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U21 EURO final facts: Sweden v Portugal

Sweden and Portugal both have their sights set on a first U21 EURO crown when they meet in the final of the 2015 tournament at Prague's Eden Stadium on Tuesday night.

Sweden's Isaac Kiese Thelin pursues Bernardo Silva of Portugal on matchday three
Sweden's Isaac Kiese Thelin pursues Bernardo Silva of Portugal on matchday three ©Sportsfile

Sweden and Portugal both have their sights set on a first UEFA European Under-21 Championship title when they meet in the final of the 2015 tournament at Prague's Eden Stadium.

• The teams will need no introduction, having faced each other only six days before the final in their concluding Group B fixture. It finished in a 1-1 draw after Simon Tibbling's 89th-minute goal cancelled out a Gonçalo Paciência strike seven minutes earlier to snatch the point that Sweden needed to join Group B winners Portugal in the semi-finals.

• Both sides will go into the final high on confidence after handsome semi-final victories, Portugal having thrashed Germany 5-0 while Sweden defeated Denmark 4-1.

• There will be a minute's silence prior to the match following the passing of former Czechoslovakia midfielder Josef Masopust, European Footballer of the Year in 1962, on Monday. Masopust had been bestowed with the 2014 UEFA President's Award on Sunday. "I wanted to give this award to Josef in his home country and actually saw him on Sunday, at his home, before he passed away," said UEFA President Michel Platini. "It was a moving experience that I shall never forget."

Final records
• This is the second final for both countries at U21 level – and both lost to Italy in their previous appearance in the 1990s.

Sweden (1992 final)
• 28/05/1992 (Ferrara): Italy 2-0 Sweden
Line-up: Svensson; Johansson, Apelstav, Lilius, Moberg; Alexandersson, Landberg, Mild, Paldan (Jansson 72), Gudmundsson (Simpson 72); Rödlund.

• 03/06/1992 (Vaxjo): Sweden 1-0 Italy (Simpson 56)
Line-up: Ekholm; Nilsson, Apelstav, Lilius, Moberg; Alexandersson, Landberg (Axeldahl 77), Mild, Gudmundsson (Paldan 53); Simpson; Rödlund.
Italy won 2-1 on aggregate

Portugal (1994 final)
• 20/04/1994 (Montpellier): Italy 1-0 Portugal
Lineup: Brassard; Nélson, Bento, J Costa, Torres, Xavier, Figo, Pinto, Toni (Sá Pinto 79), R Costa, Capucho.

History in UEFA under-age competitions
• Sweden have never won an official men's UEFA youth title.
• Portugal have seven past successes to their name:
U16/U17: 1988/89, 1994/95, 1995/96, 1999/00, 2002/03
U18: 1993/94, 1998/99

Highlights: Sweden's 2009 semi-final loss

Penalty shoot-out records

Sweden (W0 L2)
• 26/06/2009, semi-final (Gothenburg): England 3-3 Sweden (5-4 on pens)
Marcus Berg, who scored twice as Sweden came back from 3-0 down, missed Sweden's first penalty and Guillermo Molins hit a post with their sixth kick to send England through to a final against Germany.

• 05/06/2004, semi-final (Oberhausen): Sweden 1-1 Serbia and Montenegro (5-6 on pens)
Babis Stefanidis, Sweden's first-half goalscorer, missed Sweden's sixth kick as Serbia and Montenegro secured a final against Italy and a ticket to the Olympic Games.

Portugal (W0 L1)
• 21/06/2007, Olympic qualifying play-off (Nijmegen): Italy 0-0 Portugal (4-3 on pens)
João Moutinho, Nani and Miguel Veloso converted for Portugal, but Manuel Fernandes and Antunes missed as Portugal lost out on a ticket to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Squad news

Sweden latest
• Håkan Ericson decided not to risk Joseph Baffo in the semi-final owing to a shoulder injury, but the defender is expected to be available for selection for the final.

• The team switched hotels in Prague on Sunday, moving into the Marriott after the departure of their semi-final victims, Denmark. Earlier in the day, those players not involved against the Danes had trained at the Victoria Žižkov Stadium.

• At his press conference on Sunday afternoon, Ericson was joined by his entire backroom staff and the coach introduced them one by one, highlighting their contribution to Sweden's achievement in reaching the final.

• Swedish Football Association (SvFF) president Karl-Erik Nilsson was present in Prague for the semi-final and will be joined by general secretary Håkan Sjöstrand for the final.

• Ericson believes the decider will be "the same kind of game" as when the sides met last week. Portugal had more possession that night (53%) but, as the coach noted, Sweden had as many attempts on target. "There were some open spaces in their team when we won the ball on counterattacks," he added.

• Sweden have five players who have played every minute so far: Patrik Carlgren, Ludwig Augustinsson, Oscar Lewicki, Oscar Hiljemark, Isaac Kiese Thelin

Highlights: Portugal 5-0 Germany

Portugal latest
• Tiago Ilori is the only major injury concern for Tuesday's final. The centre-back was announced in the semi-final starting lineup on Saturday but during the warm-up suffered a recurrence of the injury to his left thigh that he had picked up in the game against Sweden.

• On Sunday morning, the squad held a training and recovery session after players Paulo Oliveira and Ricardo Horta had spoken to the press. After lunch, the Portugal party travelled to Prague by train.

• The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) president, Fernando Gomes, joined the Portuguese delegation ahead of the match against Germany and will stay for the final. Senior team coach Fernando Santos will also be in attendance.

• Luís Figo, part of the team defeated by Italy in the 1994 final, sent a message on Twitter to the team following their semi-final triumph: "Congratulations, kids! We're in the final!"

• Bernardo Silva and William have each been named man of the match twice already – more than any other player at the tournament.

• Portugal have five players who have played every minute so far: José Sá, Paulo Oliveira, Ricardo Esgaio, William Carvalho and Sérgio Oliveira.

Previous meetings
• The teams' Group B meeting on 25 June took place at the City Stadium in Uherske Hradiste, venue for all three of Portugal's group stage fixtures.

Highlights: Portugal 1-1 Sweden

• The full line-ups were:
Portugal: Sá; Esgaio, Raphael, Paulo Oliveira, Tiago Ilori (Figueiredo 29); William, Sérgio Oliveira, João Mário, Bernardo Silva; Ivan Cavaleiro (Gonçalo 58), Ricardo (Medeiros 74).

Sweden: Carlgren; Lindelöf, Baffo (Helander 80), Milošević, Augustinsson; Khalili (Quaison 83), Lewicki, Hiljemark, Hrgota (Tibbling 52); Guidetti, Kiese Thelin.

• Last week's 1-1 draw was the teams' first encounter in a competitive fixture since the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Curiously, then as now, they faced each other twice in that tournament.

• Sweden won the first of the two meetings – a 3-1 victory in their opening Group B fixture in Mannheim. Hugo Almeida gave Portugal a 28th-minute lead but Johan Elmander struck twice either side of half-time and substitute Stefan Ishizaki confirmed Sweden's victory with 19 minutes left.

• The teams at the Carl-Benz-Stadion on 28 May 2004 were:
Sweden: Alvbåge; Antonsson, Dorsin, Stenman, Holmén, Elmander (Rosenberg 78), Jönsson (Johansson 72), Stefanidis, Andersson, Gerbrand, Djurić (Ishizaki 46).

Portugal: Moreira, Sérgio, Meireles, Alves, Costa, Bosingwa, Viana (Custódio 55), Almeida, Martins (Danny 56), Ribeiro, Lourenço (Carlitos 63).

• Both sides made it through the group only to lose their semi-finals, which meant they had to play off for third place and a berth in that summer's Olympic tournament. This time Portugal turned the tables, winning 3-2 after extra time in Oberhausen.

• The teams at the Niederrheinstadion on 8 June 2004 were:
Portugal: Moreira, Meireles, Alves, Costa, Martins (Viana 61), Ribeiro, Garcia, Custódio (Aguiar 60), Carlitos, Danny, Lourenço (Oliveira 91)

Sweden: Wiland; Antonsson, Dorsin, Nilsson, Stenman, Ishizaki, Elmander, Jönsson, Stefanidis (Hysén 72), Andersson (Rosenberg 89), Djurić

• Although Elmander struck first for the Swedes before half-time, Portugal turned the game around with two goals in the last 14 minutes – Hugo Viana from the penalty and Jorge Ribeiro scoring. Markus Rosenberg then took the game to extra time with a 90th-minute strike before Carlitos delivered the final twist with Portugal's 114th-minute winner.

• The sides' competitive meetings before 2004 all came in the qualifying stages. In 1988 qualifying, Sweden won 4-2 at home and Portugal prevailed 2-0 in the return.

• In 1986 qualifying it was 1-1 in Stockholm and 1-0 to Sweden in Lisbon. Sweden topped the group but lost to Italy in a two-legged quarter-final.

Guidetti leads Sweden celebrations

Form guide

Sweden
Last five games (most recent first): WDLWD
Tournament top scorer: John Guidetti, Simon Tibbling (2)
Qualifying top scorer: Guidetti, Kiese Thelin (4)

Portugal
Last five games (most recent first): WDDWL
Tournament top scorer: João Mário (2)
Qualifying top scorer: Ricardo (5)

Senior internationals in squad (caps)

Sweden
• 11 players with 37 caps between them
Oscar Hiljemark (6), Isaac Kiese Thelin (5), Robin Quaison (5), Oscar Lewicki (4), Alexander Miloševic (4), Branimir Hrgota (3), Ludwig Augustinsson (2), John Guidetti (2), Simon Gustafson (2), Sebastian Holmén (2), Mikael Ishak (2)

Portugal
• Eight players with 26 caps between them
William Carvalho (13), João Mário (3), Rafa Silva (3), Raphael Guerreiro (2), Ivan Cavaleiro (2), Paulo Oliveira (1), Ricardo Horta (1), Bernarndo Silva (1)

Coach profiles

Portugal: Rui Jorge
Born 27/03/73
Jorge succeeded Oceano Cruz in November 2010. The one-time Porto, Rio Ave, Sporting and Belenenses left-back made 45 appearances for his country, including one at UEFA EURO 2004 on home soil and three at the FIFA World Cup two years earlier.

Sweden: Håkan Ericson
Born 29/05/1960
The son of Georg Ericson, Sweden coach from 1970 to 1979, Håkan Ericson took charge of the U21s in November 2010. Formerly at the helm of Norrköping, he moved into the dugout in 1983 after a knee injury cut short his career when he was 21.

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