Argentina needed to beat Sweden while a draw would be
enough for the Scandinavians.
Argentina produced most of the play in the first half an
hour, as they sought to get the lead they needed for a place in the knockout stage.
Claudio López put the Swedish defence under a lot of
pressure towards the end of the half but the cool Swedes didn't get flustered and kept
everything out.
A frustrated Claudio Caniggia, not even on the pitch, was sent
from from the bench for comments made to an official as the first-half came to a close.
Half-time: Sweden 0 -- Argentina 0
Argentina continued where they left off in the first
half.... with Zanetti, Samuel and Ortega all trying to provide the ammunition for
Batistuta and Sorin.
-- GOAL -- 1-0 Anders Svensson's unstopable free-kick put Sweden in front just before
the hour.
-- GOAL -- 1-1 Hernan Crespo equalised for Argentina, after Marcus Hedman had saved
Ariel Ortega's penalty; two minutes from the end.
With England holding Nigeria to a draw, Crespo's goal was
too little too late and Argentina joined France as two of the fancied teams to crash out
at the first hurdle.
Player of the Match:
Magnus Hedman -- Kept the Argentine strike force at arm's length and even saved a
penalty.... although he couldn't stop the follow up.
Red Cards:
Claudio Caniggia (45 mins)
Yellow Cards:
José Chamot (55 mins)
Matías Almeyda (58 mins)
Magnus Svensson (65 mins)
Killy González (75 mins)
Henrik Larsson (77 mins)
The Teams:
Sweden:
1 Magnus Hedman; 15 Andreas Jakobsson, 16 Teddy Lucic, 2 Olof Mellberg, 4 Johan Mjallby; 7
Niclas Alexandersson, 6 Tobias Linderoth, 8 Anders Svensson (18 Mattias Jonsson -- 68
mins), 17 Magnus Svensson; 10 Marcus Allbäck (22 Andreas Andersson -- 46 mins), 11 Henrik
Larsson (21 Zlatan Ibrahimovic -- 88 mins).
Argentina:
12 Pablo Cavallero; 22 José Chamot, 4 Mauricio Pochettino, 6 Walter Samuel; 16 Pablo
Aimar,5 Matías Almeyda (11 Juan Sebastian Verón -- 63 mins), 10 Ariel Ortega, 3 Juan
Pablo Sorín (18 Killy González -- 63 mins), 8 Javier Zanetti; 9 Gabriel Batistuta (19
Hernan Crespo -- 58 mins), 7 Claudio López.
