UEFA EURO 2016: Sweden team preview

The Swedes qualified for Euro 2016 through the play-offs after finishing third behind Austria and Russia in Group G. They faced their Scandinavian brothers Denmark in that play-off round and came out on top, after two exciting games, with a 4-3 aggregate victory.

Blågult have disappointed in recent tournaments and, despite having talismanic players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrik Larsson at their disposal, have failed to progress on the international stage since the early 90’s when they reached the semi-finals on home turf in Euro 92 before going on to achieve an excellent third place finish in World Cup 94.

Four out of their last five European Championship campaigns have ended at the group stage whilst their World Cup exploits also makes for grim reading.

This time around they find themselves in the competitive-looking Group E alongside Belgium, Italy and Republic of Ireland. Due to its strong nature, Group E could be one of those groups where we see a best third place finisher qualify for the knockout rounds so Sweden will fancy their chances of going through.

EURO 2016 Squad

Goalkeepers: Andreas Isaksson (Kasimpasa), Robin Olsen (Copenhagen), Patrik Carlgren (AIK).

Defenders: Ludwig Augustinsson (Copenhagen), Erik Johansson (Copenhagen), Pontus Jansson (Torino), Victor Lindelof (Benfica) Andreas Granqvist (Krasnodar), Mikael Lustig (Celtic), Martin Olsson (Norwich).

Midfielders: Jimmy Durmaz (Olympiakos), Albin Ekdal (Hamburg), Oscar Hiljemark (Palermo), Sebastian Larsson (Sunderland), Pontus Wernbloom (CSKA Moscow), Erkan Zengin (Trabzonspor), Oscar Lewicki (Malmo), Emil Forsberg (Leipzig), Kim Kallstrom (Grasshoppers).

Forwards: Marcus Berg (Panathinaikos), John Guidetti (Celta Vigo), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris), Emir Kujovic (Norrkoping).

Key Player: Zlatan Ibrahimovic 

Who else but Zlatan Ibrahimovic? Let’s not beat around the bush, Zlatan is the main reason why Sweden have reached these finals after a superb display in their playoff victory over Denmark. No other Swedish player, both past and present, comes close to surpassing him. It is no coincidence that wherever Ibrahimovic plays his domestic football, that team wins titles.

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The 34-year-old has exceptional technical ability and seems to have only got better and fitter with age. Whilst every football fan and player in the world has seen the Sweden captain play, nobody seems to have figured out how to stop him. The fact he is able to create something from nothing on a consistent basis means Sweden know they can always rely on him to come up with the goods, as proved with his eight goals in qualifying.

Qualifying 

Group Matches

Republic of Ireland v Sweden – 13 June, 2016

Italy v Sweden – 17 June, 2016

Sweden v Belgium – 22 June, 2016

Click here for the full Euro 2016 match schedule.

Verdict

Eric Hamren’s side look to have good quality in depth. Sweden are generally fancied as a dark horse and providing they can bring their best form at this tournament then they can go well.

The first bet that stands out where Sweden are concerned is Sweden to reach the quarter finals at 5/1. If they manage to finish second in their group, a distinct possibility given the somewhat unpredictable nature of tournaments, they will face the winners of Group F. This means they would more than likely face Portugal or Austria in a match where you would fancy Sweden’s chances. After that they are likely to face England in a fixture where the Swedes have good recent history so perhaps a punt on the Scandinavians to reach the semis at 12/1 is not so ridiculous.

If you fancy a simpler and less risky bet you could go for Sweden to finish in the top two of their group. There is no value in just backing them to qualify as this counts third place finishes. However, a top two finish for the Swedes represents good value at odds of 7/4. A further simple, good value bet could be in their first match against Republic of Ireland where they are 6/4 to win. I cannot see Ireland doing much in this tournament and think Sweden will have too much quality for them.

Lastly, how can you not have a punt on Zlatan Ibrahimovic? Sweden’s record goalscorer is capable of hitting the back of the net against any side on his day as demonstrated throughout his career. The captain scored eight time in qualifying and is coming off the back of a season domestically where he finished as the 2nd highest goal-scorer in Europe with no less than 38 goals in all competitions. Zlatan is also Paris Saint Germain’s all time leading scorer, a feat he managed to achieve in just four seasons at the French giants.

If Sweden progress to the latter stages of the tournament (which is quite possible as explained above), there will obviously be more opportunities for Ibrahimovic to score. With this in mind I think Zlatan to finish the tournament as top goalscorer at 25/1 is a good outside bet.