Returning to the World Cup finals stage since way back in 2006, Sweden are in such high spirit as they gear themselves up for their group opening fixture against Korea Republic (South Korea).
Advancing into the tournament through the play off, the Blue Yellow side are determined to give their best and make their way into the knock out stages, which will certainly be bigger probability should they able to defeat their Asian rival this Monday.
Not taking their legendary and controversial forward, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is certainly an intriguing decision to make, but head coach Janne Andersson is putting his trust on those who helped Sweden up since the World Cup qualifier.
Nevertheless, there’s a slight concern regarding their attacking fire power as recent friendlies results showed how they do have some struggling in scoring goals, something that the Scandinavian side will try to handle in Russia.
Meanwhile, Korea themselves have been a regular participant of the tournament recently, but ever since their stunning performance in 2002, Taegeuk Warriors’ have been struggling to even make it out of the group stage.
Shin Tae-Yong’s side are certainly keen on repeating their success back in 2002, but for now their concern is simply improving their showing compared to what they did back in 2014, where they only collected one point from three group games.
That’s why taking all three points from Sweden will be the target for Korea as it will make their ambition achievable to fulfill.
Probable starting line up:
Sweden: Olsen(g); Lustig, Granqvist, Lindelof, Augustinsson; Claesson, Larsson, Ekdal, Forsberg; Berg, Toivonen
Korea Republic: Kim Seunggyu(g); Lee Yong, Kim Younggwon, Jang Hyunsoo, Park Jooho; Ki Sungyueng, Jung Wooyoung; Hwang Heechan, Lee Jaesung, Son Heungmin; Kim Shinwook.
