MTNFootball

Drawn in the tough Group D alongside co-hosts Ukraine, England and France, Sweden will have their work cut out to advance to the knockout rounds of UEFA Euro 2012.

However, the unfashionable Scandinavians have a habit of punching above their weight in international tournaments and will look to once again ruffle a few feathers in the European summer.

Managed by the low-profile Erik Hamren (who has been in charge of the national team since late 2009 after forging a successful career for himself with clubs in Sweden, Norway and Denmark), the Blue-Yellow qualified as the best runners-up from the preliminary groups and avoided the dreaded playoffs.

They were second in Group E behind the Netherlands and even beat the 2010 FIFA World Cup finalists 3-2 in their last qualifying match to secure a place in Poland-Ukraine.

This will be the Swedes’ fifth appearance at the European Championship finals, with their best showing a semifinal place on debut in 1992.

The Scandinavians are also regular competitors in the World Cup (11 times, though they did make it to SA 2010) and they were even runners-up as hosts back in 1958.

Sweden failed to get out of a difficult group in Euro 2008 (eventual champions Spain and Russia finished above them), but will be confident that they can upset the big names in their 2012 pool and go one step further this time around.