This time it's real for Bulgaria

Group C: The last time these two sides met in a major tournament, Sweden ran out easy 4-0 winners in the meaningless play-off for third place at the 1994 World Cup finals. On that occasion, by their own admission, several of the Bulgarian players were still feeling "tired and emotional" after a night out on the town.

Back in the big time, at their first finals since France 98, Bulgaria are certain to take today's game a great deal more seriously against a Swedish side that has proved to be amongst the most consistently competitive of European sides in recent years.

Sweden's two-man coaching team of Lars Lagerback and Tommy Soderberg probably got it right when predicting yesterday that Bulgaria will play a counterattacking game, with a five-man midfield that leaves Bayer Leverkusen striker Dimitar Berbatov in the lone-ranger role up front.

From the Bulgarian viewpoint, much will depend on how Berbatov performs. A key figure in Leverkusen's Champions League run three seasons ago and scorer of important qualifying goals against Croatia and Belgium, Berbatov now has a chance to stake his claim to a place alongside Europe's elite.

Aston Villa's Olof Mellberg may be asked to do a marking job on Berbatov, despite coming into the game with a recent heel injury that continues to hurt him but, apparently, does not jeopardise his selection.

For Bulgaria, coach Plamen Markov may wait until the last moment before deciding about his midfielder Martin Petrov, currently struggling with a muscle problem.

From the Swedish viewpoint, much will depend upon how the "dream partnership" of Henrik Larsson and Ajax Amsterdam's Zlatan Ibrahimovic functions. Given that Larsson is back after a two-year self-imposed exile from international football, it goes without saying that he and Ibrahimovic have little experience of playing together.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

SWEDEN: Isaksson; Lucic, Mellberg, Jakobsson, Edman; Wilhelmsson, Linderoth, Kallstrom, Ljungberg; Ibrahimovic, Larsson.

BULGARIA: Zdravkov; Borimirov, Pazhin, Kirilov, I Petkov; Peev, Hristov, S Petrov, M Petrov; Jankovic; Berbatov.Bulgaria v Sweden

José Alvalade, Lisbon, 7.45