Berlin, June 16 (DPA) Sweden coach Lars Lagerback admitted his second-half substitution of Marcus Allback for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, which led to the winning goal against Paraguay, was unplanned.
Allback had with one effort cleared off the line before he headed across a goal for Arsenal star Freddie Ljungberg to grab an 89th minute 1-0 win Thursday over Paraguay which knocked the latter out of the tournament and left the Swedes needing a draw against England to be guaranteed of a place in the knock-out stage.
"Zlatan had an injury in his leg and we didn't want to risk him," Lagerback said afterwards.
"We have to wait one or two days to see how bad the injury is. The medical staff said if he had broken down in the second half he could miss the whole tournament."
Ibrahimovic, despite his silky first-touch skills, had a disappointing first-half, missing the best chance, and it had begun to look as if Sweden would again pay for their inability to finish just as they had against Trinidad and Tobago.
"We had some good chances but Paraguay played well," said Lagerback who dismissed the criticism the Swedes had taken after their opening draw.
"I couldn't care less about the criticism we had after Trinidad and Tobago. We know what we are doing," he said.
And he said he had the backing of the Swedish federation president. "I never feared the sack."
But he was pleased the Swedes would not be under the pressure of needing to beat England to qualify.
"It is a relief not to have to face England needing a win. We will enjoy this evening and then start focussing on the England game. One point will be enough against England although we want to win."
However, defeat could send the Swedes home and put Trinidad and Tobago into the second round if the Caribbean minnows beat Paraguay in their last match.
Ljungberg, involved in a shouting match with captain Olof Mellberg after the embarrassing draw with Trinidad, said they owed their supporters a win.
"We needed the points and gave everything for the fans. Both in the stadium and back home they have been fantastic. We finally gave them something to cheer about," he said.
"The England game is going to be massive. We both want to win the game so much and it's going to be difficult."
Ljungberg admitted he had last scored with a header a year ago in a home game against Norwich.
He said they had kept their nerve as they failed to put away their chances.
"We created many opportunities and of course when we didn't score we started to get a little worried, as though we were jinxed."
"But we had more patience, had a lot of opportunities and put pressure on their defence. We played a faster passing game."
Kim Kallstrom, brought in midfield, agreed the winner had proved elusive.
"But we managed to solve it. It was something of an all-or-nothing match for me."