FOR A TEAM WHO HAVE GIVEN England such a bumpy ride over the past 38 years, Sweden endured one of their own yesterday. Fierce storms around Cologne obliged Lars Lagerback’s squad to abort one attempted landing at the local airport, but in spite of their problematic flight — not to mention their recent “fight” — they remain a side in unflappable form.
Preparations for a game that will decide which nation qualifies for the knockout phase of the World Cup as winners of group B have not been wholly peaceful. After playing down reports that Fredrik Ljungberg and Olof Mellberg came to blows after their insipid draw with Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden’s air-sick players checked in to a pre-match hotel located in the middle of a building site.
Yet England, historically, bring out the best in them and, in Henrik Larsson, the former Celtic player, they boast a striker with special reasons to beat them. “I think I am very popular in Scotland and perhaps there is only one way I could be even more popular — and that is to score against England to help Sweden win,” he said. “I think there might even be a few Rangers fans who would like that.”
Sweden’s record of seven wins and four draws against the English since 1968 is a proud one. “It’s difficult to answer why our record is so good,” Lagerback said, “but we have had a lot of people playing in the Premiership, so they know the English mentality and maybe that gives us an advantage. In the time I have been coaching the national team [since 1988], it has always been a positive challenge which we have looked forward to.”
With Zlatan Ibrahimovic absent with a groin injury, Sweden will lose a touch of fantasy just as England regain theirs, but Mellberg claimed that Wayne Rooney has not featured in their thinking. “He is a great all-round player,” the Aston Villa defender said, “and if he has a good game, it’s difficult to stop him but we haven’t really talked about him much. I haven’t followed his injury and don’t know how serious it was.”
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David Beckham, who has created six of England’s past eight goals, can expect some rudimentary attention, however. “We have to get tight to them, so they don’t get too much time on the wings,” Mellberg said. “It’s something we have looked at. It is part of their game we have to try to stop.”
Mellberg has denied that there is any lingering animosity between himself and Ljungberg. “We do get on,” he said. “You have discussions after every game. They are positive if you won and not so positive if they lose. There was a lot of fuss about it but not between the players.”