As the EURO 2012 approaches, Extratime.ie will take an indepth look into each participating team. Simon O'Gorman looks at the EURO 2012 Group D side Sweden.
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EURO 2012 Group D
The Squad
How they got here
Key player to watch out for
Where they are staying, where they are playing
Three interesting facts about the team
Their last five games form
The Squad
John Guidetti is the big absentee from manager Erik Hamren’s Swedish squad. Visitors to the Dublin Super Cup last summer might remember Guidetti from Manchester City’s 3-0 win over the Airtricity XI at the Aviva Stadium. But one month later Guidetti was off to Feyenoord on what turned out to be a season long loan in which he scored 20 times in 23 league games for the Dutch side.
Sadly the wider world won’t get to see how that kind of form might have translated to the international stage as an inflamed nerve in his thigh muscle has ruled the striker out of EURO 2012. In his place Hamren has drafted in veteran Markus Rosenberg of Werder Bremen who hasn’t been part of a Swedish squad for three years.
One of the newer faces in Hamren’s squad is WBA centre back Jonas Olsson. With only six caps to his name, Olsson finds himself as one of Sweden’s relative new boys at the ripe old age of 29.
But overall, Sweden will be taking an experienced squad to Poland/Ukraine, among whom goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson (91 caps), defender Olof Mellburg (112 caps) and midfielder Anders Svensson (126 caps) lead the way. In fact, only three of Hamren’s squad have less than 10 caps; defenders Mikael Antonsson, Jonas Olsson and Martin Olsson.
While the Republic of Ireland may be unique in having precisely zero players who compete in their own domestic league, Sweden aren’t doing much better on that front with just three of their squad currently playing in the Allsvenskan, the top tier of the Swedish league. Reserve ‘keeper Par Hansson (Helsingborgs IF), Anders Svensson (Elfsborg) and Tobias Hysen (IFK Gothenburg) are the home birds.
While Sweden have a number of promising younger players on their roster, including midfielders Rasmus Elm and Emir Bajrami (both 24), they will largely be depending on the likes of experienced campaigners such as Kim Kallstrom, Johan Elmander and, of course, AC Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Ibrahimovic is the undoubted star of the Swedish national team. Having started out at Malmo FF he has gone on to wear the colours of such iconic clubs as Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan and Barcelona. Remarkably, he played in eight consecutive league title winning sides between 2004 and 2011 across the Dutch Eredivisie, Serie A, and La Liga.
Full 23 man Squad
Goalkeepers: Andreas Isaksson (PSV Eindhoven), Johan Wiland (FC København), Pär Hansson (Helsingborgs IF).
Defenders: Mikael Antonsson (Bologna), Andreas Granqvist (Genoa), Olof Mellberg (Olympiacos), Jonas Olsson (West Bromwich Albion), Martin Olsson (Blackburn Rovers), Behrang Safari (RSC Anderlecht), Mikael Lustig (Celtic).
Midfielders: Emir Bajrami (FC Twente), Rasmus Elm (AZ Alkmaar), Samuel Holmén (?stanbul BB SK), Kim Källström (Olympique Lyonnais), Sebastian Larsson (Sunderland), Anders Svensson (IF Elfsborg), Pontus Wernbloom (PFC CSKA Moskva), Christian Wilhelmsson (Al-Hilal FC).
Forwards: Johan Elmander (Galatasaray), Tobias Hysén (IFK Göteborg), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan), Markus Rosenberg (Werder Bremen), Ola Toivonen (PSV Eindhoven).
How they got here
Sweden qualified for the Finals as best runners-up, finishing second to the Netherlands in Group E. The Swedes lost only two of their ten qualifying games, away to the Netherlands (1-4) and away to third placed Hungary (1-2).
League of Ireland referee Dave McKeon was the man in charge of Sweden’s biggest win during qualifying, a 6-0 home win over San Marino. Other notable results included 5-0 wins away to San Marino and at home to Finland, while they also beat the Netherlands 3-2 in Stockholm last October.
Key player to watch out for
The most obvious choice here is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. If Sweden are to score enough goals to progress in this tournament then Ibrahimovic will probably need to be at the heart of them. He stands head and shoulders above his team mates in terms of international recognition, not only as a goal-scorer, but as the kind of inspiring presence who can conjure up a moment of magic when it is most needed.
But another more interesting selection might be Rasmus Elm. Elm scored 13 times for AZ Alkmaar in 2011/12 and has attracted interest from several Premier League sides, including Manchester United and Liverpool. He has just one year left to run on his contract at Alkmaar and the Dutch side are expected to cash in on the player before the summer is out. But Elm is no rush to move on, insisting that he is happy where he is. A star turn in the Euros might just change his mind.
Where they are playing, where they are staying
Sweden are one of only three nations who are basing themselves in Ukraine (France and Ukraine being the others), staying at the Platinum Hotel in Kozyn, some 15 miles outside Kiev. The will be using the training facilities of Dynamo Kiev, alongside host nation and Group D rivals, Ukraine.
All three of Sweden’s group games will be played at the 70,000 capacity Olympic Stadium in Kiev. Having undergone renovations in preparation for the tournament, it was reopened with a Shakira concert on 9 October 2011.
Three interesting facts about the team
- Sweden have hosted both a World Cup Finals, in 1958, and a European Championships Finals, in 1992. In 1958 they were beaten 5-2 by Brazil in the final, while in 1992 they reached the sem-finals before losing out 3-2 to Germany.
- Sweden have qualified for five of the last six European Championships Finals, missing out only on the 1996 Finals which were held in England. They have progressed from the Group stage twice in the four Finals that they have competed in so far, reaching the semi-finals in 1992, and the quarter-finals in 2004.
- At the time of writing, with two warm up friendlies still to play before the 2012 Finals, Sweden have played a total of 942 internationals, and their current goal difference stands at +666.
Their last five game form
Sweden’s last five games began with their final qualifying match at home to Group E winners the Netherlands. The Swedes won this encounter 3-2, thus securing qualification for the Finals as best runners-up.
Since then Erik Hamren’s side have played four friendlies, all away from home. They were beaten 2-0 away to fellow qualifiers Denmark last November, and followed that up with a 1-0 defeat by England at Wembley four days later, Gareth Barry scoring the only goal of the game.
The new year saw Sweden rack up a brace of wins, overcoming Bahrain 2-0 (Tobias Hysen and Oscar Hiljemark with the goals) and Croatia 3-1 (Ibrahimovic and Sebastien Larsson with two).
Sweden are also due to play Iceland and Serbia before the Finals begin on June 8th.
