Freddie Ljungberg is to captain Sweden to the finals of EURO 2008 after the Scandinavian nation secured their spot on Wednesday night.
Ljungberg had a key role in a 2-1 home victory against Latvia, making the decisive goal for Kim Kallstrom to score the winner just before the hour mark. Sweden's progress came at the expense of George McCartney's Northern Ireland, although their 1-0 defeat in Spain dashed any hopes they had. England will also not be at the finals after a 3-2 defeat by Croatia at Wembley confirmed their elimination.
While Sweden will rightly celebrate, Ljungberg will quickly switch his focus to playing his part for West Ham United against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. He will hope that two full international matches in four days - he also figured in the 3-0 defeat in Spain on Saturday - will have added to the fitness gained at Chadwell Heath in recent weeks.
"I am looking forward to coming back, after the international games, to West Ham," Ljungberg said. "Our next game is a local derby against Spurs and important to both clubs in a number of ways." Meanwhile, James Collins and Danny Gabbidon both played their part in a creditable 0-0 draw for already-eliminated Wales against Germany in Frankfurt.
Elsewhere, it was a disappointing evening for striker Henri Camara's Senegal after they went down 3-0 to Morocco in a friendly while right-back John Pantsil was on the bench as hosts Ghana won a four-team tournament with a 4-2 defeat of Benin.