It may look unattractive on paper, but the much-prophesised 2-2 draw between Denmark and Sweden was as just as the Italian elimination it prompted.

It is doubtful that Azzurri coach Giovanni Trapattoni will be in any great rush to watch a tape of Tuesday's events at Estadio do Bessa, a shame since they boasted many merits lacking in his own team's campaign.

A vibrant, open encounter which either team could have won with better fortune or finishing, it was most notable for lacking the fear that so paralyses Italy.

Morten Olsen's trademark wingers offered an attractive throwback once again, Chelsea's Jesper Gronkjaer impressing particularly.

Gronkjaer and Martin Jorgensen, the latter replaced by Dennis Rommedahl, rarely relented their torment of Sweden's unremarkable full-backs Erik Edman and Mikael Nilsson.

Neither of Jon Dahl Tomasson's goals came directly from wing play but the AC Milan striker leads a charmed life at the apex of Olsen's daring formation.

Enjoying a quality of service few strikers in Portugal can match, Tomasson made first-half pressure tell with a 28th-minute lob of Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson.

The Danes could have been further in front when Henrik Larsson's cunning earned and converted an undeserved penalty to equalise and prompt a spell of Swedish dominance.

Arsenal's Fredrik Ljungberg eschewed the look of indifference he often wears in national colours with such success that joint coaches Lars Lagerback and Tommy Soderbergh could ultimately afford an anonymous display from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The momentum was lost when Tomasson supplemented his audacious 25-yarder with a simple tap-in after penalty-box pinball following a corner but neither side is big on self-pity.

The impetus was then with the Danes and it was their turn to reach for, but not seize, decisive goals.

As Sweden desperately sought an equaliser, Ebbe Sand, Kasper Bogelund and Gronkjaer all had chances to score goals that would, it transpired, have eliminated their neighbours.

Instead, the failure to score from an 88th-minute Thomas Gravesen free-kick cost Italy dear as Sweden countered and Mattias Jonson capitalised on an error from the previously impeccable Thomas Sorensen to deliver Trapattoni's worst nightmare.

It was another healthy result for a tournament that has thus far seen negativity uniformly punished but Europe must now brace itself for more Italian cries of foul play.

Trapattoni only kept his job after World Cup elimination two years ago because his public saw fit to blame Ecuadorian Byron Moreno for some erratic refereeing rather than Christian Vieri for wasteful finishing.

Vieri will likely duck more deserved criticism as self-righteousness again rules sense but it is time for Italy to face up to the realities of a crumbling empire.

In seven games at major finals under Trapattoni, Tuesday's 2-1 defeat of Bulgaria represents a second victory; never have they faced elite opposition.

Such is the pace of football's evolution that the veteran coach's reputation was earned in a different age; such are the shortcomings of Serie A that few of his Azzurri players have ever justified their elaborate celebrity.

Italian football has little to recommend it at present as overpaid failures persist with outdated beliefs.

And while neither Denmark nor Sweden have the look of European champions, their performances and progress have been a credit to the continent; it is no longer possible to echo the sentiment for Italy.