Sweden v England - preview

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Group B
Cologne
Tuesday, 20 June
Kick-off: 2000 BST
How to follow the game:
Live on BBC Radio Five Live & the BBC Sport website





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England will look to step up a gear when they play their final Group B game against Sweden in Cologne on Tuesday.

Gary Neville is out with a calf injury, Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch will be rested with Wayne Rooney and Owen Hargreaves to start the game.

Sweden seem certain to be without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has a groin problem, so Marcus Allback will start.

England have not beaten Sweden in 11 attempts since 1968, but they only needed a point to win the group.





Sweden (probable): Isaksson, Mellberg, Lucic, Edman, Linderoth, Alexandersson, Ljungberg, Wilhelmsson or Jonson, Kallstrom, Allback, Larsson.

England (probable): Robinson, Carragher, Ferdinand, Terry, Cole, Beckham, Lampard, Hargreaves, Cole, Owen, Rooney.

Referee: Massimo Busacca.


PRE-MATCH BUILD-UP

1002 BST: Wayne Rooney's youthful exuberance had to be put in check on Monday. Apparently the fit-again striker wanted to stay behind and play in goal as David Beckham practised his free-kicks, but his request was denied. Sven-Goran Eriksson obviously wants to wrap him up in cotton wool - until this evening anyway.

0949 BST: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's return to training may have alerted Sven-Goran Eriksson to alter his tactics slightly in preparation for a surprise start from the striker. But the Swedish media are not confident that he will make the starting 11. They believe he is more likely to feature in the next round should Sweden get their draw.


0941 BST: England's players do not look like they will get much respite from the weather. It is another desperately humid day in Cologne - and there may be more of the huge rainstorms that hit the city several times yesterday. Many England fans have opted for a spot of early sight-seeing at Cologne's famous cathedral, perhaps saying a silent prayer or two for a victory against Sweden tonight.
Phil McNulty, BBC Sport in Colgne.

0928 BST: Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet expects Mattias Jonson to start on the right of midfield instead of Christian Wilhelmsson who will be rested. Lars Lagerback is thought to be worried about Joe Cole's trickery and runs going forward and believes Jonson, who is more defensive than Wilhelmsson, will be able to contain him.

0924 BST: We go on about long balls but sometimes you can get goals from long balls. I just think we have got a bit carried away with the long balls in the last couple of games. I'm looking forward to a good performance tonight - I think England will win 2-0.
Wigan boss Paul Jewell on BBC Radio Five Live.


0848 BST: I was very impressed with Aaron Lennon. He was terrific and it was a great World Cup debut for him. Sometimes you need a kid to come through. Martin Peters, who knows a tiny bit about football, has been telling me all season he wouldn't be surprised if he went to the World Cup. It doesn't matter how you start a tournament it's how you finish it. We got booed off the park in the first game in 1966.
Sir Geoff Hurst again, this time on BBC News 24.

0812 BST: England need a spark to ignite everything. It takes two to tango and I cannot see Sweden coming at England at full throttle. I have this dread that they will kick off and then both teams will retreat. Sven is in danger of putting himself in Sweden's version of the tower by putting them out. England need a point to win the group and Sweden will be happy with that as well.
BBC Five Live's football correspondent Mike Ingham.


0807 BST: I think England have a chance of winning the tournament. The first round is always very cagey. If we get it right I think we are one of half a dozen teams that can win it. The knock-out stages are a different kind of tournament. We have qualified comfortably and should win the group. We certainly want to avoid Germany in Munich. I'd settle for playing them in the final.
Sir Geoff Hurst on BBC Radio Five Live.

0743 BST: Sweden will have a go at England, they don't sit back and they believe they can beat any team. Hopefully we'll see England a bit more creative and it will be an open game. I'd rather play Ecuador in the next round as they'd feel a bit of pressure and play an open game, attractive football and their back four do leave a few gaps. Germany are on a high and they would have 95% of the fans.
Chris Waddle on BBC Radio Five Live.

0738 BST: The FA has finally got into the World Cup spirit and decided to fly the England flag from its Soho Square headquarters. The FA had said it was because they didn't have a pole on the roof, but has got round the problem by attaching flags to the windows.



news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4853282.stm

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HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS
Games Won Drawn Lost GF GA
Sweden 23 6 8 9 26 48
England 23 9 8 6 48 26
LIST OF MEETINGS
Date Comp Res
08 Sep 1908 Friendly* Sweden 1-6 England
06 Nov 1909 Friendly* England 7-0 Sweden
10 Jun 1914 Friendly* Sweden 1-5 England
21 May 1923 Friendly Sweden 2-4 England
24 May 1923 Friendly** Sweden 1-3 England
17 May 1937 Friendly Sweden 0-4 England
19 Nov 1947 Friendly England 4-2 Sweden
13 May 1949 Friendly Sweden 3-1 England
16 May 1956 Friendly Sweden 0-0 England
28 Oct 1959 Friendly England 2-3 Sweden
16 May 1965 Friendly Sweden 1-2 England
22 May 1968 Friendly England 3-1 Sweden
10 Jun 1979 Friendly Sweden 0-0 England
10 Sep 1986 Friendly Sweden 1-0 England
19 Oct 1988 WC Q England 0-0 Sweden
06 Sep 1989 WC Q Sweden 0-0 England
17 Jun 1992 E Ch Gp 1 Sweden 2-1 England
08 Jun 1995 Umbro England 3-3 Sweden
05 Sep 1998 E Ch Q Sweden 2-1 England
05 Jun 1999 E Ch Q England 0-0 Sweden
10 Nov 2001 Friendly England 1-1 Sweden
02 Jun 2002 WC Gp F England 1-1 Sweden
31 Mar 2004 Friendly Sweden 1-0 England

KEY * - Unofficial match for England ** - Unofficial match for Sweden WC Q - World Cup Qualifier E Ch Gp 1 - European Championship Group One Umbro - Umbro Cup E Ch Q - European Championship Qualifier WC Gp F - World Cup Finals Group F, played at Saitama, Japan


BIG MATCH STATS
Progress Possibilities

England have already qualified for the last 16. Sweden need a draw to be mathematically sure. If they lose, Trinidad & Tobago can still progress by beating Paraguay.


Explanations of World Cup group scenarios
Head-to-heads

Sweden and England have met each other 23 times, although Sweden only regard 22 of those matches as official, while England consider the first three meetings as unofficial. Their only World Cup clash was in 2002 and ended in a 1-1 draw. Sol Campbell and Niclas Alexandersson provided the goals.

Sweden are unbeaten against England since 22 May 1968, when England won 3-1. Since then, both countries have met each other 11 times with Sweden winning four, and drawing seven.

Team facts - Sweden

Sweden's 1-0 victory over Paraguay was their first in 2006, after drawing five times and losing once this year.

Sweden have only scored three goals in their seven matches in 2006. Anders Svensson, Henrik Larsson and Fredrik Ljungberg were the scorers.

Team facts - England

England have won all eight matches since losing to Northern Ireland in September 2005. This winning streak equals their best under Sven-Goran Eriksson and is two matches short of the all-time England record of 10 successive wins which was set nearly 100 years ago.

England's second half goals against Trinidad & Tobago were their first after the break in a World Cup match since 1998 when Michael Owen netted against Romania. This constituted a streak of eight matches.

Team facts - Sweden

Henrik Larsson, Tobias Linderoth, Marcus Allback and Teddy Lucic will be suspended if they receive another yellow card.

Larsson played his 11th World Cup match against Paraguay, equalling the Swedish record shared by Bosse Larsson and Karl-Oskar Svensson. Larsson can score at his third World Cup following goals in 1994 (one) and 2002 (three). He needs one more goal to equal Kennet Andersson's Swedish record of five at the World Cup. If he nets, Larsson will join an exclusive list of players who scored at World Cups with a 12 year time span. Pele (1958-1970), Uwe Seeler (1958-1970), Diego Maradona (1982-1994), Michael Laudrup (1986-1998) and Sami Al Jaber (1994-2006) are the only players to have done this.

Team facts - England

Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch run the risk of suspension if they receive another yellow card. If he figures, Lampard will be playing on his 28th birthday.

Aaron Lennon's appearance in the second half against Trinidad & Tobago made him England's second youngest player at a World Cup, exactly eight years after Michael Owen set the record. Wayne Rooney is the fifth youngest. Theo Walcott could become the second youngest player ever at a World Cup. Should he get a run out in this match, Walcott will be 17 years and 96 days, only 55 days older than all-time record holder Norman Whiteside. If Walcott scores, he will be the youngest ever scorer of a World Cup goal, beating Pele's record of 17 years and 239 days.

Miscellaneous Info

Two players in the Sweden and England squads earn their living in Germany - Fredrik Stenman (Bayer Leverkusen) and Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich).

Sven-Goran Eriksson will lead the English team against his native country. This has happened 14 times before in the history of the World Cup, including the England - Sweden match four years ago. Later this tournament, Zico will become the 13th coach to lead a team against the country of his birth when Japan meet Brazil.

Big Match Stats source: Infostrada Sports




news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/5057814.stm

[Salem6]

By Tom Dart



GENERATIONS of England managers wish they knew. It’s been 38 years of hurt – or in most cases, mild inconvenience. England have not beaten Sweden in their past eleven encounters.

That’s a motivating factor for the Scandinavians, who may need a point to progress; as is the fact that nine of their likely starting XI play or have played in England or Scotland. They know the British game, they know the England players, and they won’t be worried by England’s traditional strengths - high tempo, stamina and a physical approach – because their players share those qualities.



Not that there’s been much high-tempo play from England in Germany. If England are ponderous again tonight in Cologne, willing runners such as Niclas Alexandersson, Tobias Linderoth and Kim Kallstrom can close England down and frustrate them. They should have little trouble keeping up with a half-fit Wayne Rooney, especially as the game wears on and he inevitably tires.

Christian Wilhelmsson, linked with Tottenham Hotspur in the past, is a quick and tricky winger who can beat his man on the inside or outside and is adept at drawing fouls. Ashley Cole should cope with him, but since Joe Cole’s unlikely to be much use defensively, the Arsenal defender may need Owen Hargreaves to help out now and again.

Hargreaves, though, may be busy trying to shackle Freddie Ljungberg, Sweden’s best player. More prone to drift around and take up unpredictable positions for country than club, if Ljungberg drags Hargreaves all over the pitch, that may create gaps which the Swedes can exploit – especially if Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and David Beckham are caught up the pitch and the Swedes break quickly.

The Swedes have only scored once in two games, but that is because they didn’t take their chances, not down to a failure to make them. Roque Santa Cruz, the Paraguay playmaker, rated their attacking play as superior to England’s.

Sweden are likely to be without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the talented, albeit idiosyncratic, forward, who has a groin injury. This is probably a good thing because it means a start for Marcus Allback, the 32-year-old former Aston Villa flop.

A conventional centre forward, Allback came on against Trinidad & Tobago and Paraguay and promptly missed several good opportunities in each game because his shooting let him down. His efforts, when they were on target, were too close to the goalkeeper. Still, he has a record of a goal every two internationals and will get it right one day; but John Terry and Rio Ferdinand should be able to subdue him.

Allback is not world-class in any respect, but Henrik Larsson, his strike partner, remains a threat, though his lethal powers have undoubtedly declined since his Celtic heyday. He’s still shrewd and adept at taking up good positions and punishing mistakes, though.

Ferdinand needs to toughen up – the Swedes won’t be able to physically intimidate Terry, but their muscularity might unsettle the Manchester United defender, especially the likes of Olof Mellberg, the captain and Aston Villa centre back, who should come forward for set-pieces.

Speaking of set-pieces, they have been England’s best hope of scoring in recent games, so much will depend on Mellberg at the back. He’s still a commanding figure, but in the Barclays Premiership is increasingly prone to the odd blunder, and Teddy Lucic, his central defensive partner, is average.

Ljungberg and Mellberg, not the best of friends, exchanged words after the Paraguay win. The Calvin Klein model and occasional Arsenal midfield player chastised his skipper for playing too many long balls up to the forwards. It’ll be interesting to see if Sweden move from back to front quickly again this time, or feel that an England midfield containing Owen Hargreaves instead of Steven Gerrard is weaker, vulnerable enough to pass their way through.

It may well be if Hargreaves sits back in his favoured Claude Makelele-lite role just in front of the back four. Allegedly protecting the defence, but in fact leaving Lampard to control the centre of midfield on his own, which would either shackle his attacking potential or lead to England being overrun if Lampard does break forward – as he surely will. Rooney may play behind Michael Owen to make it easier to link up with the Chelsea man.

Without Peter Crouch, the onus will be on England to play smarter – there is no point lumping the ball high up to Rooney or Owen, who will be outjumped. The temptation will be to give the ball to Rooney at every opportunity and let the kid create, but it’s unreasonable to expect him to win the match by himself, even if he’s capable of it.

England need to show they aren’t utterly reliant on Rooney’s flair, at the same time integrating him back into the swing of things. If they can do that, and create chances through swift moves from open play that show a good understanding between the midfield and the attack, then this match will have been a very useful exercise, regardless of whether that 38-year run is extended by those pesky Swedes.




www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,28749-2233800,00.html