Sweden (SWE)
Sweden qualified for the FIFA World Cup™ finals as one of the two best
runners-up in European qualifying. They won eight of their 10 Group 8
matches and averaged exactly three goals a game, conceding just four in
return. The only blot on their copybook was the pair of defeats by
Croatia that meant they had to settle for second place, despite
finishing level on 24 points with the team from the Balkans.
Among the highlights of their qualifying campaign was the contribution
of forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whose seven goals included a four-goal
haul in the 7-0 victory in Malta and a spectacular injury-time winner
in Hungary. Fredrik Ljungberg also struck seven and Henrik Larsson four
as the Swedes, employing their traditional 4-4-2 formation, played some
enterprising attacking football.
Germany 2006 will be Sweden’s eleventh FIFA World Cup and this small
Scandinavian country has celebrated some notable successes in the past.
They were semi-finalists at the 1938 finals, won the Olympic football
gold in 1948 and with the trio of Gunnar Gren, Nils Liedholm and Gunnar
Nordahl went all the way to the final on home soil in 1958. However,
after eliminating holders West Germany in the last four, the Swedes
went down 5-2 to Brazil in the final.
Sweden’s most recent achievement of note came at USA 94, where the
impressive performances of a team boasting the forward power of Kennet
Andersson, Tomas Brolin and Martin Dahlin carried them to the last
four. Brazil defeated them in the semi-finals but an emphatic 4-0 win
against Bulgaria at least secured them third place.
Under joint coaches Lars Lagerback and Tommy Soderbergh, the Swedes
reached the second round at Korea/Japan 2002, topping a group that
included England and Argentina, but then losing to Senegal. Soderbergh
stepped down after UEFA EURO 2004, where the Swedes suffered another
second-round defeat, losing on penalties to the Netherlands, and since
then Lagerback has been in sole charge, albeit with the support of
long-term associate Roland Andersson.
Sweden retain some of the key personnel from their last FIFA World Cup
finals appearance with Olof Mellberg (now wearing the captain’s
armband) holding things together at the back, Ljungberg breaking
forward from midfield, and Larsson still posing a threat to any
defence. That said, it is Ibrahimovic nowadays whom opponents fear most
and Sweden boast other promising young talents in forward position,
among them winger Christian Wilhelmsson.
