Sweden Euro 2008 Blog

Sweden’s Euro 2008 squad confirmed: Henrik Larsson!

Lerkot — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:25:01 +0000

Earlier today Lars Lagerbäck revealed his squad for the Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria. And I bet that everyone got really happy when Lagerbäck revealed the last name; Henrik Larsson is back in Blueyellows for the first time since the World Cup 2006. Larsson was the only surprising name in the squad and this is most likely the last tournament for about ten players in the Swedish squad.

Goalkeepers
Andreas Isaksson, 26 years, (Manchester City)
Rami Shaaban, 33 years, (Hammarby)
Johan Wiland, 26 years, (Elfsborg)

Defenders
Olof Mellberg, 31 years, (Aston Villa/Juventus)
Petter Hansson, 31 years, (Rennes)
Mikael Nilsson, 30 years, (Panathinaikos)
Daniel Majstorovic, 30 years, (Basel)
Andreas Granqvist, 23 years, (Helsingborg)
Fredrik Stoor, 24 years, (Rosenborg)
Mikael Dorsin, 26 years, (Cluj)

Midfielders
Tobias Linderoth, 29 years, (Galatasaray)
Fredrik Ljungberg, 31 years, (West Ham)
Anders Svensson, 32 years (Elfsborg)
Kim Källström, 26 years, (Lyon)
Niclas Alexandersson, 36 years, (IFK Göteborg)
Christian Wilhelmsson, 28 years, (Deportivo)
Daniel Andersson, 31 years, (Malmö)
Sebastian Larsson, 23 years, (Birmingham)

Strikers
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 26 years, (Inter)
Johan Elmander, 27 years, (Toulouse)
Marcus Allbäck, 35 years, (FC Köpenhamn)
Markus Rosenberg, 26 years, (Werder Bremen)
Henrik Larsson, 36 years, (Helsingborg)

Please notice though that some of the ages might be a bit wrong. Like, I know that Larsson was born in 71 but I’m not in the mood to check exact date.

Lagerbäck also picked a couple of reserves in case someone gets injured.

Reserves
Kennedy Bakircioglü, (Ajax) (for Linderoth)
Eddie Gustafsson, (Lyn)
Oscar Wendt, (FC Köpenhamn)
Peter Larsson, (Halmstad)
Samuel Holmén, (Bröndby)
Stefan Ishizaki, (Elfsborg)
Marcus Berg, (Groningen)

Eddie Gustafsson as third-choice keeper?

Lerkot — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:45:08 +0000

Rumours now circulate in Sweden that Eddie Gustafsson of FC Lyn might take the third keeper spot behind Andreas Isaksson and Rami Shaaban this summer. However, the normal third choice Johan Wiland have performed alright in Elfsborg during the first ten games of Allsvenskan.

In the summer of 2006, Eddie was cut in the last minute since his performances dipped in the Norwegian league. I suppose it would be fair in some way if he was able to grab the last keeper spot this time, since he won’t get many more chances at the age of 31.

However, I suspect that when Lagerbäck will pick his squad next week, Eddie will end up at home, as a replacement if any of the other keepers would get injured.

Fredrik Stenman might go to Euro 2008

Lerkot — Sat, 03 May 2008 10:16:56 +0000

Groningen left defender Fredrik Stenman might get selected for Euro 2008 according to Swedish assistant manager Roland Andersson who reportedly called up Stenman to tell that he is one of the players they follow. Sweden recently got Erik Edman out for six months which puts the team in an unsual situation since Erik Edman has been the undebated first choice alternative since 2003.

Fredrik Stenman has made a good season in Groningen and might get a spot in the selection. Personally I doubt he will get to play very much, and there certainly are other options; Behring Safari (Malmö FF), Mikael Dorsin (CF Cluj) of course, but also Peter Larsson (Halmstad), Mikael Nilsson (Panathinaikos) and Niclas Alexandersson (IFK Göteborg) is able to play on the position, though they usually dont in their club teams.

Fredrik Ljungberg out for a couple of weeks

Lerkot — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:03:12 +0000

Fredrik Ljungberg got injured once again when West Ham played 2-2 against Newcastle. The left side midfielder will be out for about a month with an rib injury but his participation in Euro 2008 shouldn’t be a problem. However, Freddie won’t play the remaining two league games in the Premier League.

Of course Freddie is a important player who we really need in order to get good results. He might not be as good as he was a couple of years ago, but he’s definitely good enough to keep a spot in the midfield four, despite Sebastian Larsson’s great season in Birmingham and Christian Wilhelmsson’s nice shape in Deportivo.

Good game ends in loss

Lerkot — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:59:23 +0000

Lars Lagerbäck began the game against Brazil with a pretty interesting starting lineup. Andreas Isaksson took the place in the goal, with Mikael Nilsson playing on left defense in Erik Edmans absence, Daniel Majstorovic and Olof Mellberg teaming up in the central defense and with Fredrik Stoor handling the right defense. At the midfield, Ljungberg played on the left while Anders Svensson once again took the defensive midfielder position behind Kim Källström. On the right flank Sebastian Larsson got to play his second game in blue-yellow. Up front, Johan Elmander and Marcus Rosenberg were supposed to score the goals.

Sweden played very good from the first minute, creating lots of chances. Anders Svensson dominated on the midfield with his aggressive yet intelligent play. The rest of team also stood up well, with everyone performing above the expectations. Marcus Rosenberg had the first half’s best chance but shot wide. The score at halftime was 0-0, but Sweden played very impressive.

In the second half, Rami Shaaban took the keepers spot and Mikael Dorsin took the left back position. Just a couple of minutes into the half, Anders Svensson had to be subbed with an injury (will be fit in a couple of days) and Daniel Andersson stepped in, making his best performance in several years, yet still not reaching the quality of Svensson’s performance.

Despite Sweden creating a handful of decent chances, Brazil went on to take the lead. Shabaan gave the ball away to debutant Pato who put the ball in the goal with ease. Sweden kept on producing scoring opportunities but didn’t get to put the ball in the net.

1-0 to Brazil but a brilliant performance from the Swede’s. While some of the questions asked before the game - will Stoor be able to handle the pressure? would Larsson do a good job on the midfield - got answered, it also created a lot of new questions. The midfield seems very hard to predict at the moment, but the players who began this game certainly seems like potential starters, all of them… which once again would put Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the bench..

Erik Edman out for six months

Lerkot — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 10:09:15 +0000

Wigan defender Erik Edman has had a very rough season. Injured, playing badly, and now injured again. And this time it’s because of an ACL injury that will make him miss this summers big event. Fortunately, the experienced left flank defender is well backed up, with players like Fredrik Stenman (Groningen), Mikael Dorsin (CF Cluj) and Behrang Safari (Malmö FF) coming through. It will be interesting to see if Lagerbäck will choose one of these new names or if he makes the safe move to let Mikael Nilsson move over from right to left and instead play Alexandersson on the right back.

Yesterday, IFK Göteborg (Gothenburg) beat Kalmar FF in Supercupen, the very first competetive game in Sweden this year. Jonas Wallerstedt scored two goals for IFK, while Kalmar FF made their only one through the Brazilian promise Cesar Santin. The Swedish league will begin at 31 March.

Sweden’s Squad

Lerkot — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:12:08 +0000

This is the squad that Lagerbäck chosed for the game against Brazil next week:

Goalkeepers
Andreas Isaksson, Manchester City
Rami Shaaban, Hammarby

Defenders
Daniel Majstorovic, Basel
Olof Mellberg, Aston Villa
Mikael Nilsson, Panathinaikos
Erik Edman, Wigan
Fredrik Risp, Ankarastor
Fredrik Stoor, Rosenborg

Midfielders
Niclas Alexandorsson, IFK Göteborg
Daniel Andersson, MFF
Kim Källström, Lyon
Christian Wilhelmsson, Deportivo
Anders Svensson, Elfsborg
Sebastian Larsson, Birmingham
Kennedy Bakircioglü, Ajax
Fredrik Ljungberg, West Ham

Attackers
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Inter
Johan Elmander, Toulouse
Marcus Allbäck, FC Köpenhamn
Marcus Rosenberg, Werder Bremen

As you can see, only one really big surprise; Fredrik Risp who has made great performances in Turkey after the winter break. Sweden is lacking central defenders so I kind of hope he could be the solution of that problem. A good performance and he might break his way into the Euro squad. The rest of the squad was very easy to predict.

The Brazilian squad

Lerkot — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 18:27:14 +0000

The Swedish national team is going to England at the 29th of March to play against Brazil in a friendly. Lars Lagerbäck’s squad won’t be out until Wednesday, but this is what the Brazilians got to offer:

Goalkeepers: Diego Alves, Almeria, Julio Cesar, Inter.
Defenders: Daniel Alves, Sevilla, Alex Costa, Chelsea, Juan, Roma, Lucio, Bayern München, Marcelo, Real Madrid, Rafinha, Schalke, Leo, Gremio.
Midfielders: Gilberto Silva, Arsenal, Hernanes, Sao Paulo, Josue, Wolfsburg, Kaka, Milan, Lucas, Liverpool, Richarlyson, Sao Paulo, Diego, Werder Bremen, Julio Baptista, Real Madrid.
Forwards: Alexandre Pato, Milan, Rafael Sobis, Real Betis, Robinho, Real Madrid, Thiago Neves, Fluminense, Luis Fabiano, Sevilla.

Of course, they’re better than us on every single position. We’re pretty even at the keeper spot and up front, but our defence and midfield looks kind of silly compared to the likes of Daniel Alves, Lucio, Kaka and Pato. But, quality ain’t everything. You need to fight hard as well, and thats what we Swede’s are known to do.

And the last one is out

Lerkot — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:08:17 +0000

Internazionale and Zlatan Ibrahimovic again lost against Liverpool in yesterday’s game at San Siro, Milano. The Swedish attacker did a good job in the first half but after Inter received a red card early into the second half, he and his team didn’t have much of a chance. Liverpool won 1-0.

Some transfer news; Helsingborg just signed a young Brazilian called Denilson. Sounds kind of promising to me. Also, Andreas Granqvist is coming in on a loan deal from Wigan. He spent the last couple of months outside the match squads, so it’s kind of natural for him to come back to Sweden and get playing time, in order to hold on to his spot in the national team.

Sleepy Saturday

Lerkot — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:24:34 +0000

Swedish football is kind of sleeping right now. The national team are preparing for Euro 2008 and the league won’t begin for another three weeks, and there’s no point discussing who will win, since the results in Allsvenskan seems to be totally random.

In Europe, Zlatan Ibrahimovic keeps scoring penaltys. He was back in Inter’s starting lineup for todays game against Reggina and scored the 1-0 goal in a game that finished 2-0. Olof Guterstam scored another one for FK Brussel in Belgium, but with the current competition for the forward spots in Sweden, I doubt he’ll have any chance getting into the Euro-squad. Especially not since Markus Rosenberg keeps producing for Werder Bremen, one goal and one assist today, which didn’t mean much since they lost with 6-3 against Stuttgart.