Sweden held by plucky Swiss

It was a game of few chances for Sweden

Sweden 1-1 Switzerland

World Cup finalists Sweden were held to a draw by Switzerland despite taking an early lead through Marcus Allback.

Striker Allback was a fed a ball by Anders Svensson and despatched his shot past Swiss keeper Fabrice Borer low into the left hand corner of the goal.

But despite Sweden's possession they had very few chances on goal.

They were made to rue their lack of penetration when Ricardo Cabanas scored for the visitors.

It was a goal of true class as the Swiss player met a cross with a powerful diving header which sent the ball flying past helpless keeper Andreas Isaksson.

Sweden's first chance of the game fell to goalscorer Allback who shot straight at Borer when it appeared easier to score.

The home side's other clear-cut chance came 10 minutes before time when Celtic's Henrik Larsson broke away from the Swiss defence only to fire against a grateful Borer.

One positive to come out of the match for Sweden was the return of Everton midfielder Jesper Blomqvist to the international scene.

The former Manchester United star was a regular in the national side before injuries blighted his career.

Sweden play England in their Group F opener at Saitama on 2 June. The other teams in the group are Argentina and Nigeria.

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Sweden: 1-Magnus Hedman; 2-Olof Mellberg, 3-Michael Svensson, 4-Johan Mjallby, 5-Erik Edman, 6-Tobias Linderoth, 7-Niclas Alexandersson, 8-Anders Svensson, 9-Jesper Blomqvist, 10-Marcus Allback, 11-Henrik Larsson

Switzerland: 1-Fabrice Borer; 2-Bernt Haas, 3-Ludovic Magnin, 4-Stephane Henchoz, 5-Murat Yakin, 6-Fabio Celestini, 7-Ricardo Cabanas, 8-Sebastien Fournier, 9-Blaise N'Kufo, 10-Hakan Yakin, 11-Alexandre Frei

Referee: Valentine Ivanov (Russia)