Greece - Sweden ( Grecia - Suedia)
As impressive as it seems, almost 88 years have gone by since the first – and only – time these two sides came up against each other in a competitive match. Sweden had won that August 28, 1920 game by nine goals to nil (!) in the Antwerp summer Olympics men’s football tournament, as Herbert Karlsson stole the show with five goals. But arguably a lot has changed since then…
Past the group stage
There is however a similarity. Even though that historic encounter was a knock-out match, it sent the Swedes into the quarter-finals. And reaching the same round of this European Championship looks like their target again, a goal they share with defending champions Greece. Should one – or even both – of these teams make the last eight, then anything’s possible. Otto Rehhagel may assure you of that.
While perhaps half of the teams still in contention have a chance of actually clinching the Henri Delaunay trophy, one of the clear favourites to do it are Spain, also drawn in group D. And even though it all comes down to what you do on the pitch, both Greece and Sweden could be forgiven for believing that it will be the clashes between them as well as against Russia which will determine which of the three follow La Furia Roja to the next round.
No fluke
Greece caused the biggest upset in football history when they won the European Championship in Portugal four years ago, starting the final phase as 100 to 1 outsiders. However, no one can deny the fact they had won a qualifying group which also included the Ukraine and Spain, whom they also knocked out in the last 16 before famously beating the likes of France, the Czech Republic and Portugal, all three by a single goal, to claim the biggest prize in the European game.
They did fail to shine in the last Confederations Cup and were knocked out in the qualifying phase of the previous World Cup, finishing fourth in a group also including Ukraine, Turkey and Denmark. But that made German boss Rehhagel even more motivated. He extended his contract by another two years, until the end of the running World Cup and his revived side took the continent by storm once again in the run-up to Tuesday’s clash.
Despite being thrashed at home by fierce rivals Turkey 4-1, Greece won 10 of their other 11 qualifiers and drew 2-2 in Norway, Swiss referee Massimo Busacca, also in charge in Wals-Siezenheim on Tuesday night, leaving them with many complaints. They conjured up as many as 31 points out of a maximum 36, a number not even Poland or Portugal could match in 14 games.
Greece
In contrast to several other teams still in the tournament, the defending champions are injury-free ahead of their last 16 opener on the outskirts of Salzburg. As many as 10,000 of their fans are expected to attend the Sweden game, which Yorgos Karagounis will start, despite not training for a few days due to a knee injury.
The Panathinaikos central midfielder is one of Rehhagel’s key players, alongside captain Angelos Basinas of Mallorca. However, the German coach is widely tipped to hand Benfica’s Kostas Katsouranis the task of switching from defensive midfield to Henrik Larsson’s man-marker, while Kyrgiakos, who - like Katsouranis – recorded his first ever cap against Sweden, will keep a close eye on Ibrahimović.
Right back Torosidis will play on the left, ahead of Nikos Spyropoulos, whereas 2004 hero Angelos Haristeas is expected to get the nod ahead of Dimitris Salpiggidis on the right of attack.
Possible line-up (4-3-3): Antonis Nikopolidis – Yourkas Seitaridis, Kyrgiakos, Traianos Dellas, Torosidis – Katsouranis, Basinas, Karagounis – Haristeas, Gekas, Amanatidis.
Sweden
Lagerbäck has revealed that he’s already chosen his starting XI, although it remains to be seen whether Ibrahimović will be included. The boss insists that he will, despite a knee problem.
Much like their opponents, Sweden are short on left-footed footballers, with the exception of Olympique Lyonnais’ Kim Källström, who may lose his place to Anders Svensson, scorer of the Swedes’ last goal against the Greeks in a 2003 friendly 2-1 home defeat. Torosidis and Amanatidis are right-footed, and so are Micke Nilsson and Swedish captain Freddie Ljungberg, who’s fit to play in a competitive match for the first time since April 26.
But unlike Greece, Lagerbäck will most probably stick to his favourite 4-4-2, especially given a wealth of options down the right flank. Henrik Larsson is expected to support Ibrahimović up front.
Possible line-up (4-4-2): Andreas Isaksson – Niclas Alexandersson (Fredrik Stoor), Olof Mellberg, Petter Hansson, Micke Nilsson – Tobias Linderoth (Källström), Anders Svensson, Sebastian Larsson, Freddie Ljungberg – Henke Larsson, Ibrahimović.
Past the group stage
There is however a similarity. Even though that historic encounter was a knock-out match, it sent the Swedes into the quarter-finals. And reaching the same round of this European Championship looks like their target again, a goal they share with defending champions Greece. Should one – or even both – of these teams make the last eight, then anything’s possible. Otto Rehhagel may assure you of that.
While perhaps half of the teams still in contention have a chance of actually clinching the Henri Delaunay trophy, one of the clear favourites to do it are Spain, also drawn in group D. And even though it all comes down to what you do on the pitch, both Greece and Sweden could be forgiven for believing that it will be the clashes between them as well as against Russia which will determine which of the three follow La Furia Roja to the next round.
No fluke
Greece caused the biggest upset in football history when they won the European Championship in Portugal four years ago, starting the final phase as 100 to 1 outsiders. However, no one can deny the fact they had won a qualifying group which also included the Ukraine and Spain, whom they also knocked out in the last 16 before famously beating the likes of France, the Czech Republic and Portugal, all three by a single goal, to claim the biggest prize in the European game.
They did fail to shine in the last Confederations Cup and were knocked out in the qualifying phase of the previous World Cup, finishing fourth in a group also including Ukraine, Turkey and Denmark. But that made German boss Rehhagel even more motivated. He extended his contract by another two years, until the end of the running World Cup and his revived side took the continent by storm once again in the run-up to Tuesday’s clash.
Despite being thrashed at home by fierce rivals Turkey 4-1, Greece won 10 of their other 11 qualifiers and drew 2-2 in Norway, Swiss referee Massimo Busacca, also in charge in Wals-Siezenheim on Tuesday night, leaving them with many complaints. They conjured up as many as 31 points out of a maximum 36, a number not even Poland or Portugal could match in 14 games.
Greece
In contrast to several other teams still in the tournament, the defending champions are injury-free ahead of their last 16 opener on the outskirts of Salzburg. As many as 10,000 of their fans are expected to attend the Sweden game, which Yorgos Karagounis will start, despite not training for a few days due to a knee injury.
The Panathinaikos central midfielder is one of Rehhagel’s key players, alongside captain Angelos Basinas of Mallorca. However, the German coach is widely tipped to hand Benfica’s Kostas Katsouranis the task of switching from defensive midfield to Henrik Larsson’s man-marker, while Kyrgiakos, who - like Katsouranis – recorded his first ever cap against Sweden, will keep a close eye on Ibrahimović.
Right back Torosidis will play on the left, ahead of Nikos Spyropoulos, whereas 2004 hero Angelos Haristeas is expected to get the nod ahead of Dimitris Salpiggidis on the right of attack.
Possible line-up (4-3-3): Antonis Nikopolidis – Yourkas Seitaridis, Kyrgiakos, Traianos Dellas, Torosidis – Katsouranis, Basinas, Karagounis – Haristeas, Gekas, Amanatidis.
Sweden
Lagerbäck has revealed that he’s already chosen his starting XI, although it remains to be seen whether Ibrahimović will be included. The boss insists that he will, despite a knee problem.
Much like their opponents, Sweden are short on left-footed footballers, with the exception of Olympique Lyonnais’ Kim Källström, who may lose his place to Anders Svensson, scorer of the Swedes’ last goal against the Greeks in a 2003 friendly 2-1 home defeat. Torosidis and Amanatidis are right-footed, and so are Micke Nilsson and Swedish captain Freddie Ljungberg, who’s fit to play in a competitive match for the first time since April 26.
But unlike Greece, Lagerbäck will most probably stick to his favourite 4-4-2, especially given a wealth of options down the right flank. Henrik Larsson is expected to support Ibrahimović up front.
Possible line-up (4-4-2): Andreas Isaksson – Niclas Alexandersson (Fredrik Stoor), Olof Mellberg, Petter Hansson, Micke Nilsson – Tobias Linderoth (Källström), Anders Svensson, Sebastian Larsson, Freddie Ljungberg – Henke Larsson, Ibrahimović.
Under 2.5 or 1-0 exact score for Sweden
posted by Midnight Sun @ 22:16,
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