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Sweden - Euro 2008 Team Profile

Marc Fox reports...

Sweden Copyright © Soccerphile

Road to Switzerland / Austria

Sweden's topsy-turvy qualifying campaign grabbed global headlines when they earned a crucial away win in Copenhagen despite the scores being tied at 3-3 when the Group F match was abandoned in dramatic fashion. A drunken Danish supporter had run onto the pitch and aimed a punch at German referee Herbert Fandel when he awarded Sweden a controversial penalty in the final moments of the clash, prompting UEFA to heavy-handedly intervene.

Those unexpected three points helped balance the books after Sweden dropped four points to Northern Ireland. But it still took a final round 2-1 victory against Latvia and leaders Spain to beat the Northern Irish to ensure progression to their fifth straight major tournament.

Analysis

Sweden's personnel in their pre-Euro 2008 friendlies appears to indicate head coach Lars Lagerback isn't convinced an aging squad contains all the ingredients to cook up success in Austria & Switzerland. Lagerback picked an experimental squad for January's friendly tour of the United States, a decision somewhat out of character and one which implies he has one eye on the forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign.

Henrik Larsson has retired so much rests on the maverick skills of Inter Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic (see key player). However, the much-improved Johan Elmander of Toulouse has caught the eye over the past 18 months since joining the French club from Brondby and veteran Marcus Allback scored six times during qualifying. Christian Wilhelmsson is also pacy and often comes alive on the big stage.

Lagerback's biggest concern is seeing goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson on the bench at Manchester City, but the sky-scraping 26-year-old remains his country's No.1 despite recently snubbing a loan move to Galatasaray.

Key player: Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic can be impulsive and temperamental at times, but his unique influence in the forward line is crucial for Sweden to unlock Europe's best defences. Sweden's reigning player-of-the-year is amazingly still just 26 and even though he went goalless in qualifying, his pedigree as both a creator and ace goalscorer mark him down as an automatic selection.

One to watch: Marcus Berg

Dutch-based hotshot Marcus Berg looks set to earn a Euro 2008 call-up after making his senior debut in February's tepid draw with Turkey. The 21-year-old certainly has a taste for scoring goals at club level. Berg left Gothenburg for FC Groningen midway through the 2007 Swedish season but still finished as the league leading marksman with 14 goals. He has since rattled off 15 more for his new employers to put him in the top four strikers in Holland.

Coach

Lars Lagerback has been in sole charge of the national side since previous joint-manager Tommy Soderberg left to take over the under-21s in 2004 and shows little sign of stepping down. Lagerback is naturally conservative and has been criticised was taking too few risks. But the game's authorities obviously have a belief in his ability to recreate Sweden's golden eras of 1958 and 1994. The 59-year-old recently extended his contract to include the 2010 World Cup campaign despite initially saying he would retire this year.

Recent Previous Tournaments

1996: Did not qualify
2000: Group stage
2004: Quarter-finalists

Soccerphile says .....

Lagerback is clearly concerned by his lack of depth. If all his automatic choices are fully fit, Sweden could match their quarter-final finish of four years ago when they lost on penalties to Holland.

Euro 2008 Squad

Bet on Euro 2008

Goalkeepers Andreas Isaksson (Manchester City), Rami Shaaban (Hammarby), Johan Wiland (IF Elfsborg)
Defenders Olof Mellberg (Juventus), Fredrik Stoor (Rosenborg), Daniel Majstorovic (Basle), Petter Hansson (Rennes), Mikael Dorsin (CFR Cluj), Andreas Granqvist (Helsingborg)
Midfielders Mikael Nilsson (Panathinaikos), Niclas Alexandersson (IFK Gothenburg), Tobias Linderoth (Galatasaray), Freddie Ljungberg (West Ham United), Anders Svensson (Elfsborg), Kim Kallstrom (Lyon), Sebastian Larsson (Birmingham), Daniel Andersson (Malmo), Christian Wilhelmsson (Deportivo de la Coruna)
Forwards Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter), Johan Elmander (Toulouse), Henrik Larsson (Helsingborg), Marcus Allback (FC Copenhagen), Markus Rosenberg (Werder Bremen)

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