Sweden 2008 Review

Sweden have ended 2008 with defeat to Holland last night but overall 2008 could've been better.
The year began with the traditional American tour in January with 2 games against Costa Rica and the United States.
Sweden beat Costa Rica 1-0 before losing 2-0 against the United States. The tour concisted of players playing in the Allsvenskan.
February saw a 0-0 away draw against Turkey which was a good result for Sweden. The atmosphere within Turkey made it very difficult for Sweden but still came away with a draw.
March saw former world champions Brazil play Sweden in Arsenal's Emirates Stadium but Brazil ended up winning 1-0 thanks to Alexandre Pato.
The Pre-Euro 2008 games saw Sweden play Slovenia at home. Despite a lot of pressure Sweden won 1-0. The next friendly was against Ukraine in Stockholm and a Rami Shaaban error cost Sweden in the 1-0 defeat.

Euro 2008:
Pitted in Group D with European champions Greece, difficult Russia and underachieving Spain that group was always going to be tough for Sweden.
It began greatly with a 2-0 defeat of Greece. Sweden were off to a flyer before the lost to Spain 2-1 leaving Sweden with a must-win game against Russia to qualify for the Quarter-finals. Russia beat the Swedes 2-0 to progress and there were calls for coach Lars Lagerbäck to resign.

He stayed put and Sweden's next game was an August friendly against France at home. A brave display wasn't enough as France left Sweden with a 3-2 win. Sweden had a very important World Cup Qualifier against Albania in September but after a 0-0 draw people wanted Lars Lagerbäck out.
October presented Sweden with a chance of getting points and after a vital 2-1 win over Hungary the team did well to get a point off Portugal. That draw left Sweden in 5th place with 5 points from 3 games going into next year's matches.
November saw last night's 3-1 defeat away to Holland end Sweden's disappointing year with defeat.