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PARIS. Tired legs, back pain and lack of fuel everywhere. No, Sweden would probably never bark against France.
After a rock-hard matchup and dismal results, Sweden needs to close the door in fall 2020 and think of something else.
It is generally considered true that it is during difficult game times that soccer teams with less extensive troops are revealed. The injuries suffered by the Swedish starting players this intense autumn of national teams affect the whole team. Andersson / Wettergren firm cannot do without frames in each section of the team for a long time; Without Lindelöf, Forsberg and a couple of other names, building the Swedish team is an opportunity. That’s the way it is, smaller countries must trust that everyone is available.
Perhaps we’ve talked very little about this as a possible explanation for Sweden’s desert hike in the Nations League this fall: in addition to facing the best possible opposition, blue and yellow have matched the legs of the national team more than the usual, and they were punished when parts of team b were put on the field.
Deschamps changed
After the change of crowns against Denmark, where a long list of players was forced to rest, the reaction came against Croatia. A few days of air, a few days to restore oxygen levels to the thighs and brain.
France’s reserves were checked by Finland this week, a half team left three days later and put Portugal in their place. Another three days later, tonight, Didier Deschamps changed and put the best he had available on the field. Then Kylian Mbappé was still missing and sanctioned Ngolo Kanté.
And there really was a difference throughout the game. While Victor Nilsson Lindelöf was on his back and limping, the EC-waiting for Marcus Thuram to do pirouettes in the Swedish penalty area. When Emil Forsberg used all his remaining strength to rip the ball off in midfield, Olivier Giroud, with little time to play at Chelsea, was able to score two relatively neglected goals.
Start of the Swedish dream
Still, it started well and for just over ten minutes we were hopeful, after Victor Claesson’s big kick. Not so bad against a team like France, a team that can lose focus in games that don’t matter, but rarely lack the weapons to fight back sooner or later. Usually before. Tonight long before.
When both Olivier Giroud and Benjamin Pavard scored in the first half and Giroud again in the second, while Croatia held out against Portugal, he felt determined. But the deceptive position at the table – Sweden needed at least one more goal than Croatia – and the influence in Split in the second meant that Robin Quaison’s late reduction meant unexpected tension in the final minutes. Of course, multiple straws can be invoked, at least one missed penalty when Raphaël Varane pushed Dejan Kulusevski into the penalty area, but this really couldn’t end in a draw. Especially for the simple reason that Sweden had not played a match that matched the effort of 90 percent of the French. And therefore, the end result is not so much to discuss.
Sweden leaves Nations League Division A after a messy fall with Janne Andersson in the covid bed and a very reluctant defensive Peter Wettergren on the first floor as the only solution.
Only Sweden can be upset
A somewhat unfair defeat against Croatia in the first match is the only thing Sweden can complain about, it was certainly not an impossible task to get ahead of the surprisingly pale Croats in the table. But then was then and now is now and now, right now, after a long and exhausting fall of selections, the legs were finally too tired, the back too sore, the fuel reserve depleted.
The national team deserves a break now, but unfortunately this is not the match schedule for international club football. Janne’s gang can close the door in the unfortunate fall of 2020 and think of other positive things. For example, it is quite a long way to June 2021.
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