Camara pounced 14 minutes into extra-time, bagging his second goal of an even match when he danced past Swedish skipper Johan Mjallby before drilling in a low shot past Magnus Hedman.

Victory means Senegal are the first African side to qualify for the last eight since the Roger Milla-inspired ‘Indomitable Lions’ of Cameroon at the 1990 finals in Italy.

Senegal, who scored a stunning 1-0 upset of champions France in group A earlier in the tournament, now face either Turkey or Japan on Saturday in Osaka for a place in the semi-finals.

At the other end Liverpool-bound African Footballer of the Year El-Hadji Diouf squandered a gilt-edged opening when he burst into the penalty area only to hook a low shot well wide.

Earlier Senegal had begun the match poorly, Sweden dominating the early play and taking a deserved lead through Larsson’s header.

The Swedes had gone close moments earlier, midfielder Tobias Linderoth unleashing a meaty 25-yarder that Senegal keeper Tony Sylva gathered.

The Scandinavians created another good opening through Olof Mellberg on four minutes.

A cleverly worked free-kick put the Aston Villa player in down the right hand side. Mellberg’s shot was saved well by Sylva, and Magnus Svensson rolled the rebound well wide.

Senegal thought they had equalised on 25 minutes, when Diouf’s shot fell to Pape Bouba Diop, who tapped in from close range. The effort was disallowed, however, in the tightest of offside decisions.

Sweden had legitimate claims for a penalty waved away by Paraguayan referee Ubaldo Aquino towards the end of the half. Senegal were lucky to escape after Omar Daf bundled over Marcus Allback.

Eight minutes from time Senegal levelled with a marvellous goal from Camara, controlling on his chest, jinking to the right past Sweden skipper Johan Mjallby and drilling in a low shot past Hedman.

The second half followed the same pattern, with both sides struggling to gain control.

Sweden had a chance to seal it in the final 10 minutes when substitute Zlatan Ibrahimovic beat Ferdinand Coly down the right flank and cut inside a sliding tackle from Aliou Cisse.

But instead of crossing to an unmarked Larsson at the back post, Ibrahimovic went for the glory and saw his shot blocked by Sylva.

After taking an 11th-minute lead through Henrik Larsson today, Sweden succumbed to the exploits of Senegal’s attacking midfielder Camara, who beat Mjallby to equalise eight minutes before half time and again to secure the dramatic 2-1 winner 14 minutes into extra-time. “We had never heard of Henri Camara before,” the central defender told reporters. “But unfortunately we have now and I don’t think we will forget him.”

“The fact that we didn’t know anything about him does not give us any excuses now...we knew Senegal were a strong team and we should have done better.”

“It is definitely the most devastating defeat of my career...I think we will all take some time to get over it.” Mjallby, stand-in skipper in the absence of the injured Patrik Andersson, insisted no-one had tried to apportion blame for their defeat.

“No one said anything to each other (in the dressing room) afterwards. We were too upset, and there were a few tears,” he said.

“But blaming each other will not help and no-one will do it.”

For their first goal, I realised I could only foul him and I didn’t want to give a penalty away.

“For the second I thought there was some cover behind me but (Camara) got through...if I’d brought him down, maybe I would have conceded a penalty and also got a red card, and in golden goal extra time that would be awful.”

Mjallby insisted his side had enjoyed no luck, especially after Anders Svensson had hit the post in extra time before Camara finished the contest off.

“We were unlucky, I have no doubts about that,” said Mjallby. ‘’After Henrik scored, maybe we should have been more positive and tried to score again. Reuters

On the field, Mexico have for too long been satisfied with merely getting this far whereas, while they have often jousted with their northern neighbours in the past in qualifying, the Americans have only recently shown a serious interest in ‘soccer.’

Now it’s time to meet the neighbours on the world stage and while a place in the quarter-finals is a major prize in itself the Mexicans will be looking to show that, if they have spent decades in economic thrall to their rivals, they can be top dogs when it comes to the greatest sports show on Earth.

The World Cup is just another sports event for most English-speaking Americans — but for Mexico this is a chance to put one over on their neighbours and millions of US-based Hispanics will be backing the "Aztecs" to that end.

Mexico, despite a tradition of World Cup participation — this is their 13th showing — have never been past the quarter-finals and given their rivalry with their northern ‘big brother’, failing to make the last eight this time would be a humiliation hard to bear.

Javier Aguirre’s side almost didn’t make it to Asia after losing six qualifiers on the run — and it was only when they turned to their former player that he finally managed to turn the sinking ship around.

Within a week of his appointment last June, having slumped to Costa Rica and Honduras under Enrique Meza, the Mexicans had scored a crucial 1-0 win before a 105,000 crowd at the Aztec Stadium — over Bruce Arena’s USA.

Aguirre demanded players who were "willing to give their souls" for their country and they finally stood up and were counted, particularly Jared Borghetti, their matchwinner in that game and also their scorer in the final first phase draw with Italy.

The Americans have, under Arena — a former goalkeeper —made big strides and shocked Portugal in the opening game with some fast-flowing football. But they almost wilted in the face of South Korean pressure before taking a draw which sent them through as the co-hosts ended the Portuguese campaign.

Friday’s 1-3 loss to Poland suggested that Team USA has plenty of weaknesses and without stalwart Jeff Agoos, a major doubt with a leg injury and left back Frankie Hejduk suspended after a second yellow card against Poland.

Yet the Americans have a good recent record against their southern rivals with four wins in the past five meetings, even though historically Mexico lead the win count 28-9.

Reyna says he is confident the world will see the performance which humbled Portugal rather than the one which allowed Poland to trample all over his men.

"It’s hit us that we are now in the final 16 of the World Cup and you look at the teams that have gone home and you have to be proud with what we have done.

"Mexico are really peaking right now. They played well against Italy and one good thing is that we know them very well for having played them so many times.

"That’s one positive," says Reyna, who may bring in Pablo Mastroeni for the suspended Heyduk.

"We know their team well, they know our team well and it’s going to be a good game."

Aguirre, nicknamed the "Basque" and who played in the 1986 Mexican side which reached the last eight and lost to West Germany on penalties, says he believes his side are about to come of age.

"We’ve not won anything yet. We beat them the last time we met up — but there’s a lot at stake here."

Borgetti says the philosophical Aguirre’s mind games with his side have paid dividends.

"Javier keeps on drumming into us that we have to perform well every time we step out there. He says nobody has a divine right to a starting place. It keeps us on our toes."

Midfielder Braulio Luna cautions against over-optimism that this might be Mexico’s year.

"We played well in all three first-phase games. But what have we won? We’ve been this far before only to disappoint at previous World Cups. Now we want to seize the moment and go further. AFP

Now the serious business begin, with a mouth-watering quarterfinal against England the prize, if they can negotiate Belgium.

While Belgium have a proud World Cup record and a recent history of nicking important results, Ronaldo is adamant the South Americans will have too much firepower for Robert Waseige’s Red Devils.

“We watched the Belgium-Russia match on Friday and we studied the video,” he said. “We have nothing to fear from this team and there’s no cause for alarm.

“All we have to do is concentrate on playing our game everything depends on us. The important thing is to know that we can play the way we did in the group stage,” the Inter Milan star said.

Brazil’s performances in the first phase have turned pre-tournament predictions upside down.

Scolari stood accused of betraying Brazilian football’s heritage earlier this year, favouring a physical, rugged game instead of the classic flamboyant style of old.

Yet the World Cup has so far seen all the hallmarks associated with classic Brazil sides - free-kicks, an overhead kick, and, most worryingly for Scolari, defensive failings.

Scolari is anxious to tighten up his defence against a Belgium expected to hang back in numbers and look for opportunities on the counter attack.

“They put a lot of people behind the ball against Russia and made it difficult for them,” Scolari said. “They defend very well and we may have to take our time.”

Ronaldo believes Belgium will be playing a dangerous game if they opt for a policy of containment.

“The Belgians can’t try to play safe, they’re obliged to attack and push up, and that will create space,” he said.

Underdogs Belgium, meanwhile, are determined to prolong popular coach Waseige’s tenure for as long as possible.

Waseige announced he was stepping down after the World Cup - and is delighted his team have confounded expectations by reaching the last 16.

“There was a lot of criticism before we came over here - some sections of the media were very negative and they came over to Japan,” he said.

“We had two draws (against Japan and Tunisia) and one win, scoring six goals. We showed we are not a team you can just throw away. We deserved this and the players fought very hard”.

“On a wet and wondrous evening in the Japanese town of Niigata, England’s impossible dream took a long stride towards reality,” said The Mail today.

Under the headline “The Boys Dane Good”, the paper said “Their achievements are increasing with every match, their confidence swelling with every passing hour.

“They are no longer modest aspirants: they are becoming genuine contenders.”

England’s emphatic victory over the Danes set the stage for a potentially mouthwatering quarterfinal tie with Brazil.

The South American team must first overcome Belgium, but that detail did not hold back the headline writers.

“Bring on Brazil,” screamed the front page headline of the Sunday Mirror.

“England now stands on the verge of a historic triumph to match the glory of 1966... (its only World Cup win).

“England has outshone some of the best teams in the tournament, with both France and Argentina out of the running.”

“We’re Goran all the way” proclaimed the News of the World, reflecting the mood of euphoric fans across the country, who were celebrating late into the night.

“England had the mark of World Cup winners with yesterday’s brilliant performance. No heart stopping histrionics, no nail biting finish, just 90 minutes’ professionalism,” the tabloid said.

“Trio de Janeiro” is how the Sunday People celebrated England’s win.

“Sven’s young lions can rule the world,” it trumpeted. The paper added: “This is a great summer to be British”, pointing to Queen Elizabeth’s golden jubilee celebrations, which have evoked a huge wave of patriotism, and Lennox Lewis’s recent boxing victory over Mike Tyson.

The enthusiasm over England’s performance also infected the normally staid broadsheets. AFP

The co-hosts rely on pacey bursts down the flanks and possess a tireless midfield unit who will certainly make the Italians graft for a full 90 minutes on Tuesday.

But what will surely concern Trapattoni is that it is precisely his midfielders who have failed to deliver in Italy’s past two games.

In the opening group G match against Ecuador, the Italians controlled the central areas, largely thanks to the strong organisational skills of Luigi Di Biagio.

But without Di Biagio against Croatia and Mexico, games Italy lost and drew, the Italians conceded an unusual amount of space and were never able to take control of the game, leaving their defence with little cover and failing to provide enough effective service to the front men.

Di Biagio, who is suffering from a calf injury, will be missing again against the South Koreans, although he could be back for the semi-finals - if the Italians get that far.

Whether they do or not will depend to a large extent on whether Trapattoni can find a way to compensate for the shaven-headed midfielder’s absence.

So far, he has opted for Cristiano Zanetti and Damiano Tommasi as the central duo and, while both have done well in the past as Di Biagio’s partner, together they have lacked a certain authority.

Zanetti is a fetcher and carrier, who harries across the centre of the park, closing down space and tackling. Tommasi’s main role for his club Roma and Italy is to ensure that Francesco Totti is well provided with the possession he needs to open up opposition defences.

Neither player is a general in the mold of Di Biagio, neither operates well sitting in front of the defence and while not lacking in technique, the pair lack the international experience and authority that Di Biagio possesses. Zanettti thinks that criticism the team, in particular the midfield, received after the 2-1 defeat to Croatia and the 1-1 draw with Mexico is unfair.

Once again, Trapattoni faces a tough tactical decision ahead of Tuesday’s game and it will be interesting to see whether the coach shares Zanetti’s positive take on Italy’s last two showings.

While there is no doubt that Totti operates more effectively in a withdrawn role behind two strikers, such a system left the midfield area under-populated against Mexico.

The hardworking Gianluca Zambrotta on the right flank has arguably been the only real positive surprise in the Italian squad so far and his qualities will be badly needed against the South Koreans.

How Trapattoni must wish he had another Zambrotta for the left wing.

But it is the centre of midfield where Trapattoni’s thoughts will be focused. The pre-tournament injury to Demetrio Albertini robbed the Italy coach of a natural replacement for Di Biagio and so the coach will have to look for other qualities to compensate for the lack of a true organiser. One option is Gennaro Gattuso, a tenacious tackler and a genuine grafter with a dogged attitude - attributes that would surely be useful against Guus Hiddink’s combative side.

The only other midfielder available to Trapattoni is Angelo Di Livio. At 35, it is doubtful whether he has the pace or the stamina needed for a full game of this nature, but his great experience and calming influence will come in useful if Italy find themselves with a narrow lead to defend in the second half.

To get to that point though, Italy will need to produce a more dynamic midfield display than they have managed so far. Reuters

So much for our image as impartial, professional broadcasters. But no one has ever accused Ian Wright, Peter Reid or me of being impartial when it comes to England. I was only surprised that Wrighty hadn’t draped himself in a giant flag of St George, though there’s still time before the fat lady sings at this tournament.

Let’s face it, we’re all fans now and it was just fantastic to get through a game without having to suffer too much. After Michael Owen scored the second goal, it was just all too easy. So now finally we can say ‘Bring on Brazil’ and really look forward to the prospect. When this World Cup started, I said if England reached the second stage, it would be a fabulous effort.

But now there’s a chance - no, a distinct possibility - that England could win it. And this is a young team who can only get better and the great thing is that they’ve already done themselves justice, which is the main objective when you step on to such a big stage. There were so many plusses for England against Denmark and perhaps the biggest one was the fact that both strikers scored. You cannot exaggerate the importance of that to a striker’s confidence.

If Owen had gone a fourth game without a goal, he would have been starting to think that he needed one and though he’s not one to panic, he was unlucky to hit a post against Argentina and then his great solo run against Nigeria came to nothing.

As for Emile Heskey, I would say that he is more of a confidence player than anyone else in the squad. He drifts between being exasperating and brilliant and though, unlike many critics, I would have played him against Denmark, I have to admit that he can frustrate you to death at times.

But when you get the other Heskey, you’ve got a match-winner and after his goal, you could see the change in him. Suddenly, he was starting to make runs and take people on and make a general nuisance of himself.

In midfield, Nicky Butt has been a revelation and has given England something they wouldn’t have had even if Steven Gerrard had been fit, and that’s a natural holding player. Gerrard and Paul Scholes can interchange in that role but Butt was born for the task and he’s had a superb World Cup. As well as steadying the ship in the middle, he’s been penetrative when he comes forward and has hardly given the ball away.

David Beckham is improving every game and his broken metatarsal has all but been forgotten. No matter how good you are, it always takes time to find your best form after injury and I would say that David is now pretty close to that.

In defence, the two full-backs, Danny Mills and Ashley Cole, have come of age during this tournament, while David Seaman has coped admirably when called upon, which is why, unbelievably, we’ve had three clean sheets in a row. Sol Campbell has been steady, too, and I don’t know how many more superlatives I can pour on Rio Ferdinand. If he carries on like this, even Manchester United will not be able to afford to buy him.

The perennial problem on the left side of midfield is still a little worry but Trevor Sinclair has done better than could have been expected and the bonus is that he has started to build an understanding with Cole.

The $ 64,000 question, of course, is does this all add up to a side that can get past Brazil? The most encouraging thing I can say is that England certainly won’t be going into the game believing they cannot win it.

I’m sure everyone in the country will be cheering on Belgium against the Brazilians tomorrow but in a way, it would almost be an anti-climax not to play Brazil. You can’t get a sexier encounter than England versus Brazil in a World Cup quarter-final, and it is 32 years since we played them even in the group stage.

Brazil have already showed that they have produced another team of highly skilful individuals and anyone in their side can hurt you in front of goal. But they didn’t exactly come into the tournament with a lot of confidence after a poor qualifying campaign and so far, they’ve mostly had it all their own way against Turkey, China and Costa Rica.

Whatever the result, England will come home as heroes now. They’ve exceeded most people’s expectations already and losing to an outstanding Brazil side would be no disgrace. And the experience this young side has had will stand them in great stead for years to come. Sven-Goran Eriksson, remember, was brought in to spearhead our 2006 World Cup campaign, so you have to say he is well ahead of schedule. (Gameplan)

Agarkar was in the Indian side for the 1999 World Cup played in England. Pacers Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Tinu Yohannan, named in both the one-day and Test squads for the upcoming 83-day tour, would be on their maiden voyage to England.

India would kick off the trip with a triangular one day series from June 27 to July 13 also involving Sri Lanka before playing a four-Test series against the hosts.

Ganguly reiterated that the tour would be tough with England bound to prove a difficult customer on home soil. “It’s going to be tough... England’s home advantage is bound to be significant and, clearly, our task is cut out,” the elegant left hander, now enjoying a short break from the game with his family members, said. Ganguly, who had earlier said he would try to persuade Srinath to change his decision to retire from Test cricket, confirmed that he had spoken to the lanky Karnataka player on the issue. “I could only ask Srinath to have a rethink... However, he ruled out the possibility, insisting he just didn’t wish to play Tests... Since it is his personal decision, I obviously couldn’t press beyond a point,” he added.

Ganguly parried a question as to whether there could still be a one-day role for Srinath in future.

“At this point, I can’t make a definite comment... Let’s see how things unfold,” he said.

Ganguly insisted there was no problem between him and Srinath. “I certainly didn’t have a problem with our most experienced fast bowler”. PTI

At the par-70 course, Jeev posted his third successive round of 75 yesterday for an aggregate of 15-over 225 after three days, according to information received here today.

And it was Tiger Woods who continued to lead the tournament despite shooting his worst round of tournament, a level-par 70. His three-day tally of five-under 205 gave him a four-stroke advantage over the second-placed Sergio Garcia, who added a three-under 67 to aggregate one-under 209.

While, it was Jeev’s ironplay that caused him most of the troubles, the fact remained that three of the six bogeys came after his ball got plugged in the bunker.

“I have never had such terrible luck with the bunkers. Yesterday, twice I got plugged lies, and I made double bogeys on both the holes. Today, the ball got plugged on three holes.

“However, the truth of the matter is that I played badly today. If I could have controlled my irons better, I would have never gone into the bunkers,” said Jeev.

Jeev started the day with two solid pars, before getting his first fried egg in the front bunker of the par-3 third hole. On the par-5 fourth hole, he missed a four-footer for birdie. On the sixth, he had a buried lie in the bunker again for his second bogey of the day.

At the turn, he was three-over for the day.

On the back nine, Jeev made bogeys on the 11th and 15th after hitting his tee shot in the rough. His only birdie of the day came on the par-4 16th hole, where he hit a 9-iron to eight feet and sank his putt. The very next hole, he had third plugged lie of the day which accounted for his sixth bogey. PTI