Eder fires pale Azzurri into knockout stage of Euro
Brazil-born striker Eder overcame an otherwise patchy performance to hit a cracking late winner in a 1-0 victory over Sweden that sent Italy into the last 16 of Euro 2016 on Friday.
Eder, playing in his first major finals for Italy after being naturalized last year, came close to being substituted by Antonio Conte after a dismal opening half up front alongside Graziano Pelle.
But the Inter Milan striker had the Italy bench celebrating wildly on the pitch at the Stadium de Toulouse with a well-taken 88th-minute strike after running on to Simone Zaza’s header to beat Swedish keeper Andreas Eriksson at his far post.
“I’m very happy with the goal,” said Eder, who struggled to make an impact at Inter. “I’m delighted for the team, and I’m very happy the coach has kept faith with me.
“I think it helped me I wasn’t playing for Inter Milan a lot at the end of the season. That helped me to save some energy for this championships and also allowed me to work a lot of my fitness.”
Italy, 2-0 winners over Belgium last week, now top Group E with six points, leaving Sweden realistically needing to beat Belgium on Wednesday if they are to have any hope of making it to the knockout phase.
After a mediocre display in Sweden’s 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland, all eyes were on captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the towering striker sought to make his mark by becoming the first man to score in four editions of the competition.
But a cautious Italy restricted the former Juventus and Paris Saint Germain striker to few real chances in front of a huge army of yellow-clad Sweden fans.
Italy’s formidable three-man defense meant Gianluigi Buffon had little to do until he dived to collect Kim Kallstrom’s curling shot, and the Juventus keeper was happy to see Olsson’s drive whistle past the post soon after.
Italian hopes looked to be dying out and the Azzurri breathed a sigh of relief when Ibrahimovic fired over from a yard out at the back post although he was ruled offside.
But it was Eder who rescued Conte’s men with a fine run that took him past the Swedish defence to fire the ball into the net with two minutes to play.