With a stunning performing, 11 proud Swedes put an end to France unbeaten record of 23 games and regained their honour. This farewell affair was all about Sweden, and France were nowhere near the three points. 15 000 Swedish fans were in the stands and Erik Hamren’s men made sure they would not go home empty-handed. One should remember that this was a motivated French team playing for their qualification as well as not having to face Spain in the quarter-finals. France could have been packing their bags, had Ukraine beaten England.

Third time was the charm for Hamren, who started Ola Toivonen as a No. 9 striker for the first time this tournament. He also started Emir Bajrami (his first appearance in the tournament) out wide to the left. Both players were up to the task, much like the rest of the Swedish players, and France were outplayed. Hamren certainly found the right balance in the team. Even though Zlatan’s goal was a thing of beauty, my man of the match has to be Christian Wilhelmsson, who came on for Bajrami at half-time. This former Roma, and current Al Hilal, midfielder still offers magic on the pitch. He had a field day with the French and set up the second goal.

In this post-match euphoria, there is also a sense of despair. A point from either (!) of the games against Ukraine or England would have sent Sweden to the quarter-finals. This team is not the worst team in group D, even if the group table tells you that. Against France, Sweden showed the trademark defensive strength that had been strangely absent in the previous two games. Combined with the genius of Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front, Sweden can beat any team in the world. This is known, and was confirmed on Tuesday night.

Before the game I wanted the team to leave some sort of mark at this tournament, and I was not disappointed. Apart from the goal of the tournament, Sweden also played the best football of group D on Tuesday. The Swedish players can get on the plane home with their heads held high and build on this victory ahead of the World Cup qualifiers. And even though they have Germany, who might very well be European champions by then, in the group, this team will have high hopes of reaching the global game's flagship competition. This team will hope to reach Brazil.

Already eliminated from the tournament, Sweden now look to a final match against France. A game that should have been the decider for whether or not Sweden would qualify for the quarter-finals, but turned out not to be. It is worth mentioning that there are a lot of Swedish fans who are travelling for this fixture alone with tickets and hotels booked since long ago. I struggle to think of a more depressing journey.

On a more amusing note, the Swedish fans in Kiev have spent the weekend singing: “We’re better than the Irish”.  A display of good humour against a side that has also been eliminated, and thus far also true.  Sweden would have to lose the last game by 6 goals for the song to be falsified.

France will feel optimistic about their chances of reaching the quarter-finals. Ukraine have to beat England by no more than one goal, whilst Sweden must win big (at least two goals) for France to be eliminated. I doubt Erik Hamrén and his men have this in mind going into the game.

As a Swede, I do however hope Sweden pull something like this off. Not because I have any quarrel with the French team or country, but because it would be uplifting to see Sweden playing some kind of role at this championship other than the one as whipping boys of group D.

Instead I believe Hamrén will approach this game as a building block for the World Cup qualifiers kicking off this autumn. This is a game at the highest level and even though they have crashed out of the tournament Hamrén will want to milk this game for all that it is worth. The logical decision would therefore be to start the people who will be playing during qualification for Brazil 2014. These are players like Andreas Granqvist and Jonas Olsson instead of Olof Mellberg or Rasmus Elm and Pontus Wernbloom instead of Anders Svensson. It would however be hard to deny a player like Mellberg his last game in the Swedish jersey, if he wants it.

Hamrén will also be reminded of prize money by the chairman of the Swedish FA Karl-Erik Nilsson. €1 million is on offer for a win in the group stage and that is a lot of money for a small footballing nation such as Sweden.

In other news, Jonas Olsson left the Swedish camp after the game against England to be present for the birth of his first child. He came back to Ukraine a father on Sunday and is now available for selection for the game against France. One might argue Olsson could have stayed with his girlfriend and newborn daughter seeing as Sweden are already knocked out. I am puzzled as to whether I love or hate the decision.

Kristopher Karlsson

Sweden promised to play this tournament with a new, more attack minded football. They didn’t keep that promise. Balls were hoofed long, passing was poor and possession was low. And the Euro 2000 opening game scoreline of 1-2 (against Belgium) was repeated. And as it was then, Sweden might end up bottom of the group, packing their bags early.

All in all it was an abysmal performance from every player on the pitch, with the exception of Ibrahimovic. The tall captain was the only one stepping up to the occasion and his teammates will surely get an earful from both coach Erik Hamrén and Ibrahimovic post match. They will all struggle to look themselves in the mirror after this. And there will definitely be no riding the water slides at the hotel tomorrow.

Before the tournament there has been a debate of who would get the spot along side Olof Mellberg in the centre of defence.  Mellberg lost Shevchenko for the equaliser in a poor display of defending. An action such as that has previously been unthinkable by defensive giant Mellberg. He too, will struggle to look himself in the mirror.

Just like in the pretournament games against Iceland and Serbia, Sweden conceded from a corner. If you’re a betting man you would be wise to put your money on Sweden conceding goals from corners against England and France too.

Elmander didn’t start the game but his miss with minutes to go makes you wonder if it wasn’t for the best. There is absolutely nothing from this match that Sweden can take with them into the game against England on Friday.

Sweden will have to break down and rebuild, and Anders Svensson will have to start in central midfield. One can only hope the Swedish players have the pride to come back from this.

To finish this off in a somewhat positive manner, I would take my hat off for Shevchenko. If it was going to be anyone thrashing our hopes to achieve anything this tournament it would be him. What a legend.

Kristopher Karlsson

With the Euros creeping closer there are some interesting aspects from a Swedish point of view to take a closer look at.

Sweden and my favourites to win the group, France, are getting ready for the tournament in very much the same way. We are playing the same teams in friendly games, Iceland and Serbia.

France will also have time to play Estonia as they have had more time together (24 days compared to Sweden’s 18). But these games against Iceland and Serbia are interesting as we get a sense of how Sweden and France compare as teams. And when France struggled to win 3-2 at home against Iceland I was filled with hope and asked myself:

How can France go two down against Iceland at home?

How can Evra and Mexes, playing for top clubs in Europe, be so poor defensively?

And could Sweden put a number on Iceland to get a psychological edge over France?

The first two questions are hard to answer, and I’ll leave them to my French colleague. The last question is a bit easier to answer: No, Sweden couldn’t put a number on Iceland. Sweden repeated the French result of 3-2 and status quo remains between France and Sweden.

France moved on and impressed in their 2-0 victory against Serbia and Sweden will have to work hard to match that result home against Serbia on the 5^th of June. I’d say getting a good, or even better result than 2-0 will be of very big importance as France will remember their 3-2 victory away against Sweden in 2008 and be strengthened by the result on that day.

In other news Sweden’s Under 21 team took a hammering against Ukraine’s counterparts on Thursday 6-0 (!). Let's hope Erik Hamrén and his men can avoid such a result on the opening day against Ukraine.

Kristopher Karlsson