Sweden Coach Janne Andersson admired the “physical match” to beat Italy 1-0 in their World Cup play-off, but “we’re only halfway through.”

The first leg was decided 1-0 in Solna by a deflected shot from substitute Jakob Johansson, with the decider at San Siro on Monday.

“We’re only halfway through, it’s only right that we underline that fact,” said the Coach in his Press conference.

Sweden Coach Janne Andersson admired the “physical match” to beat Italy 1-0 in their World Cup play-off, but “we’re only halfway through.”

The first leg was decided 1-0 in Solna by a deflected shot from substitute Jakob Johansson, with the decider at San Siro on Monday.

“We’re only halfway through, it’s only right that we underline that fact,” said the Coach in his Press conference.

“We talked about courage, about working as a group, just as we did throughout the qualification campaign. The game went our way, but it was not undeserved.

“It was a very physical match, that’s true, and we won many head-to-head clashes. The referee certainly did not favour us.”

Albin Ekdal had been an injury doubt and it was four minutes after he went off that Johansson scored the winner.

“It was a difficult decision, but one I pondered carefully, as I thought Ekdal brought more pace compared to Sebastian Larsson. Ekdal went off because he had pain in his groin, we’ll see what the doctors say.”

The second leg is in Milan on Monday at 19.45 GMT and Marco Verratti is suspended, whereas Mikael Lustig returns from his ban.

“We must repeat the performance seen today, remaining concentrated on the game. We’re still a couple of days away and aren’t focused on the second leg yet.

“I don’t feel the need to lower the euphoria of the team. There is enthusiasm after victory, but now we must concentrate on recovering our energy, on getting the right food and drink. There are another 90 minutes to play.”

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