Of William Carvalho’s decisive spot kick, he added: “I had a feeling he’d go for that side, I went the right way and saved the penalty”.
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Fresh from condemning Germany to their heaviest ever defeat in the semi-finals, few thought the Scandinavians would be capable of stopping Portugal – after all, the Swedes were the only team England managed to beat. However, the Manchester City youngster fluffed his lines and it was Carlgren who would prove the Swedish hero on the night.
The swathes of yellow supporters held their breath as Abdullah Khalili curled just wide, with the wideman having a similar effort after Guidetti hammered over a free-kick.
Håkan Ericson changed things up in central defence with Joseph Baffo replacing Filip Helander as Portugal resumed their attack.
In the second half, Portugal grew increasingly strong, but the first chance came to John Guidetti who volleyed just over the bar.
Sérgio Oliveira’s shot from distance went wide before Rui Jorge made a surprising move as he replaced the captain with Tozé. Just after kick-off, Raphael Guerreiro sent a shot from outside the box just wide of the left-hand post.
But Sweden looked more likely to win as the game approached extra time.
The pressure continued as Toze and Mario had efforts, only for Guidetti to threaten a late victor for the Swedes.
No conclusion could be reached from extra time, meaning that penalties would decide which team prevailed. The FC Porto striker then had a shot blocked before meeting Medeiros’s cross with a header which was deflected away from goal. Augustinsson scored but Esgaio’s penalty was well saved by Carlgren to give Sweden a 3-2 advantage.
While he hugged the touchline against the Danes and provided the cross for the third goal, against Portugal he regularly cut inside and went closest to scoring for Germany with a shot that was well saved by Jose Sa.
Both sides converted their next spot kicks before Carlgren saved Carvalho’s penalty, triggering scenes of wild jubilation among the thousands of fans who had traveled to the Czech Republic to witness Sweden’s first victory in a Euro final. A heartbreaking way to lose any game of football, it is particularly hard to take after dominating much of the encounter in a game of such magnitude.
Sweden are also bidding for a first success in the tournament and they also had a comfortable last-four tie, overcoming Denmark 4-1.
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The stark contrast in results for the two finalists from their group performances leaves us venturing a very small into the unknown as what to expect in Tuesday’s final at Prague’s Eden Arena.
