Friday, June 26, 2009

England U21s tonight

Sweden will be aiming for a place in Monday's final by beating favourites England tonight. Stuart Pearce's side are clear favourites but Sweden have been playing well.

Kalmar get Debrecen

Kalmar have been drawn against Hungarian champions Debrecen in the Champrions League qualifiers that take place in July. Kalmar champions of Sweden in 2008 are seriously weakened this year with key players leaving.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

U-21 side ready for kick-off

The U21s are ready for Tuesday's clash with Belarus. The Swedes have a good squad and are capable of advancing to the semi-finals. The final squad features a host of Allsvenskan players as well as some players of foreign teams. 

The game with Belarus on paper should be a win but nothing can be taken for granted at these finals. Belarus themselves may be up for a few shocks. One player Sweden will be keeping an eye on is BATE Borisov's Sergei Kryvets. Kryvets was part of the BATE Borisov side that competed in the Champions League last Autumn and he scored against Juventus as BATE got an unlikely 2-2 draw. 

Italy are next up after Belarus. A star-studded side with players such as Robert Acquafresca, Mario Balotelli and Sebastien Giovinco. The Swedes will have a big job to do on Friday. Mario Balotelli is the stand-out dangerman for the Italians. The Inter Milan star knows where the goal is and will be a treat for the defence. 

Sweden end the Group stage with a match against Serbia on June 23rd in Malmö. Serbia were finalists 2 years ago in Holland and will prove a good test for this Swedish side. Zoran Tošić will lead the midfield and will be one to watch. The Man United man hasn't played much this season but has quality. Gojko Kačar of Hertha Berlin is a mean defender and helped Hertha Berlin to a Europa league place last season. 

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Sweden 4-0 Malta 10th June 2009

Sweden bounced back from Saturday's defeat in style as they completed a 4-0 win over Malta. Kim Källström, who missed a penalty on Saturday opened the scoring with a header into an open goal. Sweden had to wait until 7 minutes into the 2nd-half for a 2nd. Daniel Majstorovic with a powerful header from a corner. Sweden made it 3-0 just 4 minutes later when Zlatan Ibrahimovic wiggled past a couple of defenders before Rasmus Elm's back heel found Ibrahimovic who cipped Andrew Hogg. Sweden completed a victory just 2 minutes later when Marcus Berg tapped in. 

Sweden: Andreas Isaksson (g.k): Adam Johansson, Olof Mellberg, Daniel Majstorovic, Behrang Safari, Rasmus Elm, Anders Svensson, Kim Källström, Viktor Elm, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (C), Marcus Berg Subs: Eddie Gustafsson (g.k), Petter Hansson, Daniel Andersson, Sebastien Larsson, Samuel Holmén, Christian Wilhelmsson

Malta: Andrew Hogg (g.k): Andrei Agius, Luke Dimech, Jonathan Caruana, Shaun Bajada, Alexander Muscat, John Hutchinson, Jamie Pace, Roderick Briffa, Andre Schembri, Daniel Bogdanovic subs: Justin Haber (g.k), Emmanuel Muscat, Kevin Sammut, Andrew Cohen, Jean-Pierre Mifsud, Kenneth Scicluna, Ryan Fenech