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By Oliver Grassman
STOCKHOLM, May 13 (Reuters) - Striker Henrik Larsson was a surprise inclusion in Sweden coach Lars Lagerback's 23-man squad for this year's European Championship announced on Tuesday.
The former Celtic, Barcelona and Manchester United striker had retired from the national team after their second round loss to hosts Germany at the 2006 World Cup.
Larsson has not played in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign but has been impressive in the Swedish league with six goals in 11 appearances for his club Helsingborg this season.
"We've been playing well in Helsinborg, playing in the UEFA Cup in the autumn and also playing good football in the Swedish league," Larsson said during a teleconference.
"We've been playing football that has given me a taste for more... Football is so much fun. It's a joy."
Larsson added that he wanted to carry on playing for Sweden even after the championship in Austria and Switzerland.
FIVE STRIKERS
He is one of five strikers in the squad with Inter Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Toulouse's Johan Elmander, Copenhagen veteran Marcus Allback and Werder Bremen's Markus Rosenberg.
"We began thinking about him last year when he was playing in the UEFA Cup, but only seriously in the last few weeks," Lagerback told Reuters Television.
"Henrik has been looking really positive both as a person and as a player, and the way I know him he usually wants to play when he's having fun."
Lagerback added that he had asked Larsson if he wanted to join the squad just the day before the announcement.
Larsson's return for Euro 2008, which runs from June 7-29, marks his third comeback to international football.
After the 2002 World Cup, he announced his retirement only to return the following year for what was billed as a one-off appearance during the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign.
However, Larsson was named in the squad for the championship in Portugal and was Sweden's top scorer.
"When I last retired after the (2006) World Cup, I didn't think I would be playing soccer this long and that it would go this well or that there would be another championship," he said.
Larsson, who revealed that he had only been called up by coach Lagerback on Monday, added that he not yet closely studied Sweden's Group D opponents Spain, Greece and Russia.
"I haven't seen much, to be honest. I don't have a great view of the teams, that's true. (But) they're three good teams."
"Now I've been called into the Euro squad it will be tough to make the first team but I'll do my best. The national team have had a fantastic qualifying campaign and beaten good teams."
There were few other surprises in the squad. Galatasaray's Tobias Linderoth, Sweden's defensive rock in midfield, was included even though he is still recovering from a hip injury.
Ibrahimovic was also struggling to overcome a knee injury.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Andreas Isaksson (Manchester City), Rami Shaaban (Hammarby), Johan Wiland (Elfsborg)
Defenders: Olof Mellberg (Aston Villa), Petter Hansson (Stade Rennes), Mikael Nilsson (Panathinaikos), Niclas Alexandersson (IFK Gothenburg), Andreas Granqvist (Helsingborg), Daniel Majstorovic (FC Basel), Fredrik Stoor (Rosenborg Trondheim), Mikael Dorsin (CFR Cluj)
Midfielders: Tobias Linderoth (Galatasaray), Daniel Andersson (Malmo), Anders Svensson (Elfsborg), Kim Kallstrom (Olympique Lyon), Christian Wilhelmsson (Deportivo La Coruna), Fredrik Ljungberg (West Ham), Sebastian Larsson (Birmingham City)
Forwards: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Johan Elmander (Toulouse), Marcus Allback (FC Copenhagen), Markus Rosenberg (Werder Bremen), Henrik Larsson (Helsingborg)
