Swedes enter a match of Russian roulette
Thursday, 19 June 2008
KLAGENFURT, Austria, June 18 (AFP): Sweden may have taken a huge hit to their morale with the last minute defeat by Spain in their Euro 2008 Group D clash but they will be buoyed by the fact all they need out of their final match with Russia Wednesday is a point.
Both the Swedes and Russia are on three points, but the Russians will be rueing the fact that they did not take more of their chances against the woeful defending champions Greece Saturday - a 1-0 victory barely reflecting their dominance.
Sweden, as is their wont, have been putting on a brave face in light of the Spanish reverse, but their morale will take a huge dent if star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is unable to take his place in the starting XI because of his longstanding left knee problem.
The 26-year-old Inter Milan hotshot has lived up albeit in two cameo appearances to his now famous 'I am brilliant' assessment of himself when asked how he summed himself up - with a goal apiece in their first two matches.
While veteran Henrik Larsson has still shown he is a class act at this level, it has been 'Ibracadabra' who has shown the cutting edge in front of goal and Markus Rosenberg, his replacement for the second-half of the Spanish match, barely made an impression against Spain's defence.
The Swedish camp, though, insist that Ibrahimovic will be okay to at least play a part in the match as he follows a daily regime of acupuncture and ultrasound treatment.
"We are confident he will be fit as the situation is stable, the pain he is feeling is similar to what he felt after the first match," said one of the team's medical staff, Magnus Forssblad.
"He did feel something after 45 minutes (against Spain) and as a precaution he came off. However, all is going well and I believe he will play Wednesday."
Swedish coach Lars Lagerback is not one to take risks but he may feel he has no option other than to start with Ibrahimovic as he is able to fashion something out of nothing and in terms of the creativity department the Swedes are seriously lacking especially as captain Freddie Ljungberg's powers are on the wane.
That is one area where the Russians are strong - even in the 4-1 defeat by Spain they created opportunities - but the downside is that they have failed to convert them.
Roman Pavlyuchenko was the chief culprit against the Greeks, delightful on the ball and capable of conjuring up the chances, but with a tendency to just shoot and hope, or to ignore better-placed team-mates in going for goal himself.
It is one area where their coach Guus Hiddink is looking for an improvement against the Swedes.
Both the Swedes and Russia are on three points, but the Russians will be rueing the fact that they did not take more of their chances against the woeful defending champions Greece Saturday - a 1-0 victory barely reflecting their dominance.
Sweden, as is their wont, have been putting on a brave face in light of the Spanish reverse, but their morale will take a huge dent if star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is unable to take his place in the starting XI because of his longstanding left knee problem.
The 26-year-old Inter Milan hotshot has lived up albeit in two cameo appearances to his now famous 'I am brilliant' assessment of himself when asked how he summed himself up - with a goal apiece in their first two matches.
While veteran Henrik Larsson has still shown he is a class act at this level, it has been 'Ibracadabra' who has shown the cutting edge in front of goal and Markus Rosenberg, his replacement for the second-half of the Spanish match, barely made an impression against Spain's defence.
The Swedish camp, though, insist that Ibrahimovic will be okay to at least play a part in the match as he follows a daily regime of acupuncture and ultrasound treatment.
"We are confident he will be fit as the situation is stable, the pain he is feeling is similar to what he felt after the first match," said one of the team's medical staff, Magnus Forssblad.
"He did feel something after 45 minutes (against Spain) and as a precaution he came off. However, all is going well and I believe he will play Wednesday."
Swedish coach Lars Lagerback is not one to take risks but he may feel he has no option other than to start with Ibrahimovic as he is able to fashion something out of nothing and in terms of the creativity department the Swedes are seriously lacking especially as captain Freddie Ljungberg's powers are on the wane.
That is one area where the Russians are strong - even in the 4-1 defeat by Spain they created opportunities - but the downside is that they have failed to convert them.
Roman Pavlyuchenko was the chief culprit against the Greeks, delightful on the ball and capable of conjuring up the chances, but with a tendency to just shoot and hope, or to ignore better-placed team-mates in going for goal himself.
It is one area where their coach Guus Hiddink is looking for an improvement against the Swedes.