Match #15 :: Sweden v Spain :: Saturday 14 June [R]

[drahnier]

Sweden only dominated in the first half because Spain stopped playing when they took the lead, and clearly a combination of the Spanish starting to play again and Ibrahimovic going out left Sweden unable to do anything except defend.
I'm sure they didn't choose to not have a single attack in the entire second half, it just turned out like that because they weren't good enough.

What do you expect?

The difference in player quality is gigantic.

[Bernabeu]

I couldn't agree with you more. After 1st half, it was anyone's game. I hoped that Sweden would come out in 2nd half and win the game, and they came out looking like..........?????

How could they play like that in the 1st half and then the 2nd half ?. It's shocking, disgusting and enough to make a grown man cry. No need to tell us that it was shameful. You should all be dancing the flamenco that Sweden gave you 3 points. Leave the shame and crying up to us. Lagerback has to be sacked, long after the game, I am still in shock and disbelief of what happened.

The way Sweden played is unacceptable here as well. I can imagine what tomorrows headlines will be.

Precis. Det tycker jag ocksa. Finally a proud Swede. I like Sweden too and what really surprised me was their total renounce to win when their qualification is so much in the air. Sweden can perfectly lose with Russia, they are not a bad team at all, and in the 3rd game Arshavin will be back...

Sweden only dominated in the first half because Spain stopped playing when they took the lead

The difference in player quality is gigantic.

Honestly, you saw the game with the eyes of someone who magnifies the opponent. Sweden was outplaying Spain. You could have scored a few times when the team moved forward. I was listening the Spanish radio and Spanish TV, a total of 10 commentators among journalists and first line trainers. All of them said that Spain had lost the ball and Sweden was very superior. Not that Spain moved back. We were afraid to lose. All.

Then you withdrew voluntarily...

[Big balls]

Sweden only dominated in the first half because Spain stopped playing when they took the lead, and clearly a combination of the Spanish starting to play again and Ibrahimovic going out left Sweden unable to do anything except defend.
I'm sure they didn't choose to not have a single attack in the entire second half, it just turned out like that because they weren't good enough.

What do you expect?

The difference in player quality is gigantic.

I think you're a joke as you've shown in your prior posts when shooting the Swedish team down (although their stats go against your doomsday predictions) and you & co are the reason why this country is seen as a joke by other people.

Lord knows that this country is beautiful in summertimes but that's all this country has going for it. Whenever a non-Swede wants to ridicule my countrymen, I'm not one to disagree.

[Bernabeu]

I think you're a joke as you've shown in your prior posts when shooting the Swedish team down (although their stats go against your doomsday predictions) and you & co are the reason why this country is seen as a joke by other people.

Lord knows that this country is beautiful in summertimes but that's all this country has going for it. Whenever a non-Swede wants to ridicule my countrymen, I'm not one to disagree.

Calm down. Who sees Sweden as a joke??? I really don't know of a country more respected and admired than Sweden by the rest of the World. Beautiful, rich, civilized, neutral, pacifist, reliable, solidarious, safe... come on, it's just football.

Indeed he is a bit pessimistic but who isn't when these matches come close?;)

[glennaldo_sf]

Calm down. Who sees Sweden as a joke??? I really don't know of a country more respected and admired than Sweden by the rest of the World. Beautiful, rich, civilized, neutral, pacifist, reliable, solidarious, safe... come on, it's just football.

Indeed he is a bit pessimistic but who isn't when these matches come close?;)

They do have a high suicide rate amongst teenagers though... maybe it has something to do with the football...

...... just kidding! (sorry bad joke) :D

[Big balls]

Precis. Det tycker jag ocksa. Finally a proud Swede. I like Sweden too and what really surprised me was their total renounce to win when their qualification is so much in the air. Sweden can perfectly lose with Russia, they are not a bad team at all, and in the 3rd game Arshavin will be back...



Honestly, you saw the game with the eyes of someone who magnifies the opponent. Sweden was outplaying Spain. You could have scored a few times when the team moved forward. I was listening the Spanish radio and Spanish TV, a total of 10 commentators among journalists and first line trainers. All of them said that Spain had lost the ball and Sweden was very superior. Not that Spain moved back. We were afraid to lose. All.

Then you withdrew voluntarily...


"Finally a proud Swede"

Hahaha, absolutely brilliant. Hard to find aren't we ?



I don't think Sweden was outplaying Spain though. Sweden could've scored a few times, Spain could've scored a few times. 1st half was pretty much even and both teams supporters could hope for the 2nd half.

And unfortunately, your very last comment is correct and it's an absolute disgrace. Had Sweden tried to win the game and ended up losing 3-1, that would've been acceptable. Trying to play defensively for a 2nd half after that 1st half....a disgraceful performance.

Lagerback seriously has to go after this Euro.

[drahnier]

I think you're a joke as you've shown in your prior posts when shooting the Swedish team down (although their stats go against your doomsday predictions) and you & co are the reason why this country is seen as a joke by other people.

Lord knows that this country is beautiful in summertimes but that's all this country has going for it. Whenever a non-Swede wants to ridicule my countrymen, I'm not one to disagree.
I'm confused, do you like Sweden or not?

And i've made no doomsday predictions, in fact my prediction was for Sweden to get to the quarterfinal and lose it, which is exactly what their stats say they will do. (and exactly what is going to happen)

I'm just not disappointed when Sweden is completely outplayed in one half against a team that has much better players on every single position.
It's logical.

[Txtriathlete]

One thing I hate about traveling on the weekends is missing out on matches like these :(

Good result.

For once I feel like Spain has what it takes to go the whole way.

[Bernabeu]

They do have a high suicide rate amongst teenagers though... maybe it has something to do with the football...

...... just kidding! (sorry bad joke) :D

The scandinavian weather is too hard and depressing, but it's a myth that suicide rate thing. The Eastern Europeans and Asians are on top of them. Also Germany, Austria or Switzerland. See this funny list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate Sweden is number 31.

Concerning football, I can't understand how Sweden or Denmark are so good in football being such small countries and having that weather. They train and play almost all year round in the rain, ice, fog, snow with impossible fields and conditions and still they are among the best in the World. I'm serious. Whenever I've played football in those countries I've found it really hard and takes a lot of will and habituation because you only want to be at home drinking hot chocolate.

[Big balls]

I'm confused, do you like Sweden or not?

And i've made no doomsday predictions, in fact my prediction was for Sweden to get to the quarterfinal and lose it, which is exactly what their stats say they will do. (and exactly what is going to happen)

I'm just not disappointed when Sweden is completely outplayed in one half against a team that has much better players on every single position.
It's logical.


I've read your posts for a while now and they've been all negative. I could quote you on it which you surely know.

Love the country, dislike the mentality. Sweden is the kind of country you wanna go to in summertime but want to stay away from during the remaining months of the year because Swedes are so damn negative and depressive.

[Big balls]

The scandinavian weather is too hard and depressing, but it's a myth that suicide rate thing. The Eastern Europeans and Asians are on top of them. Also Germany, Austria or Switzerland. See this funny list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate Sweden is number 31.

Concerning football, I can't understand how Sweden or Denmark are so good in football being such small countries and having that weather. They train and play almost all year round in the rain, ice, fog, snow with impossible fields and conditions and still they are among the best in the World. I'm serious. Whenever I've played football in those countries I've found it really hard and takes a lot of will and habituation because you only want to be at home drinking hot chocolate.


Even more surprisingly, Sweden's football team is more or less from the South of Sweden where the climate is better so it's not even Sweden as a whole that fields a national team. The hockey team makes up for the northern part.

[noiateerickson]

The result turns out to be moot for the Swedes...yes it was heartbreaking, but I am taking solace in the fact that a tie would have done nothing to improve our chances of advancing....

Because Russia won, with a tie today Sweden would have needed to NOT LOSE against the Russians to advance...as it stands, Sweden still needs to just NOT LOSE against Russia and they will go through.

The only real negative is it makes it impossible for Sweden to win the group, but even with a tie today they wouldn't have won it....

Sweden and Spain would have both been on 4 points...Spain will pick apart woeful Greece, and if Sweden would have beaten Russia, they would not have done so 4-1 and Spain would have won the group on goal differential.

Anyways, I'm hoping Lagerback starts Kallstrom over Svensson against Russia. I love Sweden, but this is by far the most frustrating thing about the team. Kim Kallstrom is so infinitely better than Anders Svensson it is mind boggling that he doesn't start. Even today, the 7 minutes Kallstrom was in Sweden looked better going forward then they did all half and he displayed more class on the field than Svensson did in his 86 minutes....

Also, very disappointed with both Rosenberg and Sebastian Larsson...they looked like filth today.

[Ceres]

Concerning football, I can't understand how Sweden or Denmark are so good in football being such small countries and having that weather. They train and play almost all year round in the rain, ice, fog, snow with impossible fields and conditions and still they are among the best in the World. I'm serious. Whenever I've played football in those countries I've found it really hard and takes a lot of will and habituation because you only want to be at home drinking hot chocolate.

The poor Danish weather is a myth... It's really no different from Germany or England, unless of course you insist on adding Greenland as a part of the Kingdom of Denmark :D ...

[Bernabeu]

The poor Danish weather is a myth... It's really no different from Germany or England, unless of course you insist on adding Greenland as a part of the Kingdom of Denmark :D ...

You must be so used to it that you don't notice anymore. I lived one year in Aalborg. 12 months of the most horrible, dark, grey, rainy, windy, snowy, freezing and depressing weather I have ever seen. I didn't see the sun longer than a few minutes as it was always covered with a very thick blanket of clouds, so low that you could touch them with your fingers, making you feel smashed against the ground. The summer wasn't any better. Very few moments of sun. Always grey and rainy. I tell you that then I understood everything about why north Europeans need the sun so much and how much it influences our mood and energy levels.

Since I have also lived in Germany and been to England many times, my personal opinion is that the Scandinavian weather is the worst I have seen with a very long difference. But I also believe that it's where the quality of life is the highest if you manage to ignore it.

[drahnier]

It's all about what you're used to, clearly.

Personally i'd find tropical countries with 40 degree heat much worse than the moderately cold Swedish winters.

[Ceres]

You must be so used to it that you don't notice anymore. I lived one year in Aalborg. 12 months of the most horrible, dark, grey, rainy, windy, snowy, freezing and depressing weather I have ever seen. I didn't see the sun longer than a few minutes as it was always covered with a very thick blanket of clouds.

??... Your just adding to a myth... The past several years we have hardy seen much snow at all in Denmark... and usually ther is 3 month worth of almost pure sunshine, in the summer .... This past 1½ month it has been sunshine all day except for around one week with some clouds and a slightly bit of rain...

FC Barcelona btw also came to Denmark and Aarhus (where I live) two years in a row (2005 and 2006) as preparation for a new La Liga season, to spend a week in training camp and play some pre-season games, saying that it was perfect weather for football... sunny but not too hot..
.

[Bernabeu]

??... Your just adding to a myth... The past several years we have hardy seen much snow at all in Denmark... and usually ther is 3 month worth of almost pure sunshine, in the summer .... This past 1½ month it has been sunshine all day except for around one week with some clouds and a slightly bit of rain...

FC Barcelona btw also came to Denmark and Aarhus (where I live) two years in a row (2005 and 2006) as preparation for a new La Liga season, to spend a week in training camp and play some pre-season games, saying that it was perfect weather for football... sunny but not too hot..
.

Lol...:) We end up talking about the weather.

I obviously cannot argue with you if you are from Aarhus, just 100km south of Aalborg becuase for sure you are right. I guess we judge by our "visitor" experiences. Mine is that I have been in Sweden many times, one year in a row in Aalborg with visits to Kobenhavn, plus other visits to Aalborg years later and it was always the same and my danish and swedish friends, colleagues and girl-friend would always say the same, that their weather is horrible but they manage to ignore it but wish they lived in Spain for that.

That was 10 years ago though. The first time I went to Scandinavia was in 1991, and the last 3 years ago, 2005. It's been 17 years of contact. Yesterday a Swedish friend (ex girl friend) called me before the game. As usual, she asked, "how is your weather, lovely I guess, here as depressing as always".

I for instance spent 1 whole month in Stockholm in July-August 1995 and the weather was marvelous, almost 30 days in a row of perfect temperature. I was swimming and getting tanned everyday in the lake Mälaren as she lived in the city but next to the water, and it's just amazing how beautiful and clean it can be for a big city right there in the middle. I have fished in front of the Parlament and ate the fish. Amazingly clean. Do that in Madrid and you die in seconds.

Now, that didn't happen in the year I spent in Aalborg. The weather was always awful. So, I am sure you are completely right. Maybe I have always been unlucky or the world climate is changing everywhere (our summers are getting milder and milder for instance). But that has been my 17 years experience in Scandinavia. Always awful weather. I even got hypotermias and symptoms of hands and feet frozen several times, for instance when waiting for long at the door of the clubs in Stockholm at -15º. The club queu waiting thing is very nordic too, and you have to be used to survive it when it's so cold outside.

In Aalborg (also in Stockholm) I played football many times and it was always rainy, or with ice very slippery, or with lots of mud, or directly snow. I mean, for a Spaniard, that is very bad conditions. And I tell you that I was impressed by the athletic conditions of the guys, and because many of them had incredible technique as well. I'm talking about normal students, usually nerdy engineers, not professional footballers. I always had very good technique but they were more used to playing in those conditions.

Cheers ;)

PS: Hey, this made me nostalgic... I loved it up there.

EDIT: And now that I'm saying this, I have always thought that the 5 Scandinavian countries (plus the 3 Baltic ones maybe) should unify to play an only common football league. In this way, audiences would rise, clubs would have more money, televisions would pay more, and you could compete with the big leagues better rather than needing to sell all your good players. Just a thought. Do you think this is inviable?

[Ceres]

EDIT: And now that I'm saying this, I have always thought that the 5 Scandinavian countries (plus the 3 Baltic ones maybe) should unify to play an only common football league. In this way, audiences would rise, clubs would have more money, televisions would pay more, and you could compete with the big leagues better rather than needing to sell all your good players. Just a thought. Do you think this is inviable?

The Scandinavian leagues are doing fine attendance vise as well as financial, but we will never see a Scandinavian football league... We had a Royal League for a few years that became a fiasco...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_League

Ther was just very little attendance at most of the games and no real TV $$ in it... and the weather was a big problem in Norway and Sweden (but not in Denmark) ... So now I guess it is going to be transformed into a smaller Scandinavian Cup tournament next season...
.

[Bernabeu]

Oh I see... I didn't know you already had it. But maybe just a regular league, not a special tournament. You say the teams are financially fine, but can they compete in salaries and transfers with the big leagues?

Thanks for the information!

[JanBalk]

...Ther was just very little attendance at most of the games and no real TV $$ in it... and the weather was a big problem in Norway and Sweden (but not in Denmark) ...
It should have been obvious from the begining that playing a leauge in the winter seasson in Scandinavia pretty much had to give you problem with the weather.