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Scouting
Report
Style of play: Dual coaches Tommy Soderberg
and Lars Lagerback stress hard work and organization.
Hence, Sweden plays a very mechanical, deliberate brand
of soccer with a backbone of sturdy defence. The defensive
midfielders often drop back and clutter the space in
front of the penalty area, making it very difficult
for opposing forwards to find any room to operate. The
two forwards often create scoring chances for themselves
by dropping back a bit in midfield and running directly
at opposing defenders. The lone playmaking midfielder
also presses forward with darting runs up the middle
before making crisp diagonal passes into the penalty
area with range of the forwards.
Strengths:
Defence -- Sweden conceded only three goals in
qualifying, a testament to its defensive prowess. Opposing
forwards will find that Sweden's defence is tough to
break down, tenacious in its marking and very good at
carrying the ball out of its own end.
Goalkeeping -- Swedish custodian Magnus Hedman
has over 40 international caps and is a proven shot-stopper
of the finest quality. He's a very athletic keeper who
perfectly supplements Sweden's impenetrable defence.
Potent attack -- Strikers Henrik Larsson and
Marcus Allback make up one of the most lethal scoring
tandems at the World Cup. Responsible for 13 of Sweden's
20 goals during qualification, Larsson and Allback complement
each other's strengths better than any other forward
partnership in soccer.
Weaknesses:
Lack of midfield creativity -- Freddie Ljungberg
is Sweden's lone creative option in midfield. He'll
have to bear the responsibility of playmaker by himself
as the rest of Sweden's midfielders lack inspiration,
ingenuity and attacking vision.
Untested in qualifying -- Sweden went undefeated
in qualifying, but its stiffest test came from Turkey.
Lightweights Moldova, Macedonia and Azerbaijan provided
little competition, meaning the Swedes could come out
flat in Japan and Korea.
The Group of Death -- Being drawn into the World
Cup's toughest group was Sweden's "reward"
for toping the easiest group in European qualifying.
Wins against Argentina, England and the always-tough
Nigeria will be hard to come by, and Sweden will have
to fight hard to earn every point.
Key injuries/omissions: Veteran defender Pontus
Kamark and midfielder Hakan Mild were not named to Sweden's
final roster…. Freddie Ljunberg recently recovered
from a back injury and will be fully fit once the tournament
kicks off…
Outlook: Of the four teams in the "Group
of Death," Sweden boasts the most stable defence.
Argentina looks bound to finish in first place in Group
F, leaving Sweden to battle it out with England and
Nigeria for second. Sweden's opening game against England
will set the tone; if it can win that match, it will
stand a very good chance of advancing. Since beating
Argentina is unlikely, a loss to Nigeria would be a
huge setback. Sweden's onerous task is to at least win
two of its three games and tie the other one; any dropped
points will damage its chances of moving on. A berth
in the second round is possible, and they have enough
talent to sneak into the quarter-finals. However, most
expect Sweden will finish in third place in Group F
ahead of Nigeria.
The
Country
Location: Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic
Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, Kattegat, and Skagerrak, between
Finland and Norway.
Capital: Stockholm
Area: 449,964 sq km
Population: 8,873,052 (July 2000 est.)
Government type: Constitutional monarchy
Climate: Temperate in south with cold, cloudy
winters and cool, partly cloudy summers; subarctic in
north.
Ethnic groups: Indigenous population: Swedes
and Finnish and Lapp (Sami) minorities; foreign-born
or first-generation immigrants: Finns, Yugoslavs, Danes,
Norwegians, Greeks, Turks.
Religions: Lutheran 87%, Roman Catholic, Orthodox,
Baptist, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist.
Languages: Swedish, Lapp and Finnish minorities
History: A military power during the 17th century,
Sweden has not been involved in any armed conflict in
close to 200 years. Sweden's successful economic equation
between a capitalist system and generous welfare system
has recently been undermined by high unemployment and
a declining position in world markets. Indecision over
the country's role in the political and economic integration
of Europe caused Sweden to hold off from joining the
EU until 1995.
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