Brazil-born striker Eder overcame an otherwise patchy performance to hit a cracking late winner in a 1-0 victory over Sweden that sent Italy into the last 16 of Euro 2016 on Friday.
Eder, playing in his first major finals for Italy after being naturalised last year, came close to being substituted by Antonio Conte after a dismal opening half up front alongside Southampton striker Graziano Pelle.
But the Inter Milan striker had the Italy bench celebrating wildly on the pitch at the Stadium de Toulouse with a well-taken 88th minute strike after running on to Simone Zaza’s header to beat Andreas Eriksson at his far post.
“I’m very happy with the goal,” said Eder, who this season has struggled to make an impact at Inter Milan after moving from Sampdoria in January.
“I’m delighted for the team, and I’m very happy the coach has kept faith with me.
“I think it helped me I wasn’t playing for Inter Milan a lot at the end of the season. That helped me to save some energy for this championship and also allowed me to work a lot of my fitness.”
Italy, 2-0 winners over Belgium last week, now top Group E with six points, leaving Sweden, who had late claims for a penalty waved away, realistically needing to beat Belgium on Wednesday if they are to have any hope of making it to the knockout phase.
After a mediocre display in Sweden’s 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland, all eyes were on captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the towering striker sought to make his mark by becoming the first man to score in four editions of the competition.
But a cautious Italy restricted the former Juventus and Paris Saint Germain striker to few real chances in front of a huge army of yellow-clad Sweden fans.
Defender Giorgio Chiellini was handed that task but he said it took a concerted effort.
“You can’t afford to give strikers like him an inch. He can transform balls that most humans can do nothing with into goals,” said the Juventus defender.
“But it took the whole team to help close him down. Zlatan is 80 per cent of Sweden’s team.”
