Lloris plays down French infighting

Captain Hugo Lloris has leapt to the defence of his France team-mates, saying they should not be judged on reports of infighting during Euro 2012.

News surfaced of dressing-room unrest following the Group D loss to Sweden, with coach Laurent Blanc later admitting things "had kicked off a bit" in the immediate aftermath of the 2-0 reverse, which left Les Bleus as runners-up behind England.
The quarter-final exit at the hands of defending champions Spain sparked further reports of bust-ups, while midfielder Samir Nasri also came under the spotlight for an expletive-laden rant at reporters.
Nasri later apologised for the outburst, but the incidents were reminders of France's shambolic 2010 World Cup campaign and player mutiny under former coach Raymond Domenech.
However, Lloris has moved to play down the unrest.
"It looks like it only happens in the France team and to this France team," the Lyon goalkeeper said in L'Equipe.
"But it happens to all generations at all levels."
Lloris does feel such incidents should not be played out in the media, though.
"Something like that should stay in the dressing room," he said.
"It's about the squad, not individuals. This is where things like this bother me because this is not the first time it has happened.
"I cannot condone what Samir said. But I find it unacceptable that people use that one incident to sum up the behaviour of the team.
"Everything has been mixed up. In sporting terms, it's true the Euros have not been perfect but we must judge things on our journey over the last two years."
Lloris is also hoping Blanc stays on in his current role, with the France coach set to meet the French Football Federation to discuss his future.
"Everyone listens to the philosophy and words of the coach," said Lloris.
"The decision belongs to the (FFF) president and the coach, but we are in favour of continuity."
The FFF announced they will meet next week to discuss the team's results in Poland and Ukraine.
A short statement on www.fff.fr said: "The executive committee and the president of the French Football Federation, Noel le Graet, will meet on Tuesday, July 3 to take stock of France's participation at Euro 2012.
"Following the meeting, a press conference will be held at the headquarters of the FFF, where Noel le Graet will answer questions from the media."
The press conference will take place at 1215 local time, the statement added.
L'Equipe reported that Blanc arrived at the offices of the FFF to meet with Le Graet over his future as coach.
Blanc, whose current contract expires at the end of June, has been linked with the vacancy at Premier League club Tottenham.

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EPL: French strike Giroud jois Arsenal

French international striker Olivier Giroud has joined Arsenal on a long-term contract, the Premier League club said on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old completed a medical at the club on Monday and had agreed terms with his contract officially starting on July 1, Arsenal added on their website (www.arsenal.com)

"The completion of the transfer is now just the subject of formal processes," added the north London club, who finished third in the Premier League last season to secure a place in the Champions League.

Giroud joins from French champions Montpellier after playing for France in Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.

His 21 goals from 36 league games made him joint top scorer in the French league last season with Paris St Germain's Nene.

"We are delighted to have secured the signing of Olivier Giroud," Arsenal's French manager Arsene Wenger said.

"He has a very good physical presence and is exceptional in the air, with a great work ethic.

"We are excited about Olivier joining us and he will add an additional dimension to our attacking options next season."

Giroud said it had been a dream of his to play in the Premier League and had been attracted to Arsenal by their philosophy and Wenger's reputation. - Reuters



 

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Spain V France : UEFA Euro 2012 Match Report

Centurion Alonso sends Spain into Euro semi-finals
Spain moved a step closer to an unprecedented treble of consecutive major international honours by beating France 2-0 in Donetsk on Saturday to reach the Euro 2012 semi-finals.
Goals in each half from Xabi Alonso, on his 100th international appearance, sent the world and European champions into a semi-final with Iberian rivals Portugal in the same Donbass Arena stadium on Wednesday.
It was Spain's first competitive win in seven attempts against France, who were bidding to become the first team to eliminate Spain from a major tournament since the French side that reached the 2006 World Cup final.
While Spain can now contemplate the prospect of facing the in-form Cristiano Ronaldo, France return home after fulfilling their objective of reaching the last eight, only to fall short against the world's top national side.
In an attempt to nullify Spain's attacking threat, France coach Laurent Blanc opted for a conservative 4-5-1 formation, with right-back Mathieu Debuchy lining up in an unfamiliar right-wing role ahead of Anthony Reveillere.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque, meanwhile, elected to deploy Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas instead of Fernando Torres at the centre of a fluid attacking configuration.
Abandoning their usual possession-focused approach, France retreated and allowed Spain to take the initiative, and Fabregas had an early penalty appeal turned down after his heels were clipped by Gael Clichy.
With two right-backs on the pitch, France's right flank should have been impregnable, but it was from a move down the left that Spain went ahead in the 14th minute.
Andres Iniesta released Jordi Alba and he held off the stumbling Debuchy to cross for the unmarked Alonso, whose downward header gave the number 14 a 14th international goal.
The lead established, Spain slipped into their familiar passing rhythm and France were left to rely on the forward forays of lone striker Karim Benzema.
One such raid drew a free-kick in an advantageous position, and Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas did well to touch Yohan Cabaye's subsequent attempt over the crossbar.
The low number of fans supporting the two teams made for a subdued atmosphere, while the closest Spain came to extending their lead before half-time was a Gerard Pique header that looped well over.
The start of the second half was similarly muted. Debuchy headed over from Franck Ribery's dinked cross, while Hugo Lloris had to race to the edge of his box to claw the ball away from Fabregas at the other end.
Blanc introduced Samir Nasri, Jeremy Menez and Olivier Giroud from the bench, but still the men in the all-white change strip were unable to capitalise on the promising openings they procured.
There were few scares for Spain in the final 10 minutes, and they made sure of victory in injury time when Alonso swept home a penalty after Reveillere had bundled substitute Pedro Rodriguez to the deck.
It will come as scant consolation to France, but they will not have long to wait for revenge.
The sides are due to meet again in a qualifying match for the 2014 World Cup in Spain on October 16.

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Germany vs. Greece

GDANSK, Poland -- Germany's most prominent fan will be in the stands for the quarterfinal against Greece at the European Championship.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, however, wins no popularity contests among the Greek contingent. So the political dimension of Friday's game only heightens what is already an intriguing match in strictly soccer terms.Germany is a three-time champion. Greece is the surprise winner of the 2004, and the Greeks are still standing again, with an unexpected place in the knockout stages.

It was always our main aim to reach the quarterfinals. So now we have nothing to lose," said defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos, one of the many Greece players with Bundesliga experience. "We are playing against one of the best teams here. All I can say is that we'll fight. If we get the win, that would be a huge result."

Greece has plenty of reason to be thankful to Germany - the 2004 championship team was coached by a German, Otto Rehhagel.

German and Greek officials are trying to play down the politics. Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has been a major contributor to international bailouts for Greece and was instrumental in demanding structural reforms and hugely unpopular spending cuts in return. Greek fans are unlikely to take kindly to Merkel's presence at Gdansk Arena.

"We are playing for our shirt, our flag and for the people back home," midfielder Costas Katsouranis said.

Added Greek forward Dimitris Salpigidis: "I don't think anyone on the team believes this will be our last game at this tournament. People have so many problems in their everyday lives. We're really hoping that we can put a smile on their face."

Gdansk also was also the scene of the first battle of World War II, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. A German soccer federation delegation laid a wreath Wednesday at a memorial for Poles at the Westerplatte peninsula on the outskirts of the Baltic city.

Germany has two Poland-born players in its squad, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski, and Polish fans could throw their support behind the Germans. By winning its group, Germany got to stay in Gdansk and was spared having to travel.

Merkel attended Germany's 4-0 rout of Argentina at the 2010 World Cup and saw Germany beat Turkey in Berlin in the most important Euro 2012 qualifier for her team. She has visited the German locker room and briefly spent time with the team in Gdansk before the tournament.

"She seems to bring us luck," midfielder Sami Khedira said.

Germany is the only team to have won all three group games and goes into the quarterfinal as the overwhelming favorite. But the Germans understand the ability of the Greeks."They are a very good team, underestimated by many.

They create few chances but score from them. Technically, they are strong and play well one-on-one," Khedira said.

"It will be tough to crack their defense, but we have the means. We have to be patient, but we also have to be constantly on the move. They will try to disrupt our game and beat us, but they will not succeed."

Added midfielder Thomas Mueller: "We know what we have to do, but it's not going to be a piece of cake."

Greece will be missing playmaker and captain Giorgos Karagounis because of suspension.

There is speculation Germany coach Joachim Loew will return Klose to the starting lineup, although Mario Gomez scored three goals that won matches against Portugal and the Netherlands. Klose, a 34-year-old striker, scored the last time these teams played each other, a World Cup qualifier in 2001.

Six Greece players have either played or still play in the Bundesliga.

Greece has five defeats and three draws in the eight games it has played Germany or the former West Germany."We are not too bothered about statistics. ...

That doesn't really matter," Salpigidis said.

source: newsobserver.com/2012/06/21/2151638/politics-meets-soccer-in-germany.html

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Euro 2012 Ukraine goal should have counted, says UEFA's top refereeing official FIFA president Sepp Blatter calls goal-line technology 'a necessity'

WARSAW — UEFA's chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina on Wednesday said that a Ukraine effort ruled out against England in their final Euro 2012 Group D match for not crossing the goal line should have been given.

Collina's assessment and outrage in Ukraine have once again opened the debate about the introduction of goal-line technology that world governing body FIFA is in favour of but its European counterparts UEFA is against.

"The ball crossed the line. That was unfortunate," Collina told a news conference in the Polish capital, Warsaw, the day after the Group D match in Donetsk that England won 1-0.

Collina blamed human error for the "wrong" call but said decisions on two similar incidents in the 24 matches so far played in the tournament — in the Germany-Portugal and Italy-Croatia group matches — had been correct.

The incident arose in the 62nd minute of the game with the score at 1-0, when Ukraine's Marko Devic forced England's Joe Hart into a save and the ball looped back over the goalkeeper towards the net.

Defender John Terry acrobatically leapt to clear the ball from under the bar. Television replays indicated the ball crossed the line but Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai — advised by an assistant referee on the line — waved play on.

England kept their one-goal lead and advanced to a quarter-final meeting with Italy. Ukraine were eliminated, although a draw would still not have been enough to take them through.

Kassai's decision was greeted with dismay in Ukraine.

"The result of the match turned on a gross error by the officials who didn't give the Ukrainian goal," Ukraine's Sport-Express newspaper said on its website.

"And it all happened with five officials, two of whom were in charge of seeing whether a ball crosses the line."

FIFA is trialling two prototypes of goal-line technology and a decision is expected on its introduction when the organization's rules body, the International Football Association Board, meets in Kiev in July.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter on Wednesday: "After last night's match #GLT (goal-line technology) is no longer an alternative but a necessity."

His UEFA counterpart Michel Platini, however, said this week that the five officials being used in Euro 2012 were enough to prevent any controversial decisions.

Collina tried to put the Ukraine incident into context, saying the five officials system had been trialled successfully over "thousands of matches" in European domestic competitions.

"This is the only problem we have had," he said. "It's one negative decision in three years of Champions League and two years of Europa League and 24 matches in the Euro," he told reporters.

"I would be very happy to know if the same questions would have been asked without yesterday's decision."

UEFA secretary-general Gianni Infantino added: "It's one error in 1,000 cases in three years of experiments with five officials. It's human error, by centimetres, but from our point of view as a whole over three years, it's very positive."

Collina said the decision was not a reflection on Kassai's overall performance, even though he has not been retained for the rest of the tournament, and revealed officials had a 95.7 per cent accuracy rate in calling offside in the group stages.

He said the correct call was made for three disputed goals: one by Spain's Jesus Navas in their 1-0 win against Croatia and two by Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal's 2-1 win against the Netherlands.

"They were two very, very difficult decisions taken by the assistant referees: from the first pass, (Andres) Iniesta was level. Navas was behind the line with the goal. The two goals by Cristiano Ronaldo were very difficult decisions," he added.

But a goal by Greece against the Czech Republic should not have been disallowed for offside, Collina said, again blaming "human error".

source: canada.com/sports/soccer/Euro+2012+Ukraine+goal+should+have+counted+says+UEFA+refereeing+official/6813388/story.html

© Copyright (c) AFP

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Reasons Why Spain Will Ease Past the French

From the match of France against Sweden, the French defense looked suspiciously weak. The very nature of the French fullbacks means they’ll look to get forward at every opportunity. But it did not worked from the past  match from Sweden.  Philippe Mexes and Adil Rami look disjointed at best when they're under pressure.Rami, in particular, looks like he needs time to think about what he's got to do before he does it.Against the Spanish, France will need to be more defensively sound than they were tonight.

No disrespect, but Sweden aren't Spain.However, they ripped the French defence apart at times tonight. If that happens on Saturday against Spain, Les Blues could be looking at a very heavy defeat.

The Spanish midfield is so good that players like Cesc Fabregas,Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso aren't even guaranteed spots in the starting 11.

From front to back, every member of the Spanish team is comfortable with the ball at their feet.

Make no mistake, they'll dominate possession against France.

The French will have to work very hard to get and keep the ball from Spain on Saturday.

Judging by their performance against Sweden tonight, France are going to struggle quite badly.

They looked second-best throughout and were soundly beaten—and that's against a team that are nowhere near the level of Spain.

The Spanish will be overwhelming favourites to progress, regardless of how long it takes.

They'll remain patient and pass the French into submission before they get their just rewards.

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Sweden vs. France, UEFA 2012: Sweden with High Hopes to Win

France and Sweden are set to meet in their Group D finale in a match that involves two teams going in complete opposite directions at the 2012 European Championship.

Erik Hamren's side has disappointed in the competition so far, losing both of its matches against Ukraine and England by one-goal margins. The Swedes have been eliminated from the tournament, but will be looking to salvage any inkling of pride that they can.

Jun 18, 2012 - Sweden came into Group D with high hopes, considering their seemingly average competition. They started the tournament against a Ukraine team that had home field advantage, but inferior talent. Their second game was against England before Wayne Rooney returned from suspension. If they could take four points from their first two games, they might not even need a win against France on the last day to go through.

They lost both of those games, and they've already been eliminated from the tournament. They didn't look like they had a lot of fight against Ukraine, and their only form of attack to speak of in their match against England was Olaf Mellberg headers on set pieces. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was pegged for a dominant tournament, has gone missing for long periods of games. His teammates deserve just as much blame as he has -- all of the forwards around him have been basically useless -- but he's still going to get the brunt of the criticism because he is Zlatan.

No matter what kind of team Sweden fields, they're going to have a tough time with France. Bringing in Jeremy Menez and Gael Clichy for Florent Malouda and Patrice Evra was a stroke of genius from Laurent Blanc, and he'll probably stick with the same front four and left back against Sweden. If he does make a change, it will probably come in the center of midfield. Yann M'Vila came on as a substitute and could be fit enough to start on Tuesday. He'll replace Alou Diarra if he does come in.

Teams’ Information:

Sweden Squad Possible Lineups

Goalkeepers: Hansson, Isaksson, Wiland

Strikers: Elmander, Hysen, Ibrahimovic, Rosenberg, toivonen

Midfield: Bajrami, Elm, Holmen, Kallstrom, Larsson, Svensson, Wembloo, Wilhemsson

Defense: Antonsson, Grangvist, Lustig, Melberg, J. Olsson, M. Olsson safari

Coach: Roy Hodgson

France Squad Possible Lineups

Goalkeepers: carrasso, Lioris, Mahanda

Strikers: Ben Arfa, Benzema, Ribery, giroud, Menez, Valbuena

Midfield: Cabaye, Diarra, Malouda, Martin, Matuidi, M’vila, Nasiri

Defense: Clichy, Debuchy, Evra, Koscieiny, Mexes, Reveillere

Coach: Laurent Blanc

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UEFA EURO 2012 Updates | Italy advances to last 8 with 2-0 win over Ireland

POZNAN, Poland (AP) — Blowing kisses to the crowd with a joyous grin on his face, it was a different Antonio Cassano who walked off the pitch this time.

Cassano, who wept uncontrollably after Italy was eliminated from the 2004 European Championship, scored the decisive goal Monday when Italy beat Ireland 2-0 Monday to reach the Euro 2012 quarterfinals.

"We Italians are used to suffering, but we always give our best," said Cassano, who nearly lost his life with stroke-like symptoms seven months ago and then required minor heart surgery. "The victory was something we struggled for but the most important thing was to get through the group."

With Italy needing a win to stand a chance of advancing, Cassano scored the first goal. He headed in with his back to the goal by the near post following a corner kick in the 35th minute on a warm and muggy night at the Municipal Stadium.

Substitute Mario Balotelli doubled the lead in the 90th, a minute after Ireland was reduced to 10 men when Keith Andrews picked up his second yellow card. Still, Italy had to wait a few moments after the final whistle to celebrate, before receiving word that Spain beat Croatia 1-0 in the other Group C match.

The victory ended a five-match winless streak for Italy, which began the tournament with 1-1 draws against Spain and Croatia following three friendly losses. "I couldn't wait for them to blow the whistle in the other game and for it to finish," Cassano said.

Italy had been worried about a 2-2 draw between Spain and Croatia, which would have eliminated the Azzurri no matter if they beat Ireland. That's exactly what happened at Euro 2004, when Italy beat Bulgaria in its final group match thanks to Cassano's winning goal. But Italy was sent home when Denmark and Sweden finished 2-2.

He cried that night, but eight years later he helped send Italy to the next round despite concerns that he might not even make the squad. In October, Cassano fell ill with stroke-like symptoms on AC Milan's team plane. He was out for five months and has said repeatedly that he thought he might never recover.

Cassano was also left out of the Azzurri's last two World Cup squads by former coach Marcello Lippi, who worried about Cassano's temper. There's never been any question over Cassano's talent, though. Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given got his hand to Cassano's header, but couldn't prevent it from going in.

Balotelli's goal was a work of art, with the 21-year-old striker acrobatically wrapping his shot around defender John O'Shea in mid-air, as he met a corner kick from Alessandro Diamanti. Having started Italy's opening two matches, Balotelli replaced Antonio Di Natale in the 74th.

Italy will meet the Group D winner Sunday in Kiev, Ukraine — with France, England and co-host Ukraine among the possible opponents. "No difference to us (who we play). We have already played Spain, who are reigning world and European champions," Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said. "If we play well, we can take on anyone."

Spain won the group with seven points, Italy finished second with five, Croatia was next with four and Ireland — which was already eliminated — exited its first major tournament in 10 years with none.

"We played well tonight, but without creating too many chances either," Ireland forward Robbie Keane said. "We're disappointed not to get anything out of the group, but we've been beaten by better teams."

Italy controlled the match for long stretches, but Ireland — managed by former Azzurri coach Giovanni Trapattoni — threatened often with counterattacks. Andrews had been Ireland's most dangerous player.

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon did well to control a bouncing effort from Andrews on the hour mark and the midfielder came even closer with a free kick that Buffon stopped with a diving save in the 79th.

"We had to suffer a lot in this game — perhaps more than in the first two," Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi said. "We weren't afraid of them equalizing but they hit the long ball and all you need is one piece of good fortune."

With the temperature hovering at 30 C (86 F), half the stadium was filled with green-clad Irish fans — even with their team already assured of going home — while there was only a small pocket of Italian supporters.

Ireland wore black armbands to commemorate the 18th anniversary of shootings in Northern Ireland that killed six people.

Lineups:

Italy: Gianluigi Buffon, Ignazio Abate, Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini (Leonardo Bonucci, 57), Federico Balzaretti, Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio, Thiago Motta, Daniele De Rossi, Antonio Di Natale (Mario Balotelli, 74), Antonio Cassano (Alessandro Diamanti, 62).

Ireland: Shay Given, Sean St. Ledger, Stephen Ward, John O'Shea, Richard Dunne, Glenn Whelan, Aiden McGeady (Shane Long, 65), Keith Andrews, Damien Duff, Kevin Doyle (Jon Walters, 76), Robbie Keane (Simon Cox, 86).

article source: mail.com/int/sports/soccer/1371110-italy-advances-to-8-with-2-0-win-ireland.html#.1258-stage-set1-3

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UEFA EURO 2012 | Spain vs. Coatia

UEFA has given German referee Wolfgang Stark his second top assignment at the European Championship, working the Spain vs. Croatia match on Tuesday. Some Italian commentators have suggested Spain and Croatia could orchestrate a 2-2 draw in Gdansk to ensure both advance to the quarterfinals and eliminate Italy.

Stark previously won praise for refereeing the tense 1-1 draw between co-host Poland and Russia.
UEFA has picked Cuneyt Cakir of Turkey to referee Italy's match against Ireland in Poznan on Monday.
Viktor Kassai of Hungary will referee England vs. Ukraine in Donetsk on Tuesday when the final group-stage matches are played.
Pedro Proenca of Portugal will handle France vs. Sweden in Kiev.

POSSIBLE LINEUPS

CROTIA	SPAIN
Pletikosa	Casillas
Srna, Corluka, Schildenfeld, Strinic	Arbeloa, Ramos, Pique, Alba
Vukojevic, Rakitic	Busquets, Alonso
Mandzukic, Modric, Perisic	Silva, Xavi, Iniesta
Jelavic	Torres

FACTS ABOUT THE TEAMS:

• Croatia and Del Bosque's side can both guarantee their place in the quarter-finals with a draw of 2-2 or higher.

• Bilic's have never faced Spain in a competitive match. All four of the meetings between the two sides have been friendlies, with their only victory coming via a 2-0 triumph back in 1994. Croatia's overall record against Spain is W1, D1, L2.

• Striker Mario Mandzukic has been clinical at Euro 2012, scoring three times from four attempts on goal.

• Croatia have not lost any of their last six matches at the European Championship, being ousted only via a penalty shootout by Turkey in 2008.

• Spain set a new record with 860 passes at the tournament during their 4-0 win over Ireland, beating the previous landmark of 778.

• Xavi (pictured right) set a new individual record himself in the competition by attempting 136 passes against the Boys in Green, beating Ronald Koeman's total of 117 from a Euro 1992 clash versus Denmark.

• The champions have only conceded one goal in their last six matches at major international tournaments.

• Fernando Torres' double in the victory over Ireland took him to 30 international goals, making him the country's third all-time top scorer behind only Raul and David Villa.

SPORTS STATISTICS INFORMATION CENTRE

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A Stronger Sweden Prepares Versus England+-

SWEDEN	Tournament Statistics (as of June 15, 2012)		ENGLAND
1	Goals Scored		1
6	Attempts On Target		1
6	Attempts Off Target		2
2	Corners		4
20	Fouls Committed		7
2	Yellow Cards		2
0	Red Cards		0
PREDICTED STARTING LINEUPS
Sweden (4-4-2)		Isaksson; Lustig, Mellberg, Granqvist, M. Olsson; Elm, Kallstrom, Larsson, Wilhelmson; Rosenberg, Ibrahimovic
England (4-4-2)		Hart; Johnson, Terry, Lescott, Cole; Parker, Gerrard, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott; Young, Welbeck

Date: June 16, 2012

Time: 2:45 AM (GMT +8:00)       

KIEV: Sweden will attempt to climb out of the bottom of Group D when it faces England this Saturday. After a disturbing loss to Ukraine at 2-1, Sweden has to win against England in order to avoid elimination. Sweden has to work on beating England’s durable defense, which can be a difficult task for them. If the Swedes fail to do so, they will have a tough time reaching even the runner-up spot, especially with France awaiting them in their final group match.

England has to learn lessons from their 1-1 draw versus France. That match has shown their lack of impressive attacks to take advantage of the weak French defense. In this match, England must be more offensive in their approach for them to excel better when they advance to the tournament.

Previous Matches

Surprisingly, Sweden never lost a competitive match against England, recording 2 wins and 5 draws. The last competitive match of both teams was during the 2006 World Cup, ending at a 2-2 draw.

The latest meeting of both teams was during a 2011 friendly match in London. The English team playing home defeated the Swedes, resulting to a 1-0 win.

Pre-Match Developments

Both England and Sweden do not have any injured players.  Team performance will be the basis of any changes in both teams’ lineups.

Following Sweden’s failure against Ukraine, manager Erik Hamren called his team “cowards”, citing Sweden’s insufficient efforts to win. He is likely to change Sweden’s form from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2. Midfielder Christian Wilhelmson is a possible addition to the starting lineup.

Young midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain can be retained on England’s starting lineup after manager Roy Hodgson praised his ability to get past through opponents swiftly during their previous game versus France.

Sweden-England Predictions

• v  Disclaimer: All information above is provided free for members as a 12BET service. The prediction statistics are purely a view point and there is no guarantee on the returns. Hence all members or visitors are requested to apply their prudence before acting on any of the recommendations. Neither 12BET nor any of its promoters, members, or employees holds any responsibility of any losses incurred (if any) by acting on the recommendations.

The ageing Swedes can encounter challenges from a rather youthful English team. Despite of that, Sweden seeks to improve with the addition of midfielder Christian Wilhelmson on the right wing and the retention of striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic (who scored for Sweden versus Ukraine). More men manning the Swedish midfield means stronger protection, which can upset England in their attacking attempts.

Regardless of that, an English victory is more favorable in this match. Their solid defense has enabled them to withstand France’s persistent and dangerous attacks. Now, they must focus more on showing their offensive side. In the absence of star striker Wayne Rooney, England’s focus is to destroy Sweden’s defense through Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck. Legendary Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard’s superior performance last Tuesday is expected to become stronger this time.

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