Silva scored the only goal of the game two minutes into the second half.

Dominant force
The home side were certainly the dominant force in the opening period, but seemed to lack the hunger for victory. In the 19th minute, Da Silva was handed a fine chance to open the scoring as a cross found him in space but Sweden goalkeeper Christoffer Källkvist palmed his effort onto the bar and caught at the second attempt.

Presentable chance
The same player missed another presentable chance on 25 minutes, while Sweden registered their first notable attempt on goal after 37 minutes when Erkan Zengin's shot hit the post. The Swedes warmed to their task, and it took a good save from Croatia goalkeeper Tomislav Vranjić to deny Petter Andersson's shot from the edge of the box.

Decisive blow
However, Sweden's hopes of an away win were dealt a decisive blow just two minutes into the second half when Källkvist failed to handle Luka Modrić's cross from the left, leaving Da Silva the simple task of stabbing the ball home from close range. Sweden did their best to rally, but Croatia defended diligently.