Swedish main role in the penalty drama got goalkeeper Jennifer Falk. She saved four penalties, but missed when she was to hit the decisive penalty.
I was asked so I said yes. So I knew it before the penalty shoot-out, says Falk to SVT.
Magdalena Eriksson also missed her penalty.
I feel sad, empty and disappointed. Everything at the same time. This is hard to move on from. We had the match.
The start of the European Championship promised so well for the dream of a first Swedish championship gold since 1984. England crushed those hopes in Thursday's quarter-final at Letzigrundstadion in Zurich.
With just over ten minutes left to play, Sweden led 2-0. But a couple of English substitutions turned everything around.
A substitute, Chloe Kelly, made the cross when Lucy Bronze headed in 1-2 in the 79th minute. Another, Michelle Agyemang, tapped in 2-2 two minutes later.
The extension was goalless. The penalty shoot-out became incredible - and a Swedish nightmare in the end.
Jennifer Falk saved three straight penalties, then stepped forward herself to shoot Sweden ahead - but the ball went over.
Falk saved one more, Sofia Jakobsson got the chance, but Hannah Hampton saved.
Lucy Bronze scored the next for England and then 18-year-old Smilla Holmberg stepped up to the penalty spot. The championship debutant, who got her big breakthrough in the European Championship, shot over. And so the European Championship was over for Sweden.
Swedish dream start
Sweden otherwise made a dream start to the quarter-final. High pressure got the English defenders out of balance and already in the second minute the zero was broken.
Jess Carter did not have time to get away with his pass before Filippa Angeldahl threw herself forward and broke. The ball bounced to Stina Blackstenius who played forward Kosovare Asllani and Sweden's team captain safely rolled in 1-0 in the far corner, the 35-year-old's 50th national team goal and her tenth in a championship.
Another Swedish ball win from Angeldahl, this time on her own half, was the beginning of 2-0 in the 25th minute. Julia Zigiotti Olme fished up the ball and served Blackstenius who set off towards the goal, pushed herself past her opponent and set 2-0 in the same corner as Asllani.
A star-studded England was of course not harmless. Lauren Hemp hit the post at Sweden's 1-0 lead - after Jennifer Falk got her fingers on the shot and in the beginning of the second half Ella Toone had a header just outside.
Then came the decisive substitutions. Kelly in. Agyemang in. Sweden out.
Swedish national team coach Peter Gerhardsson commented on the match:
It's an incredibly swinging match. It was a skilled England that worked us down. Now it's very empty. So close, but penalties are a bit like that. It's hard to handle for the players.
He explained why Smilla Holmberg got to shoot the last penalty.
She is in training the safest penalty shooter.
Gerhardsson's last match
Peter Gerhardsson and Magnus Wikman, national team coach and assistant since autumn 2017, have now done their part. After the European Championship, Tony Gustavsson will take over a national team that has taken itself back to the world and European top in the last eight years. Olympic silver, double World Championship bronze and a European Championship semi-final are strong papers even if the gold is missing for Gerhardsson and Wikman.
Team captain Kosovare Asllani has also said that this will be her last championship, central defender veteran Linda Sembrant as well.
Whether they will continue in the national team for a while after the European Championship is still unclear. Already in the turn of the month October-November, there is a chance for redemption when Sweden is one of four teams that compete in the Nations League finals.
The elimination probably tastes a bit extra sour considering how it started and what was expected. Sweden impressed greatly in the group stage, won all three matches and, among other things, ran over world third Germany with 4-1. The blue and yellow football ladies had therefore, with a win in the quarter-final, entered as a big favorite in Tuesday's semi-final against Italy, which now instead will face England in the battle for a final spot.
