Sweden-Denmark at Råsunda, 8 September 2007

[DanishSoccerFan]

Still a little over a month away, but nevertheless a match that I know a lot of Scandinaves in particular are looking forward to.

After the horrible events in Parken (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=546011), Denmark desperately needs a full 3 points to be back in the race to qualify whereas Sweden with a victory takes a big step closer to next year's EC tournament.

I predict a very close and exciting match like the last one, again with several goals. I expect a 2-2 draw, but hope for a narrow Danish win, maybe 2-3. Denmark must have used more than it's share of bad luck and bad player decisions by now and lost more points than I think their strength warrants! :eek:

What do you predict as the result? :)

[loden]

I wonder who's gonna get punched in the stomach this time. The Danes were really fighting to get those goals back..that was an awesome game

[Gendarn]

It's a home game and we finished the last qualifying round very well with a 5-0 victory against Iceland. I doubt this game will be as intense as the one in Denmark.
I predict a 1-0 win for Sweden.

[DanishSoccerFan]

It's a home game and we finished the last qualifying round very well with a 5-0 victory against Iceland. I doubt this game will be as intense as the one in Denmark.
I predict a 1-0 win for Sweden.

Not sure I understand what you are trying to say with the first paragraph - Denmark is certainly not Iceland and this is not the last game in the qualifying round...??? :confused:

[Adrian Cocot]

Still a little over a month away, but nevertheless a match that I know a lot of Scandinaves in particular are looking forward to.

After the horrible events in Parken (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=546011), Denmark desperately needs a full 3 points to be back in the race to qualify whereas Sweden with a victory takes a big step closer to next year's EC tournament.

I predict a very close and exciting match like the last one, again with several goals. I expect a 2-2 draw, but hope for a narrow Danish win, maybe 2-3. Denmark must have used more than it's share of bad luck and bad player decisions by now and lost more points than I think their strength warrants! :eek:

What do you predict as the result? :)

Nah, Denmark's run to the tournament will definitively end there. Olsen decided never to address the left-back issue (even though it's been a problem for years), fielding non-solutions like Jan Kristiansen, who ended up getting shat on by Wilhelmsson. I highly doubt Niclas Jensen will do much better defensively. Also, even though Ljungberg is apparently not playing, we don't have a good solution for the right back spot, with the spot either going to an aging Helveg or an inexperienced Kvist. We don't have Poulsen, and the central midfield will likely end up being Leon Andreasen and Daniel Jensen. I don't see them dominating the midfield, especially given Denmarks awful performance against Ireland. Plus, we have a choice of either fielding an injured goalkeeper, or one whose last NT game was a complete embarassment. I highly doubt any result other than a win for Sweden. Which is too bad, because I still think that at full strength, Denmark's team is a hair better than Sweden's and we really have a team that has the quality to compete in the Euro's.

As for entertainment... only if Olsen will get the finger out and field a team that's not the usual suspects. Perhaps making Rommedahl the right back (worked well in the second half against Sweden in Parken). Or maybe just fielding a 3-5-2 with Gravgaard, Laursen and Agger in defense.

[SectionX]

Denmark's team is a hair better than Sweden.

funny that you cant back up that statement with any fact :rolleyes:

look at the points.

[Adrian Cocot]

funny that you cant back up that statement with any fact :rolleyes:

look at the points.

Well, that would be why I orginally prefaced that statement with " I think "

In post match interviews to Danish TV after the cancelled game at Parken, Christian Wilhelmsson and Lars Lagerback both commented that Denmark were close to winning and that Sweden were lucky that Christian Poulsen lost his mind and gave away the game. A sentiment echoed by Johan Elmander in the recent issue of Forza magazine.

Their words, not mine.

I also think that the players and coach of the Swedish NT are much classier than their fans. But I don't have any facts or points to back that up either, just their words and yours.

You ready to talk about the game now? :rolleyes:

[SectionX]

Well, that would be why I orginally prefaced that statement with " I think "

In post match interviews to Danish TV after the cancelled game at Parken, Christian Wilhelmsson and Lars Lagerback both commented that Denmark were close to winning and that Sweden were lucky that Christian Poulsen lost his mind and gave away the game. A sentiment echoed by Johan Elmander in the recent issue of Forza magazine.

Their words, not mine.

I also think that the players and coach of the Swedish NT are much classier than their fans. But I don't have any facts or points to back that up either, just their words and yours.

You ready to talk about the game now? :rolleyes:

ibrahimovic will play this time, he didnt last time. he is looking good, scored 2 goals in serie A this weekend.

[Adrian Cocot]

ibrahimovic will play this time, he didnt last time. he is looking good, scored 2 goals in serie A this weekend.

To be honest, I'm more worried about Elmander. Zlatan hasn't been at the same level on the NT as he has at Inter, whereas Elmander gets better and better. Looks like Ljungberg won't play, but I expect that Kallstrom will, which will give Sweden the edge in the middle of the park.

Any idea who will be in Sweden's midfield? Lagerback always seems to rotate the players around. I'm guess Wilhelmsson will be, since Denmark are so weak at LB, so will it be Svensson or Alexandersson?

[Big balls]

He's not gonna play Källström on the midfield!, unbelieveable. I think Sweden will win the match. I believe they are the better team and with homefield advantage, they really should be able to get 3 points out of this. A draw isn't impossible but 3 points feels more near at hand.

[DanishSoccerFan]

So, another draw (during regular play! :rolleyes:), this time 0-0. Pretty exciting match with a lot of drama that could have gone either way. I will have to admit that Sweden had the best opportunities though - Zlatan and Elmander both played pretty good, but fortunately couldn't beat Soerensen, who saved us on several occassions.

A draw for Sweden is probably worth more than a draw for Denmark who is now looking to the Iceland-Spain match, hoping for a helping hand from Iceland. If not, Denmark will no longer be able to decide their own destiny even with wins in all the remaining matches, although NI's defeat against Latvia today certainly helped the situation.

So, go Iceland!!!

[SectionX]

So, another draw (during regular play! :rolleyes:), this time 0-0. Pretty exciting match with a lot of drama that could have gone either way. I will have to admit that Sweden had the best opportunities though - Zlatan and Elmander both played pretty good, but fortunately couldn't beat Soerensen, who saved us on several occassions.

A draw for Sweden is probably worth more than a draw for Denmark who is now looking to the Iceland-Spain match, hoping for a helping hand from Iceland. If not, Denmark will no longer be able to decide their own destiny even with wins in all the remaining matches, although NI's defeat against Latvia today certainly helped the situation.

So, go Iceland!!!

you were totally outplayed. Denmark should be happy with 0-0 and agger took the ball with the hand in the penalty area which s hould been red card.

denmark lucked out, but is gone from Euro 08 anyway

[DanishSoccerFan]

you were totally outplayed. Denmark should be happy with 0-0 and agger took the ball with the hand in the penalty area which s hould been red card.

denmark lucked out, but is gone from Euro 08 anyway

Totally outplayed? I don't think we were. I agree that Sweden played better and that if there should have been a winner, it should have been Sweden, but I don't think we were totally outplayed. I agree that in the end we should probably be happy with a draw.

As for the handball, I agree, that was a handball and should have been a yellow card (but NO pk as it was clearly outside the box). Not a red card either as he wasn't taking away an open goal scoring possibility (he was clearly not the last man either). That would have been a nasty place for a freekick though. Ah, on second thought about the red card - Agger already had a yellow card from the first half, so you are right - two yellows would have resulted in a red, just not a direct red.

[DanishSoccerFan]

denmark lucked out, but is gone from Euro 08 anyway

I wouldn't count us out just yet. Iceland just went up 1-0 against 10 man Spain. We have to play better than what we did today though, we gave away too much and if it hadn't been for Soerensen, we would have lost.

[Klask]

Agger took the ball with the hand outside the penalty area, that was pretty obvious. And the referee was not that strict, if he was Elmander would also have received his second yellow card for the free kick on Nicklas Jensen.

[Big balls]

OMG!, I agree with Danishsoccerfan ;)

I think Danishsoccerfan's analysis was pretty much correct. I wouldn't say that Denmark was outplayed, if they were that much outplayed then Sweden should've won the match. Still, Sweden was the better team, Sweden had more chances to score, the chances they had were often better. Regarding the handball, yes Agger should've been sent off, Elmander was about to break through and Agger should have gotten his 2nd yellow card for a deliberate handball. The handball did happen outside the goal area. It was basically two steps outside of the box and a crazy reaction by the ref. Of course it should've been a FK.

0-0 didn't feel like a very unfair result, the Danes did have good chances to score as well.

Now if Spain could lose 3 points or 1 point to Iceland, that would be smashing.

[Klask]

Iceland-Spain 1-1. A shame Iceland didn't get the win, defending with 11 men against 10 Spanish players.:rolleyes:

[SectionX]

Iceland-Spain 1-1. A shame Iceland didn't get the win, defending with 11 men against 10 Spanish players.:rolleyes:

comon, it was a nice result for iceland. Spain is like 10 times better even with 10 men.

[Big balls]

Yes, checked the Spanish forum right after the last post. Well regardless, I think chances are slim that it won't be Sweden and Spain that qualifies from this group.

[Klask]

comon, it was a nice result for iceland. Spain is like 10 times better even with 10 men.

And they were 10 times better than Iceland in that match? No, no way in hell.