Sweden are finding their way without ZlatanIbrahimovic

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ZlatanIbrahimovic decided to step down from international football on June of 2016 and even though it was something that was going to occur either sooner or later, it’s still a sad thing to see as the former Inter Milan player has played a huge role for the Sweden national football team and now the Swedish Football Association has to try and find a player that can fill in his boots.


In 116 caps for Sweden, ZlatanIbrahimovic has managed to score 62 and this makes him the top goal-scorer for the Swedish national side.

“There is a future after Zlatan. I am sure there will be new fantastic football players from Sweden. We’ve had them before.” This the statement released by the Sports Minister Gabriel Wikström as he was saying that there is a bright future even in the absence of ZlatanIbrahimovic.

Even without Ibrahimovic, the Swedish national side has managed to stay in the upper section of their group from the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification stages. Sweden is located at the 2nd spot of group A with 10 points collected from their 5 initial matches.

The Swedish national football has not managed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup since 2006 when they reached the round of 16. Continue reading →

Sweden to invest money

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The Swedish Football Federation has stated that they want to invest more money in the development of their football.


They believe that the Swedish national team is underperforming at the moment and that they need to find ways in order to improve their level of football.

More money will be invested at the grassroots level to encourage the practice of football from a younger age. Resources will be invested in football academy so as to provide the necessary infrastructure to the practice of football.

More football coaches will be recruited to ensure that young players can acquire the basic skills at a younger age. For the Swedish Football Federation, the country lags behind countries such as Spain and Germany regarding football development, and it is important for them to remediate this situation if they are to become competitive again. Continue reading →

ENGLAND CAN DEAL WITH EURO 2017 PRESSURE – KIRBY

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Fran Kirby has come out to back her team, saying that she is fully convinced that England can deal with the pressure being mounted upon them to deliver in the Euro 2017 as it draws nearer.


The team has been on a high since they came off at the third position in Canada at the 2015 World Cup. On the FIFA world rankings, they climbed up to sit at an all-time high position of fourth place, before going on to qualify for the Euro with an unbeaten run.

Kirby is of the belief that she and her team mates are prepared mentally and otherwise to deal with the pressure that comes with being one of the top teams in focus.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Sportswomen programme, Kirby was quoted as saying,

“The expectation is a lot higher now. We’re going to have a lot more attention on us. I think it’s a pressure we can deal with. There is always pressure in football, be that playing for your club or country. Continue reading →

Andersson Ready to Use Ibrahimovic to Scout on Pogba

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Sweden bossJanne Andersson says that he is likely to ask Zlatan Ibrahimovic to scout on Paul Pogba ahead of the national team’s meeting with France in a World Cup qualifier next month.


Sweden take on France on November 12 looking to continue their impressive start to the World Cup 2018 qualification campaign. Despite a 1-1 draw with Netherlands in the opening match, Sweden have managed to get back on track with wins against Luxembourg and Bulgaria. As a result, the team will be in confident mood going into the game against France but they have to be extremely wary of Pogba, who is the world’s most expensive player.

The recent results are a major step in the right direction for the Swedish National team, as they have been playing without superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic only for these games. The Manchester United striker retired from international duty after the Euro 2016.

He is widely regarded as the greatest Swedish player in the history of the game. As a result, Andersson has a huge task on his hands to replace the striker. So far, he seems to be doing a good job but the biggest test for the national team will be against France.
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Andersson Happy with the Result against Netherlands

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New Sweden coachJanneAndersson says that he is happy with the 1-1 draw with Netherlands, but he feels that his team should play a lot better than in his debut game.


The 53-year-old was recently appointed as the new manager of Sweden and he replaces Erik Hamren.Andersson probably has the biggest work of any recent Swedish managers since the national team will be without striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The former recently announced his retirement from international football at the age of 34. He has been the face of Swedish football for more than a decade and replacing him will not be an easy task.

Andersson is aware of the scale of the task on his hands. After having witnessed his team secure a draw with one of the top teams in Europe,Andersson is feeling confident about the chances of the team going into the World Cup 2018 qualification. The manager has limited experience of managing international teams. In fact, this is his first job in charge of a national team. His previous works were at Norrköpingand Örgryte but for a limited period. He says that he would like to see the team have more of the possession, which would enable them to dominate games.
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Erik Hamren may take Break from Football

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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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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 announces squad ahead of the Euro 2016

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Sweden has revealed the team that will participate at the Euro 2016.

Among the team selected, there are 6 players that have won the under-21 trophy last year.


Patrick Carlgren, Victor Nilsson Lindelof, Ludwig Augustinsson, Oscar Lewicki, Oscar Hiljemark and John Guidetti were key members of the team that won the U21 trophy against Portugal.

The Sweden coach Erik Hamren will be hoping that the experience that the players gathered during the U21 tournament will be helpful at the Euros 2016 final in France.

Sweden had to go through the play-off where they beat Danemark to qualify for the finals in France. They have been drawn in a tough group with Ireland, Italy, and Belgium.

The current Sweden team does not have any other star players apart Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and they will be looking towards their captain to provide them with the necessary motivation to qualify from their group. Continue reading →

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 →