You won’t find the big superstars in either team, but the possibility of a quarter-finals spurs both teams on. Sweden had wrested a 0-0 win from three-time European champions Spain at the start, followed by narrow wins against Slovakia and Poland. Thus, the team of coach Janne Andersson is still unbeaten and has sovereignly qualified for the round of 16.
Traditionally, the Scandinavians are particularly impressive with their compact defensive work, with the Leipzig Forsberg performing strongly at the front. In the absence of the regular striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he scored three of the previous four goals of the Swedes. The “Blagult” have never won a knockout duel at a European Championship finals, so they could make history. In 1992 they failed at the home European championships after the group stage in the subsequent semi-finals to Germany. In 2004 the end came at the start of the final phase in the quarter-finals against the Netherlands in the penalty shoot-out.
Forsberg fit again in time
In the short term, the Swedish fans had to fear that their goalscorer would be used. On Saturday, Forsberg, like Sweden’s goalkeeper Robin Olsen, suspended training. “There are no problems,” the 29-year-old calmed the minds a day later. Nothing stands in the way of his use in Hampden Park.
European Football Championship, round of 16
Tuesday, 9 p.m. (live on ORF1):
Sweden – Ukraine
Glasgow, SR Orsato (ITA)
Possible setups:
Sweden: Olsen – Lustig, Lindelöf, Danielson, Augustinsson – Olsson, Ekdal – S. Larsson, Forsberg – Berg, Isak
Ukraine: Buschchan – Karawajew, Sabarny, Matwijenko, Mykolenko – Stepanenko – Zygankow, Sintschenko – Jarmolenko, Jaremtschuk, Malinowski
Ukraine had to worry about promotion longer. After the defeat against Austria, three points were enough for the round of 16. Star coach Andrij Shevchenko relies on Andrij Jarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk on the offensive. The two shared the previous four goals of the Eastern Europeans fairly.
Last duel at Euro 2012
The last two national teams met at the European Championships in 2012. Shevchenko fondly remembers the game that made Ukraine’s finals debut at the time. He equalized Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s lead and scored the goal to make it 2-1. In the end, however, both Ukraine and Sweden (three points each) as bottom group behind England and France missed promotion to the quarter-finals.
This time, Shevchenko can only intervene from outside, it will be up to his players to challenge the Swedes. “It’s a very well organized team. They have a certain style of play that they stick to under all circumstances. What they do, they do pretty well, especially their vertical passes, ”said the 44-year-old. “This team is very physically strong, they practically do not lose any one-on-one duels and they are very strong at the ball.”
In any case, the Ukrainians have nothing to lose. “We have come a long way and we have achieved our first goal. Now we have nothing more to lose. Everything that comes next is a big bonus for us, ”said Shevchenko.
Funny back to the old place of work
In Sweden, Mikael Lustig will be particularly motivated. The 34-year-old was already there in 2012 and has a special relationship with Glasgow as the venue. Between 2012 and 2019 he laced his shoes at Celtic. Lustig therefore also hopes for the support of the Scottish fans. “I have many of my fondest memories of this city, I met fantastic people in my years at Celtic, my youngest child was born here,” said the right-back. “That’s why I hope that the neutral fans will cheer us on.”
