France advanced to the quarterfinals of the European Championship in unimpressive fashion Tuesday, losing 2-0 to Sweden but going through thanks to England's win over Ukraine.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored one of the best goals of the tournament with an acrobatic volley in the 54th minute and Sebastian Larsson added an injury-time goal to give already eliminated Sweden its first points of the tournament.
The margin of victory could have been bigger as France was outplayed for much of the game despite only needing a draw to guarantee a spot in the next round and facing a team with nothing to play for but pride.
The loss ended France's 23-game unbeaten streak but it still finished second in Group D after England beat Ukraine 1-0 in Donetsk. France will face Spain in the quarterfinals but will need a much better performance to give the defending champions much of a challenge.
England finished with seven points, while France had four and Ukraine and Sweden bowed out with three each.
Read more: France loses to Sweden 2-0, still advances to Euro 2012 quarters - Soccer - SI.com
No comments:
Post a Comment