Captain Olof Mellberg hopes Sweden can build on their mesmerising display from the second half against England when they open the World Cup knockout stages against Germany on Saturday.

Lars Lagerback's troops twice fought back from a goal down to salvage a 2-2 draw and they looked much improved from the draw against Trinidad and Tobago and the close victory over Paraguay.

The performance has left the Scandinavians in high spirits ahead of the much-awaited clash with the tournament hosts in Munich.

"Hopefully we can bring the second-half performance from England into the game and then we will have a good chance," Mellberg stated. "Our confidence is high."

Sweden were in complete control of the last 45 minutes against England but it was not until injury time that Henrik Larsson bagged a well-deserved equaliser.

Five days earlier, Freddie Ljungberg had scored a 89th-minute winner against Paraguay.

While Lagerback insisted the late goals were proof of the "character of the team", Mellberg claims it has given them another lift.

"Scoring goals in the dying minutes has definitely given us confidence," he said.

"We are very confident at the end of games so we just keep hoping and keep playing."

Yet the 28-year-old urged his team-mates to keep improving.

"We need to step it up because we are playing against a really strong opponent," Mellberg said.

"They are probably the best side we have played thus far. We need to defend real well, especially the long balls. I think we will have a good chance if we play our game."

Taking on a strong footballing nation like Germany in front of a euphoric home crowd was not what Sweden were looking for, though.

"We had a tough group and we were second but England won the group so they deserve to have the better draw," Mellberg added.

"It will be very difficult. Germany have a really good side and they played really well in the last couple of weeks.

"We will just go out there and play our game. I think we will have a good chance."