Erik Hamren may take Break from Football

Sweden coach Erik Hamren has revealed that he will be taking time off from football after having announced his exit from the national team.


He leaves Sweden’s national football team after seven years in charge. During this period, he has overseen qualification to back-to-back European championships. Sweden not only qualified for the Euro 2012 but they repeated the feat with the Euro 2016. The latter was especially not successful given that the team failed to get into the knockout stages of the competition as they finished bottom of the group even with striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic on board.

Over the years, Hamren has been in charge of 70 games and he has an extremely good record by winning 40 out of these matches. He was not convinced about another major tournament with the national team, as he announced even before the Euro 2016 that this would be his last tournament with the Sweden national team. There are signs that the 58-year-old could announce his retirement from management, as he has stated that he will take an indefinite break from football for the time being.Hamren spoke about the disappointment of not having done well at the Euro 2016. He says that a return of just one point from three matches is simply not acceptable for a team like Sweden.
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Erik Hamren has claimed that a decision about the future of star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Sweden boss Erik Hamren has claimed that a decision about the future of star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic with the national team will be taken after the Euro 2016. Ibrahimovic has been one of the greatest players in the history of Swedish football. It is quite clear that the national team will struggle without his presence, but there has also been another side of the argument that argues against the presence of Ibrahimovic at this point in his career. The 34-year-old is not one for the future, but he is also preventing the younger players from getting opportunity.

Ibrahimovic has not helped Sweden lift any major trophy but he has surely improve the profile of Swedish football around the world. Hamren has admitted that Sweden to have a lot of talent apart from Ibrahimovic and they are likely to be recognised once the Paris St Germain striker steps down from his role. Even at this age, Ibrahimovic continues to dominate football with his goals and skills. He helped PSG win yet another league title last season. His role at the French club, though, is likely to be subdued in the upcoming campaign due to the new signings like Angel di Maria brought in over the summer. Continue reading