Soccer: Paraguay beat Sweden 2-1

STOCKHOLM - Goals from Roque Santacruz and Carlos Paredes gave a defensive Paraguay a convincing 2-1 win over an injury hit Sweden in a World Cup warm-up friendly on Friday.

Boding ill for Sweden, who are to play Argentina, England and Nigeria in the World Cup's Group F, Santacruz proved too fast and agile for Sweden's ageing central defenders Patrik Andersson and Johan Mjallby.

The Bayern Munich striker sprinted away from Mjallby to head home Paraguay's first goal from close range in the 17th minute on a precise Jorge Campos cross from the left at the end of a swift counter-attack.

Santacruz forced Sweden goalkeeper Magnus Hedman to a fine save with another header after a carbon-copy attack in the 30th minute with Denis Caniza serving the cross -- again against the flow of play and with Andersson trailing.

Nine minutes later Santacruz struck with a header again, this time on a Campos cross from the right, but was denied by a one-handed save from Hedman.

A sudden Santacruz rush confused Hedman for a crucial fraction of a second in the 44th minute, allowing a far-out free kick from Carlos Paredes to bounce into the far corner of the goal, giving Paraguay a 2-0 lead.

Sweden, who were without injured midfielders Fredrik Ljungberg and Anders Svensson as well as defender Olof Mellberg, pulled one back early in the second half when midfielder Andreas Andersson's left-foot shot from 16m took a deflection from defender Francisco Arce and surprised Paraguay's goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert.

Andreas Andersson had a good chance to equalise a few minutes later and substitute striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed a close range shot in the 82nd minute but Paraguay's solid defence never looked seriously threatened.

Paraguay play South Africa, Spain and Slovenia in the opening phase of the World Cup.

- REUTERS

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