Italia ’90, Euro ’96, Heerenveen 2007 and Gothenburg ’09. Stuart Pearce has had enough semi-final penalty shoot-outs to last him a lifetime, but now the England Under-21 head coach knows how it feels to win one.

After letting slip a three-goal half-time lead against the host team, England could hardly have made heavier weather of this semi-final, but after Joe Hart, the goalkeeper, stepped up to score one of five successful penalties for his side, they are through to Monday’s European Under-21 Championship final in Malmö.

There they will face Germany, the winners of last night’s other semi-final against Italy, but England’s joy will be balanced by suspensions to three key players in what turned into something of a pyrrhic victory. It is a matter for celebration, however, that England have reached their first final in a quarter of a century, at under-21 or senior level, and the emphasis that Pearce has placed on practising penalties has paid off.

Not only did Hart score his penalty in the shoot-out and save one from Marcus Berg, the tournament’s leading goalscorer, who had scored twice during a bizarre second half as England inexplicably stepped off the gas, he was also cautioned for gamesmanship in the tense conclusion. He joins Gabriel Agbonlahor, who collected a second yellow card of the tournament, and Fraizer Campbell, sent off after collecting his second booking for a reckless tackle on Mikael Lustig, on the sidelines for the final.

Two years ago, Holland equalised two minutes from full time to take Pearce’s team into an epic and ultimately heart-rending shoot-out. This time, with confidence and freshness at peak levels, the pain threatened to be even greater as England again wilted to the host team. Goals from Martin Cranie, Nedum Onuoha and an own goal from Mattias Bjarsmyr enabled England to take total control, but they allowed Sweden to gather a head of steam after the break.

“We practised yesterday, but I don’t believe in practising them because it is 90 per cent mental and 10 per cent technical,” Jörgen Lennartsson, the Sweden co-coach, said. “If Marcus Berg had practised 2,000 kicks, I don’t think that would have made any difference to whether he scored today.”

Pearce went straight over to console Lennartsson after Guillermo Molins struck the twelfth penalty against a post. It was a sporting gesture from a man who admits the dignity shown to him by the West Germany players, after he had missed in the semi-final defeat at the 1990 World Cup finals, provided him with an important lesson in the development that has led him to this successful juncture.

When Campbell was sent off in the thirteenth minute of extra time by Cuneyt Cakir, the referee who dismissed Michael Mancienne in the match against Finland, England had that sinking feeling all over again. When Berg headed against the crossbar nine minutes from the end of extra time, a Swedish victory looked inevitable. The match finished ten versus ten as Robin Söder limped off. England, having practised penalties for two years, were not bereft of optimism.

England took the lead in the first minute when James Milner’s corner allowed Cranie, the full back, to clatter in a volley. The first blot on the landscape arrived when Agbonlahor was cautioned for elbowing Bjarsmyr, but even that cloud carried a silver lining as the defender was off the field receiving treatment when Milner delivered a corner that Onuoha brought down to turn and score.

When Walcott crossed seven minutes before half-time and Lee Cattermole’s header was volleyed past his own goalkeeper by Bjarsmyr, it felt as if the game over. Sweden, to their great credit, believed otherwise.

Berg pulled a goal back midway through the second half, before Ola Toivonen curled a brilliant free kick past Hart 15 minutes from time. Molins then crossed from the right for Berg to score to leave England heading for extra time.

England Under-21 (4-1-4-1): J Hart — M Cranie, M Richards, N Onuoha, K Gibbs — F Muamba — T Walcott, M Noble (sub: J Rodwell, 70min), L Cattermole, J Milner — G Agbonlahor (sub: F Campbell, 60). Substitutes not used: J Lewis, S Loach, A Taylor, R Stearman, C Gardner, A Johnson, J Tomkins, M Mancienne, A Driver, D Rose. Booked: Agbonlahor, Campbell, Hart. Sent off: Campbell.

Sweden Under-21 (4-4-2): J Dahlin — M Lustig, M Bjarsmyr, R Bengtsson, E Johansson (sub: R Soder, 75) — R Elm, A Landgren (sub: L Harbuzi, 46), G Svensson, M Olsson (sub: G Molins, 46) — O Toivonen, M Berg. Substitutes not used: P Hansson, K Nordfeldt, P Karlsson, D Avdic, P Bengtsson, G Ozkan, J Ekstrand.

Referee: Cüneyt Çakir (Turkey).

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