England’s Southgate praises Sweden
Samara, Russia — Having intentionally steered England into what's widely considered the weaker half of the World Cup's knockout bracket, coach Gareth Southgate is now casting the upcoming quarterfinal against Sweden as "bloody difficult."
Southgate sent out a crew of reserves who lost 1-0 to Belgium in their group-stage finale, and after both teams survived scares in the round of 16, Belgium now faces Brazil while England meets a Sweden side that gets far less respect.
But Sweden got to this same point by playing smart and unselfish soccer.
"Sweden are a team I respect hugely," Southgate said Wednesday. "You know we've not got a good record against them, I think we've always underestimated them. They've got good players and they've got a clear way of playing. It's bloody difficult to play against. They are greater than the sum of their parts more often than not."
The two teams meet today at Samara Stadium for the right to advance to a semifinal against Russia or Croatia.
England and Sweden have met twice previously in World Cup play, a 2-2 draw in 2006 and a 1-1 draw in 2002. Overall, England has won just two of the last 15 meetings.
The last was an exhibition in 2012. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored four times to lead the Swedes to a 4-2 victory in Stockholm. Ibrahimovic is retired from international football now, and while Sweden has since forged a stout defensive identity, its post-Zlatan attack hasn't inspired fear in opponents.
The English are coming off a tense but ultimately euphoric round-of-16 game against Colombia. After giving up an injury-time equalizer that forced a 1-1 draw, England triumphed 4-3 in a shootout.
It was a morale booster for the Three Lions, who had been knocked out of three World Cups on penalties since 1990. Harry Kane said the young English side grew up a lot in that match.
"It shows the togetherness, shows the character," Kane said. "We spoke about it before, but these are the moments you really see it."