Berg rues Sweden's set-piece frailty

Marcus Berg was left to lament Sweden's failure to deal with the set-piece threat of England and his own rare failure from the penalty spot as the UEFA European Under-21 Championship hosts bowed out of the competition after a nerve-shredding penalty shoot-out, despite rallying from 3-0 down in Gothenburg.

'Big disappointment'
The Scandinavian side made the worst possible start at the Gamla Ullevi, leaving Martin Cranie unmarked from James Milner's corner for the full-back to fire England in front inside the first minute. Worse was to come, again from Milner set-pieces, as Nedum Onuoha and a Mattias Bjärsmyr own goal saw England build what looked an impregnable half-time advantage. "The first half was really bad. They didn't create that many chances but scored from three corners," the striker said. "That's too bad, we talked before the game that we had to be play a bit harder and tougher in the box, especially at corners and free-kicks. Instead they scored three times from corners and that's a big disappointment."

Second-half surge
However, everything Sweden touched turned to goal in a thrilling final quarter, Berg – showing the predatory instincts that have made him the tournament's top scorer – pulling one back midway through the second half. When his strike partner Ola Toivonen further reduced the deficit with a fabulous free-kick 17 minutes from time the home fans in Gothenburg were at fever pitch and Berg sent them into a frenzy when he fired the equaliser high into the England net. "We talked at half-time about showing the crowd and fans that we were a good team and we did that in the second half," he said. "We were the better team in the second half."

Penalty heartbreak
The FC Groningen forward's display was enough to win him the Man of the Match award from UEFA's Technical Study Group, although of more concern to Berg was the fact he might have had a hat-trick in extra time when a looping header came back off the crossbar. Instead the match went to a penalty shoot-out and, after Milner had slipped and sliced England's first kick wide, Berg – who scored from the spot against Serbia on Tuesday and converted five penalties for his club this season – saw his low strike blocked by the legs of Joe Hart; every kicker thereafter held his nerve until Guillermo Molins struck the right-hand post with Sweden's sixth kick to end their adventure. "I didn't think too much about it," Berg said of his kick. "I tried to put it down the middle but I guess it was a bad penalty." It was a costly but rare regret for the striker at these finals, his return of seven goals eclipsing the previous best of four in the current finals format.