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Sweden 1 Switzerland 0
Anyone who wondered, before the kickoff, how these two players had avoided each other in the previous eight tournaments that they had both achieved, could have be tempted to suggest divine intervention for 20 minutes. [19659003TheftoftheSwedenandthemostofsuccessfulissuesoftheMississueofthesewouldbegivenatmuchthesummerofthesummarythesubmittedthatthecountofthisMondwindcapwasgiventothegeneralofthemoststudy?
The Swiss, sixth in the world after only one defeat in 20 years since they were eliminated from Euro 2016, had started as favorites, but their coach Vladimir Petkovic has recognized that his team really had "Of course, we would have liked to do more," he said amidst the usual pressure on the share of responsibility that he should shoulder. "We did not show the kind of emotion we would have liked but I saw the same thing in the games of Sweden; these are opponents who have trouble playing as they do." want and we saw it again today
"We still have to analyze the game but we were clearly missing something. We tried to play with more emotion in the last 15 minutes, to take more risks, and we were better but it was not enough to tip the scales in our favor. At key moments, we were not good enough but Sweden also has something to do with it. They deserve a lot of credit.
"They have never been considered the favorites of this World Cup, not in qualifying, not in group stages but they continue to progress." Everyone was skeptical, suggesting that they were not going to win. they are a mediocre team but that's not true they are physically strong and they would work very well together.They have a lot of attributes.It's a good team. "
This is a point of view that should be examined more closely on the weekend because Janne Andersson's team did not have to be terrific to progress here. During the 90 minutes, they created the best chances, but were not really more clinical than their opponents when it came to putting them away.
Finally, Petkovic observed that it was a game that was going to be decided "by a goal or a long-range shot," and there was a bit of both about it that things turned out. Emil Forsberg, of course, asked for something that would suit everyone, but his low shot from the edge of the area 22 minutes from the end seemed to go straight to goalkeeper Yann Sommer until defender Manuel Akanji, who rather well played here and He was one of the Swiss successes in the group stage, he clumsily took the path and turned the ball into the top corner of his own camp.
The preparation had probably been one of their best in the afternoon. Until then, they needed a little help and then there were questions about Marcus Berg's struggles after the 31-year-old striker, who Has not yet scored at this tournament, has left a full goalkeeper in the competition. "I have no worries about Marcus," said the coach. "He played a great game today and the goals will come in. We were asked the same question about Emil before and he scored today."
The result is that the Swedes have finished the last eight of a World Cup for the first time in 24 years and even if few would have judged them too Previously, despite the defeat of the playoffs of Italy, their opponents Saturday in Samara would do well not to underestimate the trust and collective sense of purpose that drove them right up here. "The important thing is to believe in what you are doing," said Forsberg, always clearly whispered with his and the team's achievement afterwards. "That's what pays for us – if we do it right, we know we can be really good at defending and attacking, we've proven and rewarded it in that we're in quarter-finals.
"Put your head down, work hard and concentrate, it does not always work out for the best, it can go wrong but you give yourself every chance and I'm so proud of what we all have accomplished with this team right here. "Now, we're pushing now to accomplish even more things."
It will be a stretch, to be fair. Mikael Lustig, the Celtic right-back who did well here, will miss the match by suspension and some of his teammates, including Forsberg, limped out of it as a flat effort to prevent the Swiss from regaining their usual pace over time. took his toll.
Yet they ended with vigor. Breel Embolo and Haris Seferovic, both Swiss submarines, had the chance to equalize by blocking and saving respectively, while Sweden took up the challenge of defending the advance that they had taken
As is often the case under such circumstances. The Swedes broke and seemed ready to score when Michael Lang nudged Ludwig Augustinsson in the back. The referee pointed the ball and fired his red card. After a VAR intervention, the Swiss were spared, but that made no difference. The release of Ola Toivonen was the last kick of their campaign
They head for the house, leaving Andersson's men watch an unlikely rehearsal of the country's campaign USA & # 39; 94 which only ended with a defeat in Brazil's semi-finals. Win Saturday and they would surely start dreaming of doing better this time around.
SWEDEN (4-4-2): Olsen; Lustig (Krafth, 82 minutes), Lindelöf, Granqvist, Augustinsson; Claesson, Svensson, Ekdal, Forsberg (Olsson, 82 minutes); Berg (Thelin, 90 minutes), Toivonen
SWITZERLAND (4-2-3-1): Sommer; Lang, Djourou, Akanji, Rodriguez; Behrami, Xhaka; Shaqiri, Dzemaili (Seferovic, 73 minutes), Zuber (Embolo, 73 minutes); Drmic
Arbitrator: D Skomina (Slovenia).
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