Swedish star Henrik hoping he'll march on in his quest to be a centurion

The iconic striker is competing in his sixth major tournament for his country - having amassed 97 caps so far - and scored in all the previous five in a remarkable run stretching back to World Cup '94 in the United States.

Legendary: Swedish striker Larsson is at his sixth major Finals

Larsson came out of retirement to play at Euro 2008 and a point in Innsbruck tonight against the Russians will be enough for Lars Lagerback's side to claim a quarter-final place in Vienna on Sunday evening.

However, it might not be the last we ever see of Larsson at a major finals, because the 36-year-old Celtic legend has performed another U-turn - and is now preparing to take up coaching.

Indeed, he would have been involved in coaching courses with the Swedish FA back in his homeland right now had it not been for his decision to play for the national side.

It would be the first foot on the ladder for the man who previously dismissed any prospect of moving into a dugout.

However, he now seems intent on following former Parkhead team-mates Paul Lambert and Neil Lennon into the management side of the game.

Larsson will be 37 in September and will complete the Swedish season with Helsingborgs later in the autumn.

He has not yet decided if he will play another year of club football thereafter.

The immediate future, of course, features a huge match against the Russians - with opposition coach Guus Hiddink having never failed to take a national side through the group stages of a major tournament.

Hiddink's impressive record spans spells with Holland, South Korea and Australia, whom he coached at the last World Cup. And he has Andrei Arshavin available after suspension as he seeks more success with Russia.

The Zenit St Petersburg player was Man of the Match in the UEFA Cup Final against Rangers in Manchester but had to sit out the games here with Spain and Greece because of a foolish red card against Andorra in qualifying.

Arshavin may have to make his return from the bench and Celtic fans, as well as Gordon Strachan, will have signing target Roman Pavluchenko in their sights.

The Parkhead club have put the Spartak Moscow striker on their wanted list, even though Pavluchenko's price could rocket here if he can add to the goal he scored against Spain.

Lagerback's squad are the oldest at Euro 2008 but Sweden have been in this situation before.

"The best thing you can do is be prepared for eventualities on the pitch and be ready to adapt to them," said the Swedish coach. "We have a lot of experience at our disposal and that is a good thing because we have been through this kind of decisive match before.

"It happened at Euro 2004 when we required a late equaliser against Denmark to progress. I have complete trust in my players and it would be a big achievement for us to once again be in the last eight at a major Finals."