Sweden
Euro 2012 Group D: 11-06-12: Ukraine – Sweden, 15-06-12: Sweden - England, 19-06-12:
Sweden - France
FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking: 17
Previous European Championship Appearances: 1992, 2000, 2004, 2008
Qualifying record: 10+8=0-2 31-11
Interesting facts: Sweden is the 3rd best scoring team of the Euro 2012 qualification.
Only Netherlands and Germany have scored more.
14 different players managed to score goals for the
Swedish team during the 10 qualification matches.
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Sweden had the best result among the qualification
runners-up, therefore they automatically qualified for the Euro, unlike the
other runners-up, who had to fight in the play-offs. The qualifying campaign ended
smoothly. The Swedes won 8 matches, ending the campaign in a great style,
beating the Netherlands. This was the first qualifying tourney under Zlatan
Ibrahimovic’s captaincy. How will the first major tournament end?
The head coach of the Blue-yellows is Eric Hamren. He
is not a very familiar profile outside Scandinavia, however he has been managing
high-level teams for the last 25 years. And seems like the Swedish fans don’t
have lots of controversial questions to him. The team looks more stable as
opposed to the one Swedes saw during the last decade. This is Hamren’s first
ever major competition though.
One thing Sweden is famous for is their 12th
player. Fans love to travel with the national team. Tens of thousands peaceful
football fans are always there to scream and shout in support of their favorite
team.
Statistics against Ukraine: 3+1=1-1 2-2*
The match we remember: The teams have only met in friendly matches.
The match we remember: England has never won a
single competitive match against the Swedes. The teams played their last group
fixture at the European Championship 20 years ago, where the Englanders exited
the tournament after a 1-2 defeat.
The match we remember: Sweden cannot win over
France for 43 years now. However they managed to make the French leave the
European Championship in 1992, where Michel Platini’s side failed to win a
single match, including the tournament opener against hosts Sweden. The match
ended 1:1.
Two profiles:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Zlatan is certainly the most controversial
profile of this Euro. The recent fuss was created after his noisy
self-biography was brought out. Some of the stories there came in direct confrontation
with the moderate Swedish society. A huge army of debaters started to question
the reasonableness of giving Ibrahimovic, a Balkan descent, the right to captain
the Swedish national team.
From a number of Ibra’s personal
achievements I would mention his impressive run of 8 straight league wins with
5 different teams. His international record has not been that remarkable yet.
But anything is possible in football, as far as one of the brightest strikers
of modern football is involved.
The guy who made so many
headlines in his career changing from one to another rival, rejecting and conflicting
world-class managers, injuring teammates and collecting red cards, is probably singing
his last song at European Championships this summer. Will we remember this one?
John Alberto Fernando Andres Luigi Olof Guidetti: Make an effort to learn this
name: at least the “John Guidetti”-part. This young man is another upcoming
star for the European football. He is having an excellent season with Feyenoord,
helping the Rotterdam team return to where it belongs. The season is not over
yet, but he has already scored 3 hat-tricks. Not many superstars manage to do
so during a season. The 20 year old “phenomenal” striker, as Ronald Koeman
describes him, is expected to become a full-timer at his national team after some
incredible performances for the Sweden U-17, 19 and 21 teams. He has only
played 1 match for the national team. Let’s welcome John Guidetti. He is coming
to stay.
My prediction:
Hamren’s side has recently shown several decent
performances. One of them was against the Dutch team, which usually doesn’t
lose qualification matches. Their front line is thrilling. The team scores loads
of goals. And they have two hardworking midfielders, who are always a danger
when the opponent gives a set piece away. I am talking about passing masters
Sebastian Larsson and Kim Kallstrom. I would also include talents like Elm,
Ekdal, Toivonen and aging Wilhelmsson in the positive list of Swedish national
team.
However, the Swedish fans are overall negative about
their team chances at Euro 2012. Although I see a potentially strong team here,
the problem is that many of the defensive players don’t play major roles, if
any, in their clubs. Some of them play in minor clubs and some players are
already around 35. These facts can only affect negatively on the quality of
their play. The only scenario, where I see Sweden advance from the group stage
is if they beat Ukraine in their opening game, which is not going to be easier
than beating England or France, and hope for a bad start for England. In this
case the Englishmen will have to give more chances to Scandinavians in an open
game on the 15th of June, where anything can happen. Otherwise it is
clear to me that the group is too tough for Sweden this time.
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* 6+2=3-1 7-7: played 6, won 2, tied 3, lost 1,
scored 7, conceded 7
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