Euro 2000 Group B - Belgium 2 Sweden 1

Co hosts Belgium beat Sweden 2-1 in an entertaining start to Euro 2000 in Brussels.

Goals from Bart Goor and Emile Mpenza gave Belgium the win.

The victory hands the Belgians a good start to their group matches but Sweden now have only two games to play to try and qualify for the quarter finals. Sweden also had defender Patrik Andersson sent off for a horror tackle on Goor in the 79th minute. Andersson flew into a tackle with both feet that swiped through Goor's run and hacked him down by kicking away the left leg in a late challenge that was very ugly.

Andersson is now banned for the next match against Turkey and the red card allowed Belgium to play comfortably on the break in the closing stages.

The nearest Sweden got to an equaliser came in the 85th minute when a powerful header by Johan Mjallby from a free kick was tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Filip De Wilde.

The same two players were involved in the incident that will be talked about most after this game and which gave Sweden hope for getting back on level terms.

De Wilde stepped on the ball as he tried to clear a back pass. The new rule for goalkeepers is that they cannot hold the ball in their possession for more than six seconds and De Wilde was mindful of this as he hurried his clearance and made a bad mistake. The loose ball allowed Mjallby to run in and kick the ball into the net in the 55th minute.

Emile Mpenza sealed the win for Belgium with an excellent finish just two minutes into the second half when he latched onto a flick through from Marc Wilmots to hammer the ball into the roof of the net beyond the grasp of goalkeeper Magnus Hedman.

Pressure from Bart Goor forced Roland Nilsson into the 42nd minute error that gifted possession to the Belgians.

He carried the ball into the area and fired low from the left flank past Hedman.

The home fans were delighted and a good atmosphere built up even though there were may empty seats and the news that Belgian fans had not taken up their full allocation for matches was clearly true.

The home fans will surely want to support Robert Waseige's side now after a creditable win in a good start to the tournament.

Several of their stars impressed with Goor, Mpenza and Verheyen all tireless in their running for the team.

Mpenza almost gave Belgium the lead in the 37th minute when he headed over a clear chance from a cross from the right by Verheyen and De Wilde needed to block a shot from Frederik Ljungberg with his legs after the Arsenal player ran clean through on goal in the 40th minute.

Kennet Andersson had forced a save from De Wilde in the opening seconds with a low shot on the run but Belgium defended well for most of the game and even the appearance of last substitute Henrik Larsson could not get Sweden back on level terms.