Elm enjoying return to Swedish party

In Sweden, the town of Bastad is known for two things: the annual Swedish Open tennis tournament and the hordes of party people who turn up to pop champagne during 'tennis week'. Right now, though, young Swedes with a different focus are in town, because this is where the country's Under-21 footballers have chosen to stay.

Anticipation
"It's a thrill to play a championship on home soil," midfielder Rasmus Elm told uefa.com at the team hotel situated next to centre court of the tennis stadium. "I've been looking forward to this ever since Sweden was selected as host nation."

Senior duties
Elm, who has not featured for the U21s since November, has returned to the squad for the big event. His absence from Tommy Söderberg and Jörgen Lennartsson's lineup is explained by his regular appearances for the senior Sweden side rather than by any dip in form for the 21-year-old Kalmar FF player. "Since I was last in the team, everyone has taken huge strides forward," said Elm. "You can tell the players have more important roles in their club teams now."

Responsibility
The same could be said of Elm himself, used as a right-sided midfielder by Sweden, but as an offensive playmaker at Kalmar. Since the departure of his brother Viktor Elm for SC Heerenveen and Brazilian César Santin for FC København, Elm Jr has shouldered even more responsibility for the Swedish champions. One speciality are his free-kicks – likely to be a useful weapon at this UEFA European U21 Championship.

Assignments
While Elm and forward Marcus Berg have figured in Sweden's recent FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the rest of the U21 squad have had a two-week pre-tournament training camp in Falkenberg, playing and winning two matches – 2-1 against both Poland and Estonia. Elm and Berg missed another three friendlies earlier this year, a 1-0 defeat by Finland and draws with Spain and Group A rivals Italy. In fact, Elm's last U21 outing was the 3-0 friendly victory over the Netherlands in November.

Forward strides
As they prepare for Tuesday's group-stage opener against Belarus at the Malmö New Stadium, joint coaches Söderberg and Lennartsson will hope the team benefit from the senior experience Elm and Berg have been gathering. According to Elm, though, the difference between age groups is not so great: "Training is pretty similar actually. The quality of the Under-21s is a lot better than six months ago. The players have improved on an individual level, and that makes us a better team. I feel we can compete with the best."