2018 World Cup: Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka face Sweden against Sweden: "Everything is difficult for them"

How do you beat Sweden?

This is an issue that has preoccupied more than one group of international leaders, and Gareth Southgate will be the last to answer the puzzle of how this nation of modest means has lost their Only world-class player gave bloody noses to some of the traditional football houses.

Sweden has already faced the Netherlands, Italy and Germany until their quarter-final with England on Saturday in Samara. And although Switzerland, the opponents they defeated in the last 16 Tuesday, are not a superpower, they are sixth in the Fifa rankings – do what you want. The Swedes also beat France in a qualifying match last summer, so they are not afraid to face the big boys and get a result.

4-4-2 training and the austere defensive approach may not be pretty or innovative, but it works for them and placed them in the last eight for the first time since 1994 , when Tomas Brolin and co finished in third place.

As Xherdan Shaqiri said after being eliminated in St. Petersburg on Tuesday: "They are content to defend the big players and try to play the counterattack." It was not good football against we, but the good football does not always win.At the moment, it is important to win games and it is not important to know how.

"I do not think that they will change their football for tiki-taka against England, it'll be the same. "

His teammate Granit Xhaka was more concise:" All about them is difficult. "He considered it a compliment , and Swedish players do not worry about their methods or their style.

"We are in the last eight, which is huge for us, and we are not sorry for anyone because I think we deserved it," said defender Mikael Lustig. Swedish and Celtic. "The way we play is unbelievable, we defend with our lives and we also create a lot of opportunities."

Now Sweden is in the quarterfinals and is not afraid of anyone. "We have respect for all teams but we are not afraid of anyone," said goalkeeper Robin Olsen. "We are a good team and we showed it here, we had some tough games and played well, we were not even at our best against Switzerland, so we can go even further. away. "

Janne Andersson encouraged an attitude of never saying and a team spirit that he did not want to threaten by offering Zlatan Ibrahimovic back from international retirement, just as the superstar could have Want it.

Attacker Ola Toivonen said: "Zlatan is Zlatan. When you are against or with him, you know that magical moments are coming. It's the really positive side when you have Zlatan on your team. "But when you do not have the big star in the team, you really have to work as a collective.We do not have a lot of possession but we really work as a team and we trust each other. , especially in the defensive part of the game. "

Toivonen admits that his only goal is to do what Sweden does. "I do not care about other teams, I focus on us and it's the same with qualifying, focusing on a very good team."

"I do not think anyone wants to play us . We are an aggressive team, we trust our defense and create opportunities. We are frustrating for the opponents. We let them own. It does not bother us, and then in these four games we have been really effective.

Toivonen et Berg n'ont guère été prolifiques en Russie, cette dernière ayant eu le plus de coups sur but sans but – 13. Harry Kane, en revanche, a marqué avec chacun de ses tirs au but, six jusqu'ici, ce qui est la même chose que la Suède a réussi entre eux jusqu'à présent. En tant qu'attaquant, Toivonen est conscient de la menace de l'homme de Tottenham, tout comme il n'a pas pris la peine de regarder l'Angleterre jusqu'à présent. "Pour être honnête, je n'ai pas l'air de beaucoup en Angleterre, juste les buts. Mais ils ont Harry Kane et il est un numéro 9 incroyable. "

Kane a eu une rencontre meurtrière avec les défenseurs de la Colombie à Moscou mardi, et bien qu'il y ait moins de lutte d'Andreas Granqvist et Co, il n'y aura pas moins de détermination à arrêter Kane à tout prix. Comme l'a dit Lustig: Nous l'avons prouvé maintes et maintes fois, même lorsque nous jouons dans les grandes nations, nous trouvons un moyen de gagner la partie. Cette Coupe du Monde a été folle jusqu'ici alors j'espère que ça continuera comme ça. "

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