SAINTS midfielder Anders Svensson was "distraught" after Sweden's Euro 2004 elimination against Holland on penalties.

"We are distraught, we were hoping to go all the way in this tournament," said Svensson following his country's penalty shoot-out loss on Saturday.

"It's painful to be eliminated in this way.

"We saw how hard it was for England to go out the other day, and now we are the ones to suffer in the same way.

"One team has to lose and it was us."

Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg was the man who missed the vital spot-kick - allowing the Dutch to win a shoot-out at the fifth attempt.

"Mellberg has had a fantastic tournament. He missed a penalty but he will bounce back because he is a winner," said Svensson.

"We have played a formidable tournament and we are proud of what we have achieved."

Swedish striker Henrik Larsson, meanwhile, has revealed he may continue to play international football. Larsson came out of international retirement to play in Euro 2004 and the decision was justified.

The 32-year-old scored twice in Sweden's opening victory over Bulgaria and netted his third of the competition in the 2-2 draw with Denmark that saw both teams qualify from Group C.

But he was left devastated by Sweden's exit.

"Right now I feel so disappointed, that you need to scrape me off the floor," said Larsson.

"I'm glad to have returned but this was not about me, it was about the team.

"If nothing comes up, as I've always said, I will retire from football. If I do get a club I might continue in international football."

Larsson ended his hugely successful seven-year spell with Celtic at the end of last season and there has been no shortage of potential suitors, most notably Barcelona.