SWEDEN ADVANCE TO QUARTERFINALS
FORSBERG GOAL IN 66TH MINUTE KNOCKS SWITZERLAND OUT OF WORLD CUP
ST PETERSBURG: A deflected shot from Emil Forsberg gave Sweden a 1-0 victory over Switzerland in a scrappy round of 16 match on Tuesday, sending the Swedes through to the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in 24 years.
A meeting with either Colombia or England awaits Janne Andersson’s side next, and judging by the fare they served up, neither team will lose sleep over the prospect.
Both teams were wasteful in possession and guilty of the sort of poor finishing and unimaginative midfield play that had boos and whistles ringing around the St Petersburg stadium from as early as the 25th minute.
With Switzerland’s loss, one finalist will be from among Sweden, Croatia, Russia, England and Colombia – all outside the top 10 in FIFA rankings. Among them, only England have won a World Cup (1966).
Switzerland came into the match as the side with arguably the greater wealth of attacking talent, but their four shots on target over the 90 minutes told its own story.
Sweden had one attempt fewer on target, with the only difference being that one of them took a heavy deflection and wrong-footed Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
The Swedes were happy to pack midfield and send the Swiss down the wings, surrendering possession while looking to pinch a goal at the other end on the counter.
Marcus Berg forced a fine save from Sommer in the 27th minute and Albin Ekdal volleyed over the bar from 12 metres out. At the other end, Blerim Dzemaili wasted Switzerland’s best chance when he fired over from 12 metres, while Xherdan Shaqiri had an awful day, sending long balls from the wing sailing over the heads of his team mates.
The second half started in a similarly stultifying manner. Even the goal that decided the contest had a fair bit of fortune about it.
Forsberg’s 66th minute shot was headed straight at Sommer until Manuel Akanji stuck out a foot and deflected it past his stranded keeper.
Switzerland sparked into life after the goal, but Sweden defended stoutly, and looked threatening on the counter-attack.
They broke through the Swiss cordon deep into extra time when the substitute Martin Olsson was released into space and brought down by Michael Lang just outside the box.
The referee gave Lang a red card but reversed his initial decision to award a penalty after consulting the video assistant referee (VAR).