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vs
The clash of group D leading teams in Innsbruck will draw most
attention because Spain and Sweden have managed to develop a kind of
rivalry over the last few years. The teams were actually also in the
same qualifying group.
Sweden won Spain at home but Red Fury got their
revenge with a 3:0 win in the finish of the qualifications. They came
in first in the group but, of course, both sides booked their tickets
for the final tournament.
\Even before the championship started it was
clear that Spain and Sweden are the squads with highest chances of
qualifying for the next stage and in spite of Greece being the European
champions and Russia pretending to become the new force in European
football. This was only confirmed on Tuesday when Spain ran over
Russia, while Sweden broke Greek resistance in the second half.
Both
sides seemed quite reserved so it will be very interesting to see them
playing with full potential, since this duel could decide the first
place in the group and the easier rivals in the second stage. If any
rival can be considered easier, since group D will cross ways with the
death group made of Netherlands, France, Italy and Romania. Aragones
and Lagerback definitely won't make any calculations, nor hide their
weapons.
The squads know each other very well and we are yet to see if
Sweden can compensate for the injuries of Wilhelmson and Alexandersson
who paid for the triumph over Greece. On the other hand, Aragones has
no problems with his line-up, and all eyes of excited nation will be on
fantastic tandem Villa-Torres who completely blew Russians away.
Head-to-heads
Sweden and Spain have met each other on 12 occasions with Spain winning five times and Sweden three.
They have met in five competitive matches including two
occasions in the qualification for this tournament. They each won one
of the qualification matches for Euro 2008 and Spain have won three to
Sweden's two in total.
Sweden were the last team to beat Spain in a competitive match, winning 2-0 in Euro 2008 qualification in October 2006.
| Last 5 Sweden matches: |
| 10.06.2008 |
GROUP D |
Greece-Sweden |
|
0:2 |
| 01.06.2008 |
FRIEND |
Sweden-Ukraine |
|
0:1 |
| 26.05.2008 |
FRIEND |
Sweden-Slovenia |
|
1:0 |
| 26.03.2008 |
FRIEND |
Brazil-Sweden |
|
1:0 |
| 06.02.2008 |
FRIEND |
Turkey-Sweden |
|
0:0 |
| Last 5 Spain matches: |
| 10.06.2008 |
GROUP D |
Spain - Russia |
|
4:1 |
| 04.06.2008 |
FRIEND |
Spain - USA |
|
1:0 |
| 31.05.2008 |
FRIEND |
Spain - Peru |
|
2:1 |
| 26.03.2008 |
FRIEND |
Spain - Italy |
|
1:0 |
| 06.02.2008 |
FRIEND |
Spain - France |
|
1:0 |
| Sweden vs Spain head to head stats: |
| 2006/2007 |
EURO Q |
Sweden - Spain |
2:0 |
| This Season Sweden vs Spain head to head stats: |
| 17.11.2007 |
EURO Q |
Spain - Sweden |
3:0 |
|
HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS
|
|
Played
|
Sweden
|
Drawn
|
Spain
|
|
All venues
|
12
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
|
In Sweden
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
|
In Spain
|
5
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
|
Neutral
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
|
Competitive matches
|
5
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
|
European Ch'ship
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0 |
Team facts - Sweden
Boast the second oldest ever squad in the history of this tournament at an average age of 31 years and three days.
Unbeaten in five successive European Championship matches (two wins and three draws).
Scored two goals in a match for the first time in seven outings
this year when they beat Greece 2-0 in their European Championship
opener.
Team facts - Spain
On a streak of seven straight wins, their best since 1999. Their record of nine date back to the 1920s.
Selected one of the most inexperienced squads at Euro 2008 - only
Austria and Russia have fewer caps in the squad than the Spanish.
This is the 50th match for Luis Aragones as Spain's head
coach. Spain have won 34, drawn 11 and lost just four of his matches in
charge. The quartet of defeats were against France (1-3), Northern
Ireland (2-3), Sweden (0-2) and Romania (0-1).
The next card shown to a player from Spain will be their 50th, a total made up of 48 yellow cards and one direct red card.
Player facts - Sweden
Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson has not let in a goal for 235
minutes at the European Championship. If he keeps a clean sheet against
Spain, his streak will be the fifth longest in the competition's
history.
Henrik Larsson now holds the record as the oldest player for
Sweden in their European Championship history. He will be 36 years and
268 days when this match is played.
Larsson is also his country's top scorer in the competition
with four goals. Larsson, Thierry Henry (France) and Nuno Gomes
(Portugal) can join Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany) and Vladimir Smicer
(Czech Republic) as the only players to have scored in three European
Championship editions.
Olof Mellberg, Fredrik Ljungberg and Larsson all jointly hold
the Swedish record for most appearances at a European Championship
(eight).
Player facts - Spain
Fernando Torres has been selected by Aragones in 41 of the
Spanish head coaches' 49 previous matches in charge, more than any
other player.
David Villa is Spain's top scorer under Aragones with 17
goals. Villa scored Spain's first ever hat-trick at the European
Championship when netting three in their opener against Russia. He
needs one goal to become Spain's record goalscorer at the European
Championship. He currently shares the record with Alfonso.
Villa is the competition's top scorer after one match. At Euro
2004, the top scorers after one match were Zinedine Zidane and Henrik
Larsson with two goals. Both managed only one more goal in the rest of
the tournament.
- Striker David Villa, who notched a hat-trick on Tuesday, suffered a hairline fracture to his right index finger after getting it caught in Fernando Torres's shirt during the celebrations for his opening goal but will be available.
- Sweden, however, will have to reconstruct their right flank following injuries to Christian Wilhelmsson and defender Niclas Alexandersson.
- Alexandersson's place is set to go to Fredrik Stoor, who replaced him as substitute against the Greeks, while it is a toss up between Sebastian Larsson and Johan Elmander for Wilhelmsson's berth on the right wing.
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who opened the scoring against Greece, has a swollen knee but should be fit enough to start again alongside Henrik Larsson up front.
Player to watch
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) :
The Internazionale man finally lived up to his billing against Greece. Let's hope that is not it for the tournament.
Fernando Torres (Spain) : Reports of a bust-up with coach Luis Aragones will not deflect the
Liverpool striker's focus away from opening his account for the
tournament.
Possible Line Up :
Spain : Casillas, Puyol, Ramos, Marchena, Capdevila, Iniesta, Xavi, Senna, Silva, Torres, Villa
Subs : Palop, Reina, Alonso, Navarro, Juanito, Guiza, Fabregas, Garcia, Albiol, Cazorla, Arbeola, De la Red.
Manager: Luis Aragonés
Sweden : Isaksson, Nilsson, Hansson, Mellberg, Stoor, Larsson, Svensson, Andersson, Ljungberg, Larsson, Ibrahimovic.
Subs : Allbäck, Elmander, Källström, Shaaban, Dorsin, Rosenberg, Majstorovic, Granqvist, Wiland, Linderoth
Injured : Alexandersson, Wilhelmsson
Manager: Lars Lagerback
Match officials
Referee : Pieter Vink (NED)
Assistant referee 1 : Adriaan Inia (NED)
Assistant referee 2 : Hans ten Hoove (NED)
Fourth official : Craig Thomson (SCO)
Reserve assistant referee : Martin Balko (SVK)
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