Fans in Malmo raring to go

While the Sweden players will be conserving their energy ahead of this evening's kick-off against Belarus at the Malmö New Stadium, in the city centre their fans have been building up to the opening game by making the most of the activities on offer in the Fan Zone.

Local talent
Away from the stadium itself, Malmo's Gustav Adolfs Torg central square has become the focal point of the city's UEFA European Under-21 Championship festivities, with matches from the other venues shown live on the giant screen. Taking turns at one of the table footballs was a group of boys from local side Kulladals IF. Their club will be out in strength cheering on the hosts after 21 Kulladal youngsters and parents took advantage of the group ticket offer allowing that number of people to see a match for 21 Swedish Kronor per ticket. "I'll also be going to the final," added a delighted Erik Broos. "I got the ticket for my tenth birthday in March." Erik said his favourite players in the Swedish team were Ola Toivonen and Labinot Harbuzi, "because Ola played for Malmö [FF] and Labinot still does".

Toivonen fans
Ian Andersson spent the first Tuesday of his summer holiday showing off his football juggling skills to impressed visitors to the Fan Zone. This evening he will step out in front of some 20,000 people at the Malmö New Stadium to show what he can do. Ian is another of the many Toivonen fans in Malmo. "I like the way he plays," he said. "But if he plays like he did in the last match against Estonia, then he'll be in trouble. He should play like he did the week before against Poland here in Malmo [when Toivonen and Harbuzi scored Sweden's goals in a 2-1 win]."

Water football
While table football and ball juggling are conventional pastimes, the south-eastern corner of Gustav Adolfs Torg offers a more unique footballing experience over the next two weeks – water football. Players compete in knee-high water in a shallow pool with goals at each end and it is clearly a taxing experience. Brothers Näel and Bäzel Alkoblawi were catching their breath and drying in the sun when uefa.com caught up with them.

Confident
"We've tried everything in the Fan Zone. We've gone precision shooting and played table football. But mostly we've played water football. Yesterday we were here for three hours," Näel said. His younger brother Bäzel added that his favourite player was "Zlatan [Ibrahimović], but unfortunately he won't be playing this evening". Even so both will be among the fans present at Malmö New Stadium tonight, Näel proudly showing his tickets. "I'm predicting a 2-0 win for Sweden," he said. "It doesn't matter who scores as long as everyone in the team gives his all."