Sweden's selection of Veteran Larsson Garners praise

Swedish football fans and commentators Wednesday applauded the surprise announcement that veteran Swedish forward Henrik Larsson was selected for the upcoming European Championships.

At age 36 and with 93 caps for Sweden, Larsson is headed for his sixth major championships two years after he called it quits after Sweden lost 2-0 to host nation Germany in the 2006 World Cup finals.

Larsson said approval from his family was the key in his decision to accept the offer made Monday by coach Lars Lagerback.

"I am glad that the coaches think I am good enough that they want me back," Larsson told the Helsingborgs Dagblad newspaper.

Entries on the newspaper's online site hailed Larsson as "currently Sweden's best player" and "Congratulations Swedes! What a great summer it's going to be..."

Larsson himself said he was prepared to be a substitute on the side that takes on Greece, Spain and Russia in Group D, and did not rule out continuing to play for Sweden in the World Cup qualifications "if the coaches think I have a spot and need me."

Larsson said he was not "automatically" sure he would be one the starting line-up for Sweden, citing that Inter Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic is "the first hand choice" along with Johan Elmander of Toulouse.

According to Helsingborgs Dagblad, he felt a "quite nervous" about meeting up with the rest of the squad after two years absence.

The gifted forward has also played for Feyenoord, Celtic, Barcelona and is back at Helsingborg - last year he was briefly on loan to Manchester United.

When Lagerback Tuesday read out Larsson's name during the announcement of his 23-strong squad, reporters gave a round of applause.

Lagerback told Swedish radio that he and deputy Roland Andersson had been eying Larsson since the autumn season and his great performances in UEFA Cup matches with Helsingborg.

"He has been extremely good in the Swedish league during the spring, so we decided to go ahead and ask him," Lagerback said, adding that the five forwards in the squad give us "options and choices."

Football columnist Simon Bank in top-selling tabloid Aftonbladet said that Larsson's selection was proof he was no "ordinary player - that would be like calling a Stradivarius (violin) a piece of wood with strings."

Swedish radio's expert Ralf Edstrom - a former World Cup player for Sweden - said the selection was "wonderful".

Larsson was "the smartest and best football player we have," Edstrom said.

Sapa-dpa