After claiming their first ever European Under-21 Championship against Portgual, Sweden coach Hakan Ericson hopes it will inspire the next generation of Swedish footballers.
William Carvalho missed the vital penalty to seal a 4-3 victory in the shoot-out for the Blagult after a 0-0 draw in the 120 minutes of football witnessed in Prague, during which Portugal often dominated possession of the football.
“I hope this means a lot of young players in Sweden start playing football,” 55-year-old Ericson told reporters, “I hope they know that anything is possible.
“It’s like a fairytale, incredible.”
Sweden became notorious throughout the championship for leaving things late, progressing from the group stage with an 89th minute leveller against Portugal in Group B to knock out Italy before a comfortable 4-1 win over Denmark in the semi-finals.
“We were very well organised and had fantastic team spirit.
“We were prepared for every situation, with a list of penalty takers already prepared and [during the game] getting space and creating chances.”