Sweden coach Erik Hamren said his side should have done more to impose their authority in their Euro 2012 Group D encounter with co-hosts Ukraine long before two headers from Andrei Shevchenko secured a 2-1 victory for their rivals.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic had netted from close range seven minutes after the break for the Swedes but almost immediately Shevchenko headed the equaliser and then sent the home crowd into raptures with his second.

Sweden then proceeded to miss late chances as the Ukrainians held on for a precious victory and leave Hamren’s side with it all to do as they prepare for further pool matches against France and England.

“The two teams were nervous at the start. Then we started the second half well and scored. But unfortunately they soon levelled.

“The last 20 minutes we had nothing to lose and played well and I think a draw would have been a fair result as we had our chances.

“We knew how they would play and it was our performance which was not up to scratch. You need eleven players right on their game and we only had five or six in the first half,” said 54-year-old Hamren - who has been in the post since 2009.

“We knew the crosses would come in - and we were up against a super player. technically and tactically we didn’t cut it. We should have scored with the good chances we had at the end.”

Defender Andreas Granqvist said: “We expected Ukraine to put us under a lot of pressure... the quick equaliser hurt us. We weren’t good and it’s very disappointing, we expected to get three points.

“But we’re still in there – the other teams (France and England) only drew (1-1).”