Sweden fail to impress

June 10th, 2006 | By: Jon | 8 Comments »

First things first: Congratulations to Trinidad and Tobago who held on for a courageous draw despite playing the whole of the second half with 10 men.

The Soca Warriors fought extremely hard after defender Avery John picked up the first red card of the tournament after a couple of dreadfully naive tackles and they deserved to get something out of this match.

Congratulations aside, it was an awful result for Sweden. I’m gutted. We were clear favourites going into the match and now, already after one match, you can smell the panic: with masses of possession, good chances inside the box, masses of support from our fans, we couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.

Doesn’t that sound familiar?

TV4 is already calling the result a “Fiasco” for Sweden.

A fiasco is perhaps a bit strong, but it’s certainly not looking good.

After England beat Paraguay in Group B’s other match, and looked very strong defensively, it has to be said, this evening’s result leaves Sweden having to beat Paraguay on Thursday. That’s likely to be an extremely tough match with Paraguay also desperately needing to win.

Now I need time to let my thoughts recover.



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Comments
Username By kd | June 11th, 2006 at 12:29 am
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i felt like kind of a jerk rooting for sweden in the face of such an amazing performance by t&t.

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Username By Cajun Nick | June 11th, 2006 at 12:53 am
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I’m with KD. Because I don’t have any particular reason to root for Sweden (but I do nevertheless), I found myself actually anticipating the draw – and feeling good for T&T.

The Soca Warriors really put on a great display of grit and determination, plus some pretty good skill. While Hislop deserves the Man of the Match honors, we shouldn’t overlook Sancho’s performance.

Having said all that, we cannot forget that a big part of the credit (blame?) for the draw lies squarely on the heads (and feet) of Sweden itself. There is no excuse for not converting the number of chances that Sweden had.

If one were to look at the match without actually considering whether or not a ball went into the net, then I think that Sweden played very well. Unfortunately, it’s the score that counts.

I believe that Sweden will beat Paraguay, and I look forward to a GREAT match against England.

Posted from United States United States

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Username By stacy-marie ishmael | June 11th, 2006 at 3:10 am
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Guys, thanks for the comments. Warriors all over the world appreciate it.

Jon – I’m rooting for Sweden to trounce England!

Posted from United Kingdom United Kingdom

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Username By Kristian | June 11th, 2006 at 5:16 am
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I also read the “Fiasco” headlines in the Swedish newspapers, which I find somewhat ridiculous. After all, our key players, including Zlatan, looked pretty good. The main thing now is to have the discipline to stick with the plan and goals will follow. This opener reminds me of our 2-2 opener against Cameroon in 1994 – a game where Sweden was clearly the better team but could not quite execute. Brolin, Dahlin & co came back in game 2 and delivered a classic 3-1 win against Russia and went on to claim third place.

Posted from United States United States

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Username By HurrikaneDIABLO | June 11th, 2006 at 6:02 am
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Look guys, I am going to look like the bad guy here, but the game was a fluke. I hate taking anything away from T&T and their feel good background stories (10 players for a 1/2, smallest country to qualify, Hislop not even first choice GK..blah, blah, blah)
I couldn’t help but feel bad for Sweden. They totally got ripped off but fate!! If it wasn’t for Hislop’s perfect game, make no mistake it was phenomonal, the game easily would have been 3 or 4-0. Zlatan was damn awesome out there and every opponent from here on out need to BEWARE of him. If he becomes a man on a mission alongside his partner Larsson are going to kick some serious butt!

Posted from United States United States

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Username By Jon | June 11th, 2006 at 7:35 am
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In the cold light of day, i.e. Sunday morning, I don’t think the result looks as bad as it did at first: we created lots of chances. It’s not like we were played off the park. There are no easy games at this level: but there does have to come a point where we start taking our chances.

Roll on Thursday.

Posted from Sweden Sweden

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Username By elAdi | June 11th, 2006 at 7:43 am
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HurrikaneDIABLO: While I agree that Sweden was clearly the better team and Trinidad should not feel too confident now, as the next match might still end in a trashing, I also have to disagree with you that the game was a fluke. THIS is football. That’s why it’s the biggest single sport in the world: because ANYTHING can happen. Yes, everything went the right way yesterday (ah well, maybe not the crossbar shot. Heheeh. That would have been a REALLY tough one for Sweden.) for T&T. But these situations are part of football and make the game great. There’s nothing fluke about it…

This being said: I was cheering for the Swedes as well. Not because I support Sweden, but because I wanted England to be kicked out by them and Paraguay. And there you have it: England plays a pathetic match and wins 1-0 and Sweden produces 100 changes and draws. Bloody English!

The Socca Warriors will have to produce against England now as well!!!

Posted from Australia Australia

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Username By Zoro | June 13th, 2006 at 6:52 pm
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I agree,
Sweden failed to impress.
I will ask: Is ther hope for sweden?

In my oppinion litle

Posted from The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia

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