Goal.com

Jun 24, 2009 12:35:11 AM

The hosts cruised into the semi-finals after a convincing win over a disappointing Serbia, who exit the tournament in disgrace after two men saw red. Goal.com rates the players on show...

Sweden

Johan Dahlin - 6: Had a comfortable evening in the Swedish goal, dealing with most things that came his way, although could have held onto the Kacar shot instead of tipping it over the bar, which resulted in the Serb goal from the corner. 

Emil Johansson - 7: Got forward well in the first half especially supporting the attacks and deserves special credit for dealing with several long diagonal balls that Serbia attempted over the top of him, all of which he coped with well. 

Rasmus Bengtsson - 7: A solid and composed game at the heart of the Swedish defence forcing Veljovic towards the centre circle on several occasions. 

Mattias Bjarsmyr - 7: Like his colleague Bengtsson, he did well throughout especially in light of the constant Serb attempts to muddle the defence with movement from both Tosic and Sulejmani. 

Mikael Lustig - 6.5: Didn't get forward quite as often as in the first two games, but dealt with the threat of Tosic well, who played mainly on his side. Did manage one tempting cut back towards the end of the game though which Landgren smashed over. 

Emir Bajrami - 7: Had his best game for Sweden, and it's disappointing that he was booked and will miss the semi-final. Tormented Tomovic down the left, providing the cross for opener, and eventually getting his opponent dismissed after persistently running at the Serb defender.

Gustav Svensson - 7: A sensible game in midfield keeping things ticking over and ensured that Sweden never looked overrun in that department despite playing with only two against Serbia's three. 

Pontus Wernbloom - 7.5: Had good match in the heart of the Swedish midfield helping his side make light of the extra Serbian body in midfield.  Kept a close eye throughout on Kacar, who made little impression on the match in open play. Another who will miss out on the semi-final after picking up his second yellow of the tournament

Rasmus Elm - 7: Helped out when needed in the middle as well as getting forward and making a nuisance of himself in the Serb defence.  Kept Nikola Petkovic quiet, a left-back, who had shown himself to be adventurous when going forward. 

Marcus Berg - 8: Another outstanding game for Sweden after a quiet match against Italy. Netted two quick fire goals to kill the game off   before barely a quarter of an hour was on the clock. A sweetly struck shot for his first and a cool penalty for the second.  Did so well to keep his cool under intense Serbian attempts to provoke him into retaliation, which included a stamp, for which Vukovic should have seen red.

Ola Toivonen - 7.5: Is forming a wonderful partnership with Berg, consistently linking up with his partner up front including a delightful through pass which resulted in the foul on Berg and the award of the penalty. Picked up his second goal of the tournament after rolling the ball past the advancing Brkic. 

SUBS

Martin Olsson - n/a: On with just 10 minutes to play, so didn't make the impression as a sub that he did against Italy on Tuesday. Would be the logical replacement for the suspended Bajrami in the semis

Gabriel Ozkan - n/a: Thrown on with barely seconds to go of normal time for his first taste of Euro U-21 action

Andreas Landgren n/a: - Another late arrival but did get time to smash one shot over the bar before the final whistle

Serbia

Zeljko Brkic - 5: After keeping a clean sheet in the first two matches, he let two in within the first 15 minutes against Sweden. Made a bit of a mess of the Swedish opener, hence the low mark but otherwise had little protection from his defence. 

Nikola Petkovic - 4: Had a dreadful game at left-back struggling to contain the Swedish attacks, especially during the first half. Was correctly sent off in the second half for a blatant elbow on Toivonen.

Nemanja Pejcinovic - 4.5: He has the distinction of being the only starting defender who wasn't sent off, or should have been sent off.  However, as organiser of the defence he is also culpable for Serbia's poor defensive performance, failing to keep a straight back-line, which was exploited on numerous occasions by the Swedish attack.

Jagos Vukovic - 4: Had a ragged game at centre-back, failing to deal with Berg and Toivonen's excellent movement. Lucky not to be sent off for a stamp on Berg's head in the first half, and was just one of a number of Serb players to loose their head.

Nenad Tomovic - 3: Was at fault for both the opening Swedish goals giving Bajrami too much room to cross and then making a clumsy tackle on Berg for the penalty after failing to push up with the rest of the defence. Redeemed himself with one good cross which resulted in Kacar's chance during the first half, but them ruined all that good work by getting sent off after fouling Bajrami for the umpteenth time.

Milan Smiljanic - 5: Failed to make any impression against the Swedish midfield and just didn't get his range of passing right. 

Ljubomir Fejsa - 4.5: Notable only for picking up a booking in the second half against Wernbloom after tangling with the AZ Alkmaar midfielder. Did nothing throughout the match, on this evidence scarcely credible that he was voted into the Serbian Superliga team of 2009. 

Gokjo Kacar - 5: Managed to bundle in the goal at 2-1 which initially gave Serbia some hope although he should have scored moments before when he missed a glorious headed chance. Also instigated the melee after a wild lunge on Berg, which eventually saw Serbia reduced to nine men as the side collectively totally lost its head.

Zoran Tosic - 6: Worked hard throughout the match, but was strangely removed on 67 minutes. Possibly a reward from the coach as he doesn't deserve to be associated with the rest of this rag-tag bunch. Should get a chance next season at Old Trafford after giving glimpses of his potential.

Rade Veljovic - 5: Hauled off at half-time after finally getting his chance to impress from the start. Looked clumsy in possession and failed to link up either with Kacar from midfield or Tosic and Sulejmani to either side.

Miralem Sulejmani - 5.5: Looked better for having a genuine striker playing alongside him and started brightly, but faded as first half wore on. Managed to deliver the corner from which Kacar scored, but was removed shortly after the interval.

SUBS

Milan Vilotic - 5:  He came on in at half-time but barely made his presence felt. 

Dusan Tadic - 5: Second half replacement for Sulejmani and his only noticeable impact was to rashly squander a chance at the far post after a good cross from Tomic

Nemanja Tomic - 6: An ankle injury has restricted Tomic to just cameo roles in the tournament, which is a pity as he looked like he might have made a difference for Serbia on the right. Delivered a peach of a cross towards the end of the game which Tadic sliced wide

Walter Townsend, Goal.com

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