SWEDEN
LIKELY TEAM (4-4-2): Olsen, Krafth, Granqvist, Lindelof, Augustinsson, Claesson, Ekdal, Larsson, Forsberg, Berg, Toivonen
- Sweden are looking to reach the last four for their first time since 1994
- The Swedes have won consecutive World Cup games for the first time since 1960
- Sweden have the best defence remaining in the competition having only conceded two goals and keeping three clean sheets
- Eleven of Sweden's last 14 goals at the World Cup have been scored in the second half, including five of their six goals at this tournament
The summer of 1994 in the United States was a memorable one for Swedish players and fans alike. A team containing star men such as Thomas Ravelli, Tomas Brolin, Kennet Andersson and a young sprite Henrik Larsson nearly achieved the impossible narrowly crashing out at the semi final stage of the 1994 World Cup to Romario's late winner at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. They were looking back on it the cult team that everyone loved. They lit up that summer in America. The bulk of the side had already experienced a disastrous World Cup in 1990 where they failed to pick up a point and finished bottom of their group. They won the hearts and minds of the Swedish public through being revered for their individual brilliance and flair be it from mad cap keeper; Thomas Ravelli, the genius that was Parma's Tomas Brolin and top scorer Kennet Andersson. However roll forward 24 years later their potential heirs contain no stand out stars and are certainly about being more of a collective. Post Zlatan, in coach Janne Andersson they have a no nonsense man who expects nothing less from his players than his own excessively high standards. They are certainly more than the sum of their parts. What adds to the intrigue surrounding Saturday's clash is the "unhealthy' relationship between the two countries. Since 1969 Swedish television has been showing top-flight English games on Saturday afternoon. A lot of Swedes support English clubs with more passion than they do their Swedish equivalents. As it happens, Swedish football is also heavily influenced by English football after Roy Hodgson and Bob Houghton conquered the country with their 4-4-2 revolution in the late 70s.
Andersson as a man of principle is predominantly behind his system which has seen Sweden flourish and rally. Even for a monumental game as tomorrow's he won't tolerate the disruptive effect of someone coming in and not understanding how the system works. The "system" has ensured their progression to date and is expected to cause England discomfort tomorrow. It would be a mistake for England to consider Sweden as part of their "easier path" to the showpiece event July 15th. Post Ibrahimovic unity and support has replaced the blame culture that had dragged down the national team for many a year. Following his concession of a last minute free kick which Real Madrid star, Toni Kroos converted for Germany, the Swedes own Jimmy Durmaz was rounded on upon social media regarding his Syrian roots. The next day Durmaz read out a statement denouncing the racist threats with each member of the Swedish playing staff behind him. Since then he has become an emblem of the current Sweden side, as both a symbol of anti-racism and a tight-knit squad. The Swedes are definitely a side which focus on what they have to achieve, they train and play each day to maximise their own abilities and render any deficiencies irrelevant.
Above all, though, there is one thing that is so important to him that it transcends everything else: respect. It is so key to his coaching philosophy that he would not be able to function if it did not exist between him and his players.
Andersson took over as Sweden coach after Euro 2016, when a Zlatan Ibrahimovic-led team went out in the group stage. Since then he has overseen a small revolution, making Sweden one of the hardest teams in Europe to beat.
On their way to Russia they beat France at home and finished above the Netherlands. In the play-offs they saw off Italy. At the tournament itself they won Group F ahead of Germany and Mexico before dispatching Switzerland, ranked No 6 in the world, in the last 16. Andersson, of course, is key to all this. Incredibly engaged on the touchline – he admitted earlier this tournament that he looks like “a monster” at times – his energy and beliefs permeate the squad. He asks a lot from his players and sets high standards – but he also gets a lot in return. After Sweden had beaten Italy in the play-offs a photo of Andersson tidying up the dressing room went viral (very similar to the videos of Japanese fans in Russia). He has taken several learnings from the "Legacy" book on the All-Blacks and hired a sports psychologist; Daniel Ekvall to transmit his alchemic beliefs onto his players. His desire to behave well at all times stems from, among other things, the kit man at his first club, Alets IK. Carl-Axel Jacobsson had the motto “man gör rätt för sig”, which roughly translates as “do the right thing”. “At this club we do the right thing, when we win and when we lose,” Jacobsson used to say. “And no one will be able to come and say we did not behave in the right way,” He continued: “We represent something that is bigger than any individual. Why should the cleaner tidy up the things just because we can’t be bothered to pick them up ourselves? Andersson’s values may be considered old-fashioned but they feel refreshing nevertheless. By asking his players to adhere to some basic principles he has taken Sweden to the last eight of the World Cup. The question now is whether it is enough to go even further.
The system is a throwback to the yesteryears of English football, a defensive rigid 4-4-2 where the emphasis will be on each player fulfilling their duties and maintaining positional organization at all times. They will set a certain bar on Saturday in terms of effort and organization and England will have to go above it. They will set up in two banks of four maintaining a very compact shape, they do not necessarily play deep however. At all times they will try keep 40 yards between the defence and two strikers; Marcus Berg and Ola Toivonen up top. They will look to hit the tall duo early with long balls and attempt to squeeze up in behind. The midfield of Albin Ekdal and Gus Svensson were tireless in their game versus Switzerland and more will be expected of Hamburg man Ekdal in front of goal. It was he who squandered two glorious chances versus the Swiss and he would have been rightly informed he cannot afford the same outcome on Saturday. Hull City midfielder is expected to come in for Gus Svensson following hsi return from suspension and England will have to be wary of his set piece specials. Should the Swedish middle fatigue come the later stages on Saturday England will have options aplenty to profit. Krasnodar winger; Viktor Claesson has great technical skills and will look to keep Ashley Young honest stretching the play. Emil Forsberg on the left is perhaps the standout star of this Swedish side. Although knowledgeable of his defensive duties when the Swedes obtain possession the Leipzig man comes alive cutting in side onto hos preferred right foot and will be hoping to conjure more moments of brilliance akin to his goal versus Switzerland on Tuesday.
Robert Olsen will continue in goals with a back four of the ever present Andres Granqvist and Viktor Lindelof in the centre with Ludwig Augustinsson to their left and Bologna man; Emil Krafth on the right who will replace the suspended Mikel Lustig. Krafth has stoked the fire before Saturday's clash accusing Manchester United and England wing-back Ashley Young of being susceptible to diving now and again. Sweden will miss the Ludwig's long throws against the English. 33% possession against the Swiss and Mexico, captain Andres Granqvist says they will not change their gameplan for the English and is more than happy to cede possession if that gives them the best chance of success. Not only will be Granqvist's mind be on stopping Harry Kane and co come Saturday but he will one eye on home with his wife due to give birth to their second child. Will enter the game as underdogs as they have done in every game save for their opener versus South Korea, Sweden's assistant coach Peter Wettergren believes England have "no respect for them". "We need to get the defence right, we need to be courageous when we have possession. We have a clear idea of what we want to do in attack and we want to implement all of this." Although all of Sweden's opponents have enjoyed more possession it is in fact they who have created more chances. Sweden are the lowest scorers in the tournament too, having scored six goals in four games to date and Andersson feels their predictability could prove an advantage. "I think there was a coach who once said about their team that they're quite easy to analyse but quite difficult to beat. I think that's a right description for us". Improvement in facilities has led to improvement in coaching standards and make no mistake this is a nation on the rise and Sweden will be hoping to produce more technical players such as Emil Forsberg and Tomas Brolin of years gone by. For now though it's all about the collective and in coach Janne Andersson they are in safe hands. Even if they are knocked out tomorrow they will have cemented their places in the hearts of the Scandinavian people akin to the class of '94.
ENGLAND
LIKELY TEAM (3-1-4-1-1): Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Henderson, Trippier, Lingard, Alli, Young, Sterling, Kane
- England have won eight times in their twenty-four appearances versus the Swedes, between 1968 and 2011, England played 12 matches against Sweden and did not win a single one of them.
- England have reached the World Cup quarter-final for the first time since 2006, when they lost on penalties to Portugal. They've not progressed beyond this stage since 1990, when they beat Cameroon 3-2
- England have only progressed from two of their eight previous World Cup quarter-final appearances, doing so in 1966 and 1990
- Jordan Henderson has not lost in any of his last 29 England appearances
Sweden are seen as England’s bogey team but the last time Gareth Southgate led out a team against them it not only ended in victory for the U21 side but helped to shape the senior squad of today. Harry Kane in fact captained Southgate's men. They were up against them at the 2015 European U21 Championship in Olomouc, Czech Republic. It was here that the seeds of this revolution were planted at that tournament. Not that this was too apparent at the time. England beat Sweden but finished bottom of their group. Sweden topped it and went on to be crowned champions however it was the emergence of another of Southgate's key World Cup players that was perhaps the most significant development that day in Olomouc in 2015. Jesse Lingard came off the bench against Sweden to crash home the winning goal with five minutes remaining. Southgate did not forget it. In his very first game in charge of the England senior side against Malta in October of the following year, he awarded Lingard his international debut, playing him for the full 90 minutes in a 2-0 win at Wembley. John Stones and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were also a member of that U-21's side that day. At the time the then Everton defender, Stones commended Southgate on his relationship with all the players along with the atmosphere he had harnessed in the squad. Jack Butland, Eric Dier, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford have all played for Southgate at 21's level. "We have got English players coming through who can handle the ball," insisted Southgate in that summer of 2015. "We have got talent." Now the rest of us can see it too.
England are preparing for their biggest game in over a decade as they face Sweden in the World Cup quarter-final on Saturday at 3pm. England have not reached the last eight of the World Cup since 2006, where defeat by Portugal on penalties in Germany marked the start of a period of underachievement. But Gareth Southgate's side now have the country believing following their dramatic shootout win over Colombia in the last 16 in Moscow on Tuesday night; their first win on penalties in World Cup history. The hype is back, Southgate is hoping to become just the third ever manager to carry the Three Lions to a World Cup semi-final come Saturday tea time in Samara. To date he has spearheaded a group that has cultivated a nation with their performances in the tournament to date. Combined with their youthful exuberance and evident team chemistry it is not hard to explain why many fans believe the hype is real. There are no real stars or prima donnas in the English set up. Divisive characters have not been tolerated such as Joe Hart and Jack Wilshere who both have been left at home. Save for Raheem Sterling's tattoo all the front page headlines have been positive. It all echos sentiments of tournaments gone by but maybe just maybe Tuesday's success would have put that chapter of England's past to bed.
As discussed before the English boss has a keen eye for detail. Southgate's own well documented penalty heartbreak in Euro 1996 ensured his team were mentally prepared and equipped to deal with Tuesday's success over Colombia, their first shootout success in their entire World Cup history. Team psychologist; Pippa Grange working as "Head of people and team development" has been a constant among the English setup since her appointment in January and has come in for praise from keeper Jordan Pickford and boss alike. She has encouraged the players to be more open and share personal stories even via media. She was mainly behind England's decision to host an all inclusive "NFL like" media day with access to each squad player on the eve of the tournament. Supposedly it was Grange who convinced Raheem Sterling and Danny Rose to both share details of their off field troubles recently. Scottsman Allan Russell's role as attacking and set piece coach is well known, each England corner Stones, Maguire, Kane and Henderson are seen to align in a "human centipede" before breaking into several directions. Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli act as screeners akin to NBA players. Steve O'Brien is head of performance analysis and it was his work with Jordan Pickford which secured England's progress to the quarter final this Saturday. Pickford dived correctly each way the Colombian players hit their penalty's went except for Radamel Falcao. Looking back on Tuesday's shootout you may notice something strange about Pickford during the English player's penalties. The Mackem was studying which ways the looming Colombian's spot takers were going as per what was inscribed on his water bottle. Reserve keepers' Jack Butland and Nick Pope had handed the Everton man the bottle covered with a towel. This would have been of no surprise to those who are aware of Southgate's affinity to the smaller details coming from his active interest in American sports. The England manager has left no stone unturned in pursuit of glory.
In Harry Kane England now have one of the best players in the world in their ranks. The Tottenham man remains favorite along France's Kylian Mbappe for the tournament's best player. His tally of six world cup goals equals Gary Linker's record while he has become the first English player since Tommy Lawton in 1939 to score in six consecutive games. Kane has six goals from just nine shots this tournament. Although lauded for his goalscoring exploits several aspects of Kane's play have gone largely unnoticed. In their last 16 win versus Colombia Kane showed how deserving he was of the captain's armband with his hold up play throughout the game and his ability to drop back and sit as an extra midfielder during periods where his team where under the cosh. It is a testament to Kane's attitude and temperament that he did not react to several attempts from Colombia's players to disrupt the Tottenham man before his penalty. During the first half fracas between the two opposing sets of players following the Henderson-Barrios clash it was Kane who was pulling his teammates away. Kane leads by example with his goals on on field behavior. It is all the more special given that just four years ago ex-Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas did not see the then chubby English striker deserving of a spot in his first team squad. Other success stories such as Jamie Vardy and Harry Maguire (who spent Euro'16 supporting England on the terraces) and it is not hard to see why the English fans to feel a connection with their team.
England will hope to get joy from the flanks as although the Swedish defensive pair of Granqvist and Lindelof have been solid they rarely mark touch tight and at times have been cumbersome in their movement. England would have seen the footage of the Swedish defence eating up Xherdan Shaqiri's deliveries cutting inside on his natural left foot from the right and therefore will be wary of splitting their attacks between Ashley Young on the left and Kieran Trippier on his natural side whose delivery's have been an important component behind England's success so far this tournament. If Trippier and Young succeed in keeping the Swedish back four and midfield stretched it is all the more important that Raheem Sterling's movement facilitates the runs in behind of Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli (should he be fit). Sterling dropping deep will allow Dele Alli to link up with club and country teammate Harry Kane. It is quite remarkable to say that the runaway Golden Boot leader, Harry Kane has been starved of service so far this tournament but it is in fact through. Given England's usual high tempo and frantic start to games they have been shown to tire come the middle of games. They have at times looked similar to Spain and Germany just switching possession from side to side without purpose. With Henderson on his own in the middle against Colombia there was no connection between midfield and attack hence Harry Kane's attempts to retrieve the ball from deep. England's progression to next Wednesday's game at the Luzhniki Stadium will largely depend on what level of success Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard get from central positions on Saturday. Given the amount of variables the only certainty is that Gareth Southgate would have told his players that this is the opportunity of a lifetime.
WHERE GAME WILL BE WON
If history is to suggest anything this will be a tight and at sometimes cagey affair between two European sides who have exceeded pre tournament expectations. Sweden's lack of cutting edge was evident in their victory on Tuesday in a game which had more misses than Henry the eighth. England will look to control the tempo better than they did against Colombia and will hope to take advantage of their usual fast paced, electric start. England will hope to avoid the slow pedantic play we are so accustomed to seeing halfway through their games. Alli, Lingard and Sterling all tend to get in each others ways at times and will hope to inject some pace into the side against the industrious Albin Ekdal and Sebastian Larsson. If they can free up captain and goal scorer extraordinaire; Harry Kane they will go a long way into ensuring their progress to Wednesday's semi final against hosts, Russia or Croatia.
PREDICTION
Sweden to empty out the tank against a sluggish England side who will huff and puff but in Kane, Sterling and Alli have the quality to breach any defence in world football. England to nab an early first goal keeping boss Gareth Southgate on course to claiming his knighthood whilst sending waistcoat sales into overdrive.
Sweden 1 v 2 England