A late goal gave Spain a 2:1 win against Sweden and a place in the European championship quarterfinals, while defending champions Greece saw their bid to become the first side to retain the Henry Delaunay trophy peter out after a 1:0 loss to Russia in the second round of games in group D.

Spain and Sweden split the two games they played against each other in qualifying for Euro 2008 and went into the match knowing that a win would virtually guarantee qualification for the knockout stage.

The Spanish saw more of the ball early in the game and took the lead in the 14th minute, when Fernando Torres deflected a corner kick with his studs past Andreas Isaksson. The goal sparked an immediate reaction from the Swedes, but Johan Elmander could only hit the side of the net with his shot.

For the remainder of the first half, Sweden had the upper hand, their physical approach creating problems for the Spanish defence, which looked suspect on more than one occasion. An equaliser was only a matter of time and it came in the 33rd minute from Sweden's most dangerous man on the pitch, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who took advantage of the lack of pace in Spanish defence to score on a counter-attack.

Sweden had several chances to go ahead before the break, enjoying the majority of possession, but did not translate their domination into goals.

The situation changed in the second half, with Ibrahimovic substituted with a knee problem, which completely changed the shape of the game. No longer on the attack, Sweden appeared content to defend, their well organised ranks thwarting Spain, who enjoyed the lion's share of possession.

On a few occasions that Spain looked certain to score, timely interventions from the Swedish defence frustrated Torres, David Villa and Marcos Senna.

Sweden had its own chance to go ahead, but in the 79th minute, Henrik Larsson could not get to a cross that avoided all Spanish defenders to tap it in. In the end, the miss cost Sweden dearly, with Villa trapping a long ball from Joan Capdevilla in added time to set the final score.

In the late game, Greece stuck to their game plan of defending in numbers, looking to score on the counter-attack. The approach won them the Euro 2004, but the lack of credible attacking power cost them four years later.

Both teams banked on a more direct approach and it almost paid off for Greece in the 20th minute, but Angelos Charisteas wasted a free header from three meters out, with Igor Semshov clearing the ball off the line. Presented with a similar chance ten minutes before the break, Konstantin Zyryanov did not miss the opportunity to open the scoring.

Russia had the better chances to score in the second half as well, but their glaring misses for once did not come back to haunt them, as the Greeks, still without a goal scored in this tournament, rarely looked like threatening.

The defending champions, at least for one more game, will now attempt to salvage some semblance of pride as they take on Spain in the final round on June 18. Russia and Sweden will play to decide who will join the Spaniards in the knockout rounds, with Sweden assured of going through even in case of a draw, thanks to their superior goal difference.