LISBON, June 15: Striker Henrik Larsson marked his return to the big stage by scoring twice in two minutes as Sweden crushed Bulgaria 5-0 in their opening Euro 2004 game on Monday.
Larsson, recently persuaded to end two years of international retirement, claimed his double within 71 seconds early in the second half, the first a glorious diving header and the second a sliding lunge at the far post.
Midfielder Fredrik Ljungberg had given Sweden a deserved 32nd-minute lead, Zlatan Ibrahimovic added a fourth in the 78th from the penalty spot before substitute Marcus Allback completed the rout in stoppage time.
The victory, easily Sweden's biggest in the European Championship and equalling the highest winning margin in the tournament's 44-year history, gave them early control of Group 'C' after Denmark and Italy drew 0-0.
It also emphatically ended their curse of not winning an opening game in a major tournament, a run going back through eight competitions to the 1958 World Cup. Bulgaria, seeking their first win over the Scandinavians since 1967 after a run of seven defeats and two draws, almost drew first blood when forward Zoran Jankovich volleyed just wide after 16 minutes.
At the other end, Larsson, playing his 75th international, went close when he slid on to a sharp low cross by Mikael Nilsson. The breakthrough came when midfielder Anders Svensson sent a long pass into the path of Ibrahimovic who crossed low for Ljungberg to touch in from point-blank range.
There was a flying start to the second half as the ever-dangerous Martin Petrov crossed well for Jankovich to head just wide for Bulgaria, while a clever Ibrahimovic backheel set Ljungberg free, only for keeper Zdravko Zdravkov to block with his legs.
Petrov then flashed a shot wide in the 55th minute but just as Bulgarian hopes were rising, Larsson left them reeling. In the 57th minute, full back Erik Edman swung in a tempting cross from the left and the Celtic striker launched himself full length to head an early contender for goal of the tournament.
Just over a minute later Svensson drove a low cross in from the right and Larsson arrived at the far post to steer the ball into the roof of the net. The Swedish fans roared their team forward to match their 4-0 success over Bulgaria in the 1994 World Cup third-place playoff, when Larsson also scored, and their wish was granted 12 minutes from time.
Ljungberg was brought down in the box by Vladimir Ivanov, Ibrahimovic lashed in the penalty and substitute Allback sprung the offside trap to gleefully lash home the fifth in injury time.
It was only the fourth time a European Championship match had been won by a five-goal margin. Sweden now face a stiffer task when they take on Italy in Porto on June 18, while Bulgaria must lift themselves for their game against Denmark in Braga earlier on the same day. -Reuters