Sadly, it was veteran Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s return, or if that would happen, that dominated the back pages leading up to Sweden’s World Cup campaign.
The team deserved much more, having knocked out Italy, and playing a significant hand in denying the Netherlands a spot too in the qualifiers. With one man hogging the limelight for much of the last decade and beyond, few would have given Sweden hope of even getting out a tricky group.
After all, the men in gold and blue didn’t even qualify for the last two editions. Twenty four years had passed since they had good run in a major tournament. They had no marquee names, no lofty expectations. Match winners in Jane Andersson’s squad were almost threadbare.
They weren’t convincing either. A scrappy win against South Korea was followed by a heartbreaking last-gasp defeat to Germany courtesy of Toni Kroos’s heroics. Getting out of the group was thrown into jeopardy.
Adversity turned into their ally with Andersson and his men arriving in the World Cup with a commanding 3-0 win against Mexico. Switzerland, too, suffered the same fate despite being marginal favourites in the round of 16 clash.
Brazil, Belgium and France won games in their last-16 matches on the sheer weight of their attacking talent alone. Sweden don’t possess a finisher like Robert Lewandowski , someone with blistering pace such as Kylian Mbappe or Eden Hazard to unlock defences.
Minimal possession, maximum results
Against Switzerland, Sweden had just 33 percent possession. Xherdan Shaqiri and Co saw much of the ball, but had few chances to break down the stoic Swedish defence. Crosses, long-range efforts, set-pieces, the Swiss tried everything but their opposition defence did not flinch.
It was a formula that the Swedes faithfully stuck to. Even against Germany and Mexico, they were happy to allow their opponents to dictate the pace of the game. Once they get settled down and study the target points, they counter-attack at speed. The story was no different on Wednesday.
The Germans got a taste of it, and it can be argued the Swedes could have got another goal in that game. They didn’t make the same mistakes in the next game, which was effectively an eliminator. The statuesque Swedes were too hot to handle for Mexico. Once again, a watchful first half was followed by Marcus Berg and Co cutting open a dazed El Tri backline.
The Germany game, in hindsight, looks an aberration. Maybe they allowed the reigning world champions too many easy touches in and around the box, something they have worked on in subsequent matches.
More than just Zlatan
Portugal and Sweden faced off in a play-off clash in 2013-’14. The winner of that clash would progress to the World Cup in Brazil. The match, predictably, was dubbed as a battle between Ibrahimovic vs Cristiano Ronaldo, almost reducing the abilities of the rest of the squad as a modest supporting cast to serve their superstars.
Since then, Portugal went to become European champions despite limited contribution from their captain and talisman during their run. Life for Sweden too, has moved beyond the 37-year-old maverick. Even with Ibrahimovic’s presence, the former World Cup finalists never took a liking for big tournaments.
In Viktor Claesson and Emil Forsberg, they have had willing runners who can cover the length of the pitch in no time. In skipper Andreas Granqvist, they have a leader who can expertly marshall a backline. Granqvist is also flawless with his spot-kicks, and is set to miss the birth of his second child to lead his team out in the last-eight.
Another veteran, Sebastian Larsson, along with Albin Ekdal, are willing runners who lend stability and shape in defence and attack.
Ekdal, though, could have nearly been the villain after spurning a glorious chance in the first half to put his side in the lead. Those duties, though, were taken over by the brilliant Forsberg, whose pace and intelligent runs drag defences out of position. After 14 shots, the Lepzig forward finally found salvation with a shot that took a heavy deflection off Manuel Akanji before rolling into the net.
Without Ibrahimovic, the attacking responsibilities are a lot more decentralised for Sweden. The ethos still remains the same with the Scandinavians looking to use their height advantage to full effect. Long balls are regularly hoofed in the direction of Berg, something that John Stones and Harry Macguire are going to have a tough time coping with.
Andesson’s tactics may prove to be handy for bottom-placed team in the league in a relegation dogfight. A few may have expected his team to top the group, and beat a more experienced and a fancied opponent to enter the quarters. That too, with one of their creative outlets in Larsson missing the knockout tie through a suspention.
There is a vigour and determination in camp, and Sweden are quietly making their presence felt. Berg, after the game, said: “The expectations have increased, even personally, from ourselves. We have proven what we can do, so we can’t hide behind anything. So there are no obstacles. There are only possibilities to continue in the same way we have done.”
Gareth Southgate’s England will know that they are meeting a team who give away little and love upsetting the odds. Just like this edition, Sweden had to negotiate a tough-as-nails group in 2002. England were one of their opponents. Argentina and Nigeria were the other teams. As it turned out, Sweden ended up topping the group on goal difference.
A star-studded England, just like 2002, were held to a draw four years later. The pattern was the same. The Three Lions threw a wave of attacks, Sweden just found the more effective punches to match up toe-to-toe with the English. Southgate and Co will be aware of that. With Ibrahimovic, Sweden had stardust. Without him, they are a well-drilled machine who can catch anyone off guard. Write Sweden off at your own peril.