My father has a soft spot for Sweden this time round (though his main team for the tournament is Portugal in view of England's absence). Maybe given he has been to the country twice on working trips already.
Anyhow, it was a surprise when Sweden coach Lars Largerback managed to persuade Henrik Larsson to come out of international reitrement in view of Larsson's age (37 this year). Larsson's return can be interpreted as a masterstroke, or a sign of desperation with the current choice of strikers in the Swedish national team.
But it's nice to see the former Celtic (where he was a hit with the fans and they call him 'King Henrik' too), Barcelona and Manchester United (where he was on loan at one time) striker back with his fellow national teammates. Coach Lars Largeback has been on the job for eight years as the head coach, but tasting some real success with the national side has not come his way as yet.
Greece has been criticised for their style of play four years ago in Portugal when they surprisingly won the European Championships at that time. It has always been 1-0, even in the final against host nation and favourites Portugal. And one thought contrary to popular thinking, it's only Italy infamous for defensive football. It's all about keeping clean sheets (a little defending won't hurt). This time round where the match will be played at the famous composer Mozart's hometown of Salzburg, all out to prove the win four years ago is no fluke. Or as AFP has put it, Greeks hoping life is still Swede.
Ahead of the match, Sweden captain Freddie Ljungberg warning that Greece could spring a surprise on them like they did four years ago in the final. His national coach Lars Largeback is more realistic of their chances in the tournament than the ordinary Swedish public given he believes that the group will be tight.
Ahead of the match, Sweden captain Freddie Ljungberg warning that Greece could spring a surprise on them like they did four years ago in the final. His national coach Lars Largeback is more realistic of their chances in the tournament than the ordinary Swedish public given he believes that the group will be tight. Greece coach Otto Rehhagel is not revealing his game plans for the match.
Team news. Giorgos Karagounis, the team’s playmaker, has been nursing a knee problem, but word has it that he claimed he is fit. The worry over in Sweden is the case of star striker Zlatan Ibrahimović being a touch-and-go.
Ibrahimović had not been scoring for a while now on the international level, but he has always done it for his club Inter Milan (and his goals became the reason why his club won the Serie A title on the final day of the season in Italy). Will this be his chance of breaking the duck?
And I had made it to the end of the entry without any ABBA references. One of the country's famous exports (after furniture giant IKEA).
