England overcome penalty hoodoo

England's Under 21 side threw away a three-goal lead in their European Championship semi-final against Sweden, but recovered to triumph on penalties.

GOTHENBURG // Stuart Pearce finally ended England's semi-final spot-kick hoodoo but his Under 21 side had to survive a thrilling comeback from the European Championship hosts Sweden. Pearce lost at the last-four stage twice as a player and as a coach two years ago ? but it looked like his youngsters would cruise to victory in Gothenburg after leading at half-time through Martin Cranie, Nedum Onuoha and Mattias Bjarsmyr's own goal. The Swedes then staged a stunning revival at Gamla Ullevi and levelled through two goals from Marcus Berg and another from Ola Toivonen. Fraizer Campbell was sent off in extra-time before the penalties, which England have been practising after each training session for two years. Joe Hart was booked to rule him out of the final but also scored one and saved one, sending England through.

They will be without Hart, Campbell and Gabriel Agbonlahor for the final but at the moment the focus is on England at last winning a semi-final. It has been seen as a psychological barrier that England teams could not get past but Pearce, after vowing to improve after Holland in 2007, has finally broken through. Now the aim is to win a trophy, the first in any age-group since 1993 when Robbie Fowler, Gary Neville and Sol Campbell were among the Under 18 side who won on home soil. One triumph in the last 64 tournaments, since England won the Under 21s in 1984, is an abysmal record but there is hope that Pearce's talented youngsters can now end the drought.

Winning in Malmo on Monday would have implications for next year's World Cup with the seniors. Theo Walcott is expected to be involved, possibly Hart and James Milner, while Kieran Gibbs could make a late push. These youngsters are at least schooled in England doing it the hard way ? they were cruising until hitting the self-destruct button. It was Milner who took the corner that saw England lead after just 53 seconds. Micah Richards jumped for the ball initially but it found its way to Cranie, who took a touch with his chest before volleying home with the help of Agbonlahor jumping over the ball in front of the Sweden goalkeeper Johan Dahlin.

It has been quite a tournament for Portsmouth defender Cranie, who has not scored a club goal in his career yet. He may not have played in the tournament opener against Finland if Onuoha was fit but his performances since have kept Michael Mancienne out of the team. Sweden had to regroup, with their first sight of goal coming from Toivonen, whose free-kick from 25 yards was parried by Hart. Agbonlahor was one of three England players carrying yellow cards into the match and he received his second of the competition when he led with his arm while challenging with Bjarsmyr, meaning he knew he would miss the final.

It was while Bjarsmyr was being treated off the field that England grabbed the second. It was a Milner corner again, with Onuoha this time allowed to take a touch close to the six-yard area, turn Rasmus Bengtsson and fire into the bottom corner. It got worse for Bjarsmyr before the break when he tried to clear Lee Cattermole's header from Walcott's cross but sliced into his own net. The Swedes brought on Labinot Harbuzi and Guillermo Molins at the interval, with Andreas Landgren and Martin Olsson making way ? and they eventually forced their way into the game.

Agbonlahor's tournament came to an end when he was substituted just before the hour mark, with the skipper Mark Noble consoling him as he left the pitch for Campbell. Berg gave Sweden a glimmer of hope with 22 minutes remaining when he turned in Molins' cross. Jack Rodwell came on for Noble to shore up the midfield, but Toivonen found the net from a free-kick to give the Swedes real hope, then the equaliser came with nine minutes left. Molins crossed from the right again, Rasmus Elm flicked backwards at the far post, with Berg applying the final touch. Campbell received his second booking of the match during extra-time when he challenged with Mikael Lustig, and he had stormed off the pitch even before the red card had been shown. Berg hit the bar with a header, but the match went to penalties. Milner slipped when he took the first and the ball flew over, but then Hart saved from Berg, scored one himself and also got booked to rule him out of the final. Most importantly, he put off Molins, who hit the post and gave England the victory. * PA Sport