57.chapter 57
At the '06 World Cup in Germany, Sweden was assigned to Group B group stage against England, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago.
England have a lot to do with Sweden, with England manager Christian Eriksen having been awarded the King's Medal earlier this year for his contribution to national and international football. However, thinking of the situation of Eriksen, who has a mediocre reputation in the UK and his private life is reported to be messy, many people have no choice but to complain about what kind of contribution this is.
Sweden's qualification table for the World Cup qualifiers was particularly impressive, winning the group with a record of 9 wins and 1 draw. As a prominent representative of Nordic teams, Sweden from Scandinavia has always been an important force in European football. With the Swedes' advanced technical style of play blended into the traditional Nordic style of power football, there are plenty of Swedes in the squad who have been hailed as 'technical players'.
The tall Ibrahimovic has a cool footwork, can turn the table tennis upside down, and his excellent ball sense can only be described as terrifying; Larsson is still called up to the national team to carry the beam, and Ibrahimovic is very sharp in the front; Ljungberg has become the core of the midfield after the Premier League experience, and the breakthrough ability on the side is also a sharp weapon for the Swedish team to break the enemy.
Sweden faced Trinidad and Tobago in the first game of the group stage, but this opponent was not as fragile as people thought, and in the final moments of stoppage time, Ljungberg burst forward to form a 2-on-1 pattern with Ibrahimovic with the help of Larsson, and finally stabbed the opponent's 90 minutes of unbreached goal.
On the other hand, England also played a 1-0 victory in their opening game against Paraguay.
In addition to the introduction of high-tech such as chip football and anti-terrorism testing, this World Cup has only gone through the first round of games, and basically all teams have determined one point, about the referee's decision.
Although the referees of this type of cup match come from all over the world, the referee team generally has a relatively vague standard. Just like the 02 South Korea-Japan World Cup was held in Asia, Asian players are good at physical fitness and scrambling, and it is also because of this that the overall judgment of the referee team of that cup was relaxed, resulting in one after another 'bizarre' endings. This kind of regulation should have gone through two or three sessions before everyone could understand it from the obscurity, but this time there is something special in that-
It's too obvious.
Perhaps hoping that players from all over the world will show enough beautiful football, all the referees have more or less tightened their own judgment standards in order to make the players restrain their actions. The referee gave a lot of cards, and England certainly bore the brunt of Group B, but well.
When England won 2-0 Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden 1-0 Paraguay, it was also two wins, but England, who won the group because of goal difference, will be Sweden's opponent in the next round.
As for this England team, Lagerbeck brought his coaching staff to unify the players for tactical set-up. England's three goals so far have come in the first Paraguay own goal, the second Crouch and Steven Gerrard. Before that, the Owen + Rooney combination, which was regarded as a big killer in England's striker, seems to have not shown its edge.
After some tactical arrangement, Lagerbeck looked at the people who were a little unfocused, cleared his throat and attracted everyone's attention, "Many people complain that England has such a saying, but if Michael Owen scores a color ball, England is likely to be eliminated." Lagerbeck said calmly, but what he said was a little unreliable complaint.
"So we're going to force Irving, get in the ball?" saw that no one was paying attention to the head coach for a while, and it sounded like he was bound to break through, and he didn't think that the talented man who had been on the same team for a year was easy to deal with.
"No, I'm just kidding. Ragbeck shrugged, "Expect Owen to have a good look." The whole Swedish team looked at the head coach and said very calmly, unable to tell whether it was true or forcibly poured a mouthful of poisoned milk. Seeing that everyone relaxed a lot, Lagerbeck took the topic back, "However, England's forward hole is not Owen, but Rooney." After that, the number of warnings Rooney received in the first two games and the record of averaging one yellow card per game were revealed, and the game video even showed his bravery at Manchester United this season.
"That kid can't hold his feet when he kicks the ball so much, is there a problem with him?" Ragbeck looked at Forlan and asked, Fran scratched his head, thinking that the positions of the two people were completely reversed, and it was reasonable that the striker deceived the defender off the field?
The 25-year-old Francisco Alvarez is the main player of La Liga powerhouse Real Madrid, and he holds the position of the main central defender in the Swedish team, which is known for its central midfield, and Lagerbeck has also handed over the core position of the back line to him. This is a player who does not take his personal thoughts lightly, but the tasks assigned by the manager will be completed in a down-to-earth and serious manner, and he is the type of player that most managers will like.
Ibrahimovic was substituted midway through the previous game against Paraguay and was diagnosed with a groin strain after the game, which led him to be unavailable for the next match against England. Sweden, who have also won two games, have already secured a place in the group and are vying for the top spot in the group with England, after all, if nothing else, the second place in the group will face Germany next in Group A. The fact that the group qualification has been confirmed has made it easier for the Swedes, including Lagerbeck, to achieve their initial goals and to tease their opponents a few times, although they don't want to face the hosts next.
As for the one in the team who is most likely to be full of momentum and hope to simply win the group, he is already destined to be suspended due to injuryβ_β.
But how could England come into the game so calmly? they launched their big move 'Pig Teammates Attack', which caught everyone by surprise, including themselves. After the English media repeatedly exposed the suspected news that several gambling stars such as Rooney and Owen 'seemed' to linger in the casino, the "Mrs. England group" that has been hyped by the media has been the most attractive group of people outside the court, Victoria and her son are still in the limelight, Rooney's girlfriend Colleen is becoming the 'most competitive' star wife at a rocket-like speed, and Walcott's girlfriend Melanie has become the most watched secondary school sixth grader in England. Ashley Cole's singer girlfriend Cheryl and coach Eriksen's wife Nancy are also eye-catching. Not only a group of entertainment industry is constantly paying attention, but even the conceited commentators from all walks of life have commented from all angles in this high-profile event.
Ibrahimovic, who was destined not to shine on the field, watched the news on TV and was amazed, "Do you know what this tells us?" someone goes out of his way to promote the benefits of sibling love to Fran, Fran looks at Cruz Beckham, who was captured by the media, and grins, "What do you tell us? Long live being single?" Eevee snorted, "What are you staring at Beckham's wife?" Fran put his hand on his forehead, feeling that this guy's mind is really dirty (γ> dish <).
Fran raised his hand and pointed at the little boy on the TV, "Didn't I tell you? That's my godson." Eevee tilted his head at him in surprise, as if to ask if you had such a good relationship with this couple, Fran took it for granted, "Don't you think that the godfather of a child should be the only one among thousands of people who guessed his name?" Ievee replied to him.
"Hello spectators, the next thing to bring you is the third round of Group B of the 06 Germany World Cup group stage, the two sides are England vs. Sweden. Compared with the life-and-death battles of other groups, perhaps the smell of gunpowder in this game is not strong, but because the second group in Group B has been confirmed to face off against the German team, which has been set to be the first in Group A, I believe this game will not be an overly boring game. β
"Since the opponents are England and Sweden, we have to mention the record between these two national teams. The two teams have met eleven times since '68, with Sweden winning four and drawing seven, and yes, England have not won against Sweden for 38 years. Not to mention, looking at the history of the two teams in the tournament, Sweden have won 2 and drawn 4 of the 6 matches they have played. The commentator looked at the information in his hand and was amazed, lest the world be confused, and said, "So, this is also a game for England to justify its name!"
In the player's tunnel, Fran stood up early and began to twist his waist in a circle, his movements were particularly bewitching, but with the calm face on his face, no one would think too much. Beckham patted him on the shoulder as he passed by and said hello, and Fran raised his hand and hugged his friend, all without saying a word. It's not uncommon for friends from the club to meet each other in the national team and friends to play against each other in the club. After a friendly high-five to Owen, who moved to Newcastle last season, the players from both teams have put themselves in their positions and adjusted their mentality to stay in top shape for the next challenge.
But no one expected that the biggest chaos of the game would occur less than two minutes into the game. It was Irving's first touch of the game, but no one expected it to be Irving's last touch of the tournament. The players have experienced countless times and know that injuries on the pitch due to tough encounters between opponents are not terrible if they are not intentional, and the real horror is that it happens in the right moment.
"The game has just begun, and the fans in the stands are even immersed in the excitement of the start of the game, Owen received the ball on the left side, and the Swedish defender stepped forward to block, and Owen did not choose to break through after receiving the ball, it seems that he wants to choose to pass" The game has just begun, and even the commentator has not immediately integrated into the game.
It was originally the simplest action, but people didn't expect that there was a scene that England fans didn't want to see, as soon as the ball left Owen's control range, Owen fell to the ground in pain, and the scene didn't even know what was going on, through the slow motion of the big screen, Owen skimmed his right foot inward due to the slipping of the sole of his foot after passing the ball, and it was this skimming that made Owen fall on the turf in pain. England's attack didn't stop because of Owen's injury, and perhaps England's players didn't even know that Owen was injured and couldn't get in without a dead team doctor.
Perhaps Sweden will find out before England.