Confident Larsson wary of <i>Azzurri</i> challenge

Two-goal Henrik Larsson summed up Sweden's calmness after their 5-0 rout of Bulgaria when he played down the euphoria and warned of tough challenges ahead.

The note of caution from the striker summed up the intelligent approach of a squad filled with a belief they can reach the last four, at least, before co-coach Tommy Soderberg heads into retirement.

As Sweden's fans sang and danced the night away following Monday's triumph, Larsson warned that Italy, in particular, would be much tougher opponents when they meet in Porto on Friday.

The Azzurri had played out a tough 0-0 draw with Denmark earlier in the day and will be desperate to beat the Swedes, who ran riot against Bulgaria to ditch their reputation for suffering stage fright at the beginning of major tournaments.

"This is just the start and it was a great match and a great result for us," he said.

"We have confidence, we played well, but the Italians will be a different story. We need to celebrate and then focus again on the next match."

Larsson's selfless attitude to the collective cause was embodied in his decision to reject a chance to grab a fairy-tale hat-trick on his return to competitive international soccer by letting Zlatan Ibrahimovic convert a second-half penalty.

The striker, who is a free agent after leaving Celtic, said: "It was the right thing to do because it's good for the team to have all the strikers scoring. It doesn't matter only about me.

"I love my country and this tournament is very important to me. People talk about me, and my future, but I'm only concentrating on being here and doing well for Sweden. We believe we can do something."