After the 2-0 loss away against Georgia on Thursday, Sweden is under pressure to beat Spain in Sevilla on Sunday to go straight to the World Cup in Qatar next year. Cross or loss means that Blågult has to settle for second place in the qualifying group and focus on play-off games, consisting of a semi-final and a final, in March.
Earlier during the World Cup qualifiers, Sweden defeated Spain 2-1, at home at Friends Arena. Now you want to get the favorite in replay.
– There are many things we have done well against Spain. If you look at the last match in Stockholm, I think we defended well and we were good at finding important conversion areas when we won the ball. If we do the same thing again, it will definitely increase our chances of winning, says assistant national team captain Peter Wettergren.
Wettergren thinks that Blågult became “back-heavy” against Spain in the European Championships this summer, when the meeting in Sevilla ended 0-0. One thing you do not hope to repeat, but Sweden is aware that the home team will own a lot of ball.
– Almost always when Spain plays, they have about 70 percent of the ball possession. This has been the case against teams like France and Italy. It is important that we are able to put our defensive game in a good way and do it very well when we have the ball.
The situation in the group will not mean that Sweden invests more offensively and in a higher pressure.
– You do not want to expose yourself too soon. As long as it is 0-0, the match is alive. Chances can be created until the 95th minute. I think we will have about the same plan as in Stockholm.
– If you get up too early and push, they are very skilled at playing out of their opponents’ high pressure. I do not think high pressure is the way to go. We have to make sure that they do not get the surfaces they want and then we know that we are skilled when we win the ball. I think Spain has some respect for some of our players.
Wettergren concludes:
– I had taken this situation every day of the week before the qualifiers. You want the last match to live and it does. We have played to that.
Federation captain Janne Andersson says that it is important for Sweden to keep their defensive game together in a good way – and to be able to play out of Spain’s first press.
– Because then there are quite large areas to play on. Then we can definitely hurt Spain, just like we did at home at Friends. But the defense must sit. We have to keep the team together. That’s number one. If you start there, you can grow into the match, says Andersson.
Spain-Sweden is broadcast on TV4, C More Football and streamed on cmore.se with studio start at 20:00. Kick-off 20:45.
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