Tag: Sweden

Sweden says goodbye to Zlatan

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic has played his last game for Sweden at the Euros in France.


The Sweden striker has made 116 appearances for the Sweden national team during his career and scored 62 goals during the process. His last game for Sweden has been the defeat against Belgium 1-0.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has stated that he was disappointed with the defeat and would have preferred to end his international career with a victory.
However, he said that that he has enjoyed his career with Sweden and that he has kept some great memories. It was a great achievement for him to have played all these matches for his country and to bring good memories to the fans.

Ibrahimovic said that he came from a small town and that it was a great achievement for him to become Sweden top goal scorer.
Sweden coach Erik Hamren stated that it was disappointing for Zlatan not to end his career with a victory and that the team tried everything they can. Unfortunately, things did not go as plan and the match ended in defeat. The coach had acknowledged the contribution of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the team and admitted that he would be losing a valuable player for the team.
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SWEDEN PLAYS ONE ALL DRAW WITH CZECH REPUBLIC

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The Swedes were dominant in the match against Czech Republic but failed to act on the dominance with the ball. The highly exhilarating match on Tuesday in Stockholm ended in a stalemate with Czech Republic being more comfortable with the result.

From the start of the match, The Team Yellow-Blue took the game to Czech Republic. They dominated attacks which resulted in a goal within 14 minutes of play. Marcus Berg sent a cross from Martin Olsson to the back of the net. Then it seemed the home team was sated with the goal. The visitors, obviously unsettled, calmed into the game and sustained attacks. The attacks were rewarded with a goal in the 26th minute. The goal came courtesy of a close-range range header from Reading forward, Matej Vydra. Vydra headed the goal from a Tomas Sivok’s set piece.

The match proceeded slowly until the 34th minute when Vladimir Darida almost gave Czech Republic a lead. He received a pass from Ladislav Krejci and shot it few inches wide. It was a painful miss for him and he obviously reacted. The match proceeded without much action until the end of the first half of the International friendly. Continue reading →

Erik Hamren would be on his way out of the Sweden set up

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Erik Hamren would be on his way out of the Sweden set up once he gets done with the Euro Championships.

The stories of that had been doing rounds for the last couple of days and yesterday, Hamren confirmed the news to the Swedish media himself.

The 59-year old was quoted as saying, “I would be quitting once Euros get over and my contract is completed.”

Hamren is believed to have communicated his decision to the Swedish association as well and they have accepted that.

An official statement, however, has yet to come out from the association.

The 6-year period that Hamren has spent in charge of the Swedish national team, it has been full of criticism as the team has not stood up to the hopes of the fans.

The World Cup qualification was a big disappointment as Sweden failed to get to Brazil.

And, thereafter at one stage, it seemed Sweden would fail in the Euro qualification as well when they lost back-to-back games to Russia and Austria.

But, they did make a comeback in the last phase of their campaign to get to the playoffs and then, sneak past Denmark in the playoffs to book the ticket to France.

Sweden’s showings in France, to a very large extent, would determine how Hamren is remembered as a manager in the history of Swedish Football.

The tenure of Hamren would probably be considered a failure if Sweden doesn’t quite show the fight in France and gets knocked out early. Continue reading →

Erik Hamren has claimed that a decision about the future of star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic

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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 →

Erik Hamren reckons whatever Zlatan Ibrahimovic was due to heat

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The Swedish national manager, Erik Hamren, reckons whatever Zlatan Ibrahimovic said following the Bordeaux game, it was all the heat of the moment stuff and it should not have been blown out of proportion.

Ibrahimovic was fuming post that game as he thought his team lost only because of the rough decisions of the referee.

He, thereafter, was heard hurling some negative words on the standard of the referees in France.

If the reports are to be believed, he also said that France does not deserve to have Paris Saint Germain.

The French public and media have taken it as insult and there has been a little bit of outrage over there against Ibrahimovic.

The striker will have to justify his act in front of a disciplinary committee now and in case the committee finds his words unacceptable, he might have to suffer ban.

Ibrahimovic has already put forward an apology to all of those who are feeling hurt by what he said.

According to Ibrahimovic, he did not take a dig at anyone. It was just his frustration which came out.

Hamren, who manages Ibrahimovic in international Football and knows him very closely, also had the same thing to say. Continue reading →