Against Germany, Larsson missed a penalty in the 53rd minute that could have turned the game around despite Sweden playing shorthanded.

"I totally mishit the ball," the ex-Barcelona striker said. "I wanted to shoot the ball in the other corner _ high and hard. I have no idea why I mishit the ball. Such things happen."

Sweden also edged Paraguay on Marcus Allback's 89th-minute goal to finish unbeaten in group play, and the players and coaching staff were cautiously optimistic going into the second round in Munich.

But Sweden got off to a nightmare start, falling behind in the fourth minute on Lukas Podolski's first goal and then trailed 2-0 after another goal by the German striker in the 12th minute.

"We still thought that we could do something at that point," Larsson said. "I never gave up. We just fought on. But they deserved to win."

The biggest individual disappoinment was Zlatan Ibrahimovic's listless performances against Trinidad, Paraguay and Germany.

The Juventus striker was tipped as Sweden's most lethal offensive weapon. But he flopped.

"It was too bad that I injured my groin against Paraguay," he said. "My legs felt heavy during the (Germany) match because I had not played for a long time."

Ibrahimovic missed the England match and then needed nine days to recover.