England 2-0 Sweden - England Comfortably Dispatch a Solid Sweden Side to Reach Semi Finals
After breaking their penalty shoot-out hoodoo against Colombia and winning their first World Cup knock-out round game in 12 years, England faced Sweden, a very good physical, defensive unit that would be hard to break down, while still being good technically and able to cause problems to the England defence. Sweden may have come into the World Cup not expecting to leave the group stage as Germany and Mexico would have been the firm favourites. However, with holders Germany suffering from the 'champions' curse', Sweden found themselves through to the knockout rounds for the first time since 2006, after defying the odds and finishing their group in pole position; Beating Mexico and South Korea and narrowly losing to Germany. Proving they aren't a team to be underestimated. They then went on to beat Switzerland in the round of 16, which was not an easy task. The Swiss hadn't been beaten in 2018 and had played the likes of Brazil in the group stages and Spain in a World Cup warm up friendly. While Sweden may have been fortunate with their goal, the result was ultimately well-deserved. Meanwhile, England have performed massively below expectations at major tournaments for the last 12 years also, with the round of 16 being the furthest they had managed to reach. With this quarter-final being their first since Germany 2006, this World Cup has instilled a sense of optimism and national pride as the team are finally reaching the heights expected of them. Both England and Sweden would have come into the game with confidence, England for winning their first knock-out game in 12 years, and Sweden for topping one of the harder groups of the World Cup. Over the course of the World Cup, Sweden have also managed to build a remarkable team bond and sense of unity following the disgusting racial abuse and threats targeted towards Sweden winger Jimmy Durmaz, who was born in Sweden but to Assyrian parents, that came as a result of conceding the free-kick which Germany eventually scored their last-minute winner. Both the Swedish FA and Durmaz himself addressed the media and issued a statement condemning racism. England hoped to reach only their third semi-final, while Sweden their 5th. With the winner going on to play one of either, dark horses Croatia, or hosts Russia.
The match started rather evenly, with both teams getting a feel for the other. England had most of the possession as expected, while Sweden were a tough unit to break down. In the past, when playing against good defensive teams, England have struggled to create chances let alone score goals. Both teams may have understandably been nervous or scared to make a mistake with the World Cup semi-finals at stake. England's first major chance came in the 19th minute after Raheem Sterling picked the ball up in his own half by the halfway line, Sweden midfielder Sebastian Larsson did well to keep up and get back into position, however, Sterling knocked it past Larsson and as Sterling was being held up and blocked, Harry Kane took control and released a shot from just outside the 18-yard box that curled and rolled just inches wide. England have relied heavily on set pieces for the majority of their goals this World Cup, and on the 30th minute, Ashley Young's corner met the head of Harry Maguire whose bullet header was his first international goal (what a time to score your first international goal!) and England's first of the game. As the first half came to an end, Jordan Henderson played a perfect long ball that beat the Sweden defence, and fell perfectly into the path of Raheem Sterling's run. Sterling's touch was equally as good as the pass, taking the majority of the pace out of the ball, before attempting to round Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen. It would have been a beautiful goal if not for Olsen making a great last minute save to deny Sterling rounding him for a tap-in. The chance wasn't dead however, Sterling recovered the ball, but instead of passing to the on-running Harry Kane which would likely have led to a certain goal, Sterling decided to wait, sum up his options and go for goal himself. With Sweden going a goal behind, they would need to attack the Three Lions, but this could play to England's advantage, as the Three Lions could bite back and catch Sweden on the counter attack. England needed to make sure that they learnt from their mistakes from previous games, specifically, the games against Tunisia and Colombia. In both games England had more than enough chances to be out of sight, however, a failure to take these chances lead to the opposition scoring and potentially damaging or ending England's World Cup campaign and giving England fans a scare. A one goal lead isn't one to defend, which was found out the hard way in the previous round.
Harry Maguire Celebrates Scoring His First International Goal and Putting England Ahead
It was Sweden who came out from the break the better team. They wanted the equaliser and just 2 minutes after the restart, Ludwig Augustinsson curled in a good ball for Marcus Berg, who out-jumped Ashley Young to force Jordan Pickford into a strong left-handed save. Just one of the many that earned him the Man of the Match award and become England's youngest ever goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet in a world cup match. While Sweden pushed for an equaliser, England had chances of their own. 54 minutes in, Young sent a deep free kick into the box that was headed back across the face of goal by Maguire, Sterling's acrobatic effort then went back to the other side of goal where Maguire again returned the ball, lobbing Olssen but was cleared by a defender on the line. All that was needed was a player to tap in or gamble. Minutes later, England were 2-0 up. Kieran Trippier attacked down the right wing, pulled the ball back to Jesse Lingard, who delivered a beautifully weighted, chipped, first-time cross over the Swedish defence that was met by Dele Alli, who peeled away at the back post and headed past Olssen from close range. Making him England's second youngest ever goal scorer, behind Michael Owen. Sweden immediately responded, however, with a smart, incisive attack. Winger Viktor Claesson beat Maguire with some smooth step-overs, played in Ola Toivenen, who pulled the ball back to the edge of the box for Berg, who flicked it back to Claesson who's first effort was saved by Pickford and the second was blocked by Henderson. 20 minutes from time, Pickford pulled off the save of the game. Claesson dinked a ball into the box that was well controlled by Berg, who touched, turned and shot, but was denied by Pickford's fingertips. What a save! The game then died down, with England's Maguire as well as Sweden's Larsson and Guidetti earning yellow cards. Overall, England needed to take their chances and they did, while they may have been limited and slightly wasteful at times. Sweden were a good test and a hard opponent to overcome; a danger from set-pieces, much like England, solid defensively due to their physicality and well organised. And while Sterling had multiple opportunities to score and is the player everyone, especially the media, love to hate and turn into a scapegoat, he adds something different to the team other than goals. His pace causes defences problems, his runs behind defences worry the opposition and his directness is also a good asset, although his final ball and decision making needs to be better.
England Players Celebrate Reaching World Cup Semi-Final
Sweden can and should feel extremely proud to have had such a successful World Cup campaign. They topped a tough group with holders Germany, dark horses Mexico and banana skin South Korea; They turned major negatives into positives and created a remarkable sense of team unity that was great to see and a great reminder that racism has no place in football, whatsoever; And have shown that they are able of competing at the World Cup, against good teams also. All of this came after the retirement of the influential, Zlatan Ibrahimović, the main spearhead and key player of the Sweden attack and team for the past decade. England will face Croatia in the World Cup semi-final after Croatia beat Russia 4-3 on penalties following a 2-2 draw. Croatia will prove to be a tough test for the Three Lions. Like Sweden, Croatia are good technically and physically, but have a much higher quality of players. Goalkeeper Danijel Subašić has been arguably one of the best at the World Cup so far. Dejan Lovren and Domagoj Vida are a strong, solid defensive partnership and while they lack pace, they make up for it in strength and positioning. Luka Modrić and Ivan Rakitić control and dominate the midfield, dictating the tempo and pulling the strings from deep. While Ivan Perisić and Mario Mandzukić head the Croatian attack. England have players to combat the potential problems, Kane is more than capable of beating Subašić, Sterling will be able to beat Vida and Lovren for pace and England's defence are more than able to limit the damage that could potentially be caused by Mandzukić and Perisić. England now find themselves just one game away from the World Cup Final and in their 3rd ever semi-final; their first in 28 years, since Bobby Robson's memorable Italia 90 Campaign. Could football actually be coming home? After 52 years of hurt?
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