And here’s a report from the master, Sid Lowe.
Next up for these two: Spain will play Poland in Seville and Sweden will play Slovakia in St Petersburg.
Full-time: Spain 0-0 Sweden
Spain, as is habitual, start the tournament slowly. They utterly dominated the game and yet Sweden could have scored a couple, with Alexander Isak a real threat. Spain’s problem is not passing the ball or pressing. It’s scoring goals. And that needs sorting or they are going to struggle to get much beyond the last 16. Credit to Sweden though, and the fine defending of Marcus Danielson and Victor Lindelöf saw it out.
90+6 min: Sarabia pumps the ball in, and Lindelof clears. And that’s it. A goalless draw.
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90+5 min: Oyarzabal forces a corner, now can they conjure something? Thiago takes. It goes to the back post and Moreno heads wide. He headed it with his eyes closed, too. That’s not the done thing.
90+4 min: Pedri and Thiago continues the metronome. Alba gets to the left off a Pedri pass and comes across and Sarabia misreads the ball. Too much of that from Spain.
90+2 min: Moreno looks much more dangerous than Morata ever looked capable of being. He digs out a snap shot which drifts wide but the idea was there.
90 min: Moreno! No! Great cross from Sarabia, a nod down and Olsen makes another save. That was the best chance yet and there will be six minutes of time added on.
89 min: Alba gets to the byline, and Moreno comes in. Was he baulked? No, it was offside in any case. Or was it? Again, Danielson was outstanding in making sure it was nothing more.
88 min: Sweden have the measure of this. To lose now would be a disaster. This is what they came for, and seem to set to leave with. And fair enough. Spain haven’t done enough.
87 min: Larsson uses all his experience to win time by getting himself fouled. Final Spain sub? Fabian Ruiz for Koke
85 min: Moreno finds space, and crosses but to paraphrase Mick Channon in 1986 “you gotta get the bodies in the box”. As stated before, Ian Marshall, Robert Rosario, anyone.
84 min: Two Sweden subs: Olsson off for Cajuste, and Bengtsson on for a very tired Forsberg. They take their time over all this. Seb Larsson, 57, is still out there.
82 min: Ooof, Oyarzabal’s cross is cleared from deep in the Sweden box. They have defended like demons. All credit to them. There’s more than one way to get a result.
81 min: Sweden sub? Olsson looks goosed, cramped up, but he runs back on. He’s been a a warrior, as has Danielson, who makes yet another intervention.
80 min: Some sideline footage shows Luis Enrique doing a dance of frustration.
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79 min: Sarabia’s cross punched away by a harried and hassled Robin Olsen. Spain getting the ball in the mixer now.
77 min: Sweden are taking their time over the throw-ins now, though Spain are also not so spritely as they were in the first half. Sarabia’s cross is cleared. What good is crossing when nobody is there to head it or even attack it?
75 min: Sweden’s Lustig is down, and will leave the field after what looks a groin problem. On comes Newcastle’s Emil Krafth.
74 min: Two more Spain subs: off go Olmo and Torres, on come Moreno and Oyarzabal,
72 min: Thiago out to Sarabia, and Olsson steps up to clear. Then Danielson comes across to stop a shot from Olmo after Llorente hooks it back.
70 min: Lindelof blocks a Torres shot. Beginning to think Spain are toothless. They need a Butragueno or a Raul in this instance. But don’t seem to have one. Julio Salinas might do the job, too.
69 min: Two Sweden changes. Off go Berg and Isak, and on come Quaison and Claesson, two forwards off, and another two on. Isak will be missed, he’s been highly impressive.
68 min: Spain revert to the patience of the early stages but Llorente’s cross is poor and then Olmo fires wide with a shot that was no trouble.
66 min: Two Spain subs: Rodri and Morata off, and on come Thiago and Sarabia of PSG. Torres goes up top for Spain.
64 min: Isak is a terror but Laporte does well, showing power and composure to hold off the Sociedad’s striker’s gallop.
63 min: Olmo tries to play in Ferran Torres, who has been quiet. The changes are imminent and Thiago is coming on to mesmerise.
61 min: What a chance! Sweden get the ball up to Isak and he again causes all sorts of problem. His skill and strength holds off three defenders and his pass across goal goes to Berg, who misses. And badly. Isak, though, looks very dangerous indeed.
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60 min: Ted Graves calls it: “For all Spain’s dominance, the few times Sweden have found themselves in the Spanish box encourages the thought that they could pull off a highly improbable smash and grab here. Spain’s attacking play has been beautiful everywhere but the final third and they seem primed for a monstrous letdown at the other end.”
59 min: Gerard Moreno is warming up. Morata for the hook? It would seem likely. Pedri plays the ball out to Alba, and the two Barca men have faded a little from view.
57 min: Koke has seen a lot of the ball but he and Morata are not on the same wavelength. A Spain sub would seem imminent. They have faded somewhat.
55 min: First booking: Mikael Lustig, for timewasting. Though perhaps the ref took his falling over his own feet in the Spain box into consideration.
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54 min: One for the Ole notebook: Sweden seem to be using Victor Lindelof as their Dave Challinor, Ian Hutchinson, Rory Delap long-throw exponent.
53 min: Olmo chases a pass from Koke. The probing, the investigation continues but Sweden are holding themselves up to it at the moment.
52 min: Jordi Alba resumes his left-winger duties before Lindelof heads away. This feels a tad more open than the first half and Spain a little less fluid.
50 min: Morata snatches at a shot, which is not the first time anyone’s written or said that. At half-time, Cesc Fabregas did not seem too impressed with him.
48 min: Seb Larsson over the ball, and he aims the ball to the back post, and Michael Lustig...falls over his own legs, hitting the ball of his own ankles. That was a tad embarrassing. Still though, Spain not so watertight.
46 min: We begin with, yes, Spanish possession football. On the sidelines, Luis Enrique looks a tad agitated, which is his usual state of being but he must be happy with the rhythm his team found.
Ok, here’s the second half. More of the same? Let’s see, shall we? No half-time subs, for the record.
Julian Menz: “”Get it launched”?....”Få bort skitbollen!”.”
And still it’s 0-0.
1 - Spain completed 419 passes in the first half against Sweden, the highest figure in the opening 45 minutes of a European Championship game since we have this data available (1980). Control. #EURO2020 #ESP #SWE
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 14, 2021
Jonas Lidström with some answers to the Swedish translation. “Swedish for ”second ball” would be “andraboll”. Not quite sure about the meaning of “get it launched” … but the Hail Mary-based tactic is definitely called “tjongboll” in Swedish.”
Thanks, Jonas.
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The half-time comments are in:
Kari: “I’m baffled that Spain aren’t winning, which takes me back to watching Spain prior to 2008, when being baffled that they weren’t winning was the typical experience of watching Spain at major tournaments.”
Henry on the stadium: “It was built with San Siro in mind. So Betis and Seville would share the stadium. Then they could sell the other two stadiums which are located on prime real estate. But the clubs and fans said no way. Re: Marathon, I was lucky enough to run/walk the last one which finished in the Plaza de España- spectacular!”
Francis on same: “Some years ago the local politicos went full “if you build it, they will come” in the certainty that if they had three huge stadiums then they would easily be awarded the Olympic games. For sure! In Summer!Summer temperature in July and August in Seville? Over 42°C in daytime and only about 30 at night. Needless to say, they were refused in their bid for, no doubt, health reasons, and certainly not because they didn’t fill the brown envelopes enough. The next World Cup is ... where?”
Matt in Brum: “What the Spanish should be doing is seeing if Ian Marshall has a Spanish granny, he’d sort this fancy-dannery out and stick the round thing in the netty-thingy.”
Yash: “Something is not right, Morata misses a chance and Llorente hitting the post, time for position change.About the penalties, as much as IFAB can clarify its rules it’s clear that Premier League referees don’t use common sense, and rather goes for sarcasm and irony every single time.”
Half-time: Spain 0-0 Sweden
Sweden will feel relief, but also feel they might have scored when Isak hit the ball. Spain have utterly, utterly dominated possession but they can’t find the telling blow.
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45 min: Just one minute added on. That seems to be the way, sparing with time added on. That’s it, all done for the first half.
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44 min: Robin Olsen climbs well to clear another powderpuff corner but Olmo gets the rebound and forces a fine save from Sweden’s goalie. Actually, was it a fine save? Hmm, it looked like he lost the flight of it and somehow got it away. It evades Laporte on the rebound.
43 min: Morata, and it looked inadvertently, scoops the ball to Olmo who falls to the ground theatrically. Anyone else noticed how few penalties have been given compared to your average Premier League weekend?
41 min: Oh wow! Here’s Isak, at last. The ball spills to him, and he shows composure, doesn’t rush his shot after almost stumbling over it. And it’s forced on to the post. There was a glimpse of his talent. Spain defenders all over the show.
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39 min: Daniel Stauss invokes a former colleague of mine, and one with a sharp wit. “Jon Champion on ESPN was talking about Sergio Ramos’ first absence from a Euro championship since 2004 - “Perhaps the referees don’t miss him so much”. That feels needlessly brutal, kind of like a Sergio Ramos tackle”
Don Sergio will live, I am sure.
38 min: Danielson coughs up a chance that Alvaro Morata really should have scored. He adopted his Chelsea rather than Juve/Atléti persona, and misses the target. That was poor, in truth.
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37 min: Apposite from Anis here: “Seeing this Swedish team brings back memories of Roy Hodgson’s England vs Italy in 2012. Two banks of four with non stop hail Mary passes to Andy Carroll. Now, if only Ibra was around, he would’ve been the Swedish Andy Carroll in this match.”
What’s the Swedish for “second ball”? Or “get it launched”?
36 min: Swedish territory at last and Simon is sent scrabbling as Seb Larsson, 57, dinks a ball that drifts off the top of the crossbar. Forsberg’s corner is cleared by Pau Torres, who showed what a good defender he is in the Europa League final.
34 min: Matt, a Stokey, presumably on Trent, though perhaps Newington, on the stadium, at which neither Sevilla nor Betis play. “Still amazes me that Seville has three massive stadiums. I finished a marathon in the one they are using tonight and then spent hours in my tired state trying to figure out when they had the Olympics in Seville. Never is the answer.”
See also Baku and Istanbul for further evidence of this phenomena. They should have done the same in Brum and Manchester.
32 min: Alexander Isak cannot have touched the ball yet. And neither can Marcus Berg.
30 min: Paulo Biriani with the Jaco Pastorius weather report: “Here in Andalusia we’ve been having temperatures in the low 30’s for weeks now. Would be fair to say the Spanish will be used to playing in these temperatures.”
28 min: Sweden look tired, and already. They are being slowly pummelled into submission. Koke close again with one of those Bryan “Robbo” Robson late runs but he can’t keep his shot down.
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26 min: Sweden not been given a moment’s rest, and just wait: they may well have the mesmerism of Thiago to face in the latter stages. They could end up feeling like they have been on the brown acid at Woodstock after the great man has been on. The Liverpool kaleidoscope is on the bench for now.
25 min: Another Swedish scramble clears the ball behind as Dani Olmo seemed destined to get on the end of it.
23 min: At the other end, Koke seizes on a second ball and drags a shot just wide, after making a late run. The moment Sweden stepped up, space became available.
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22 min: Stop press: Sweden get in the opposing half. A long throw is launched in the style of Dave Challinor, but Forsberg shoots high into the Andalusian skyline.
21 min: Spain have played by far the most coherent football of the tourney so far, though perhaps they lack some incision up front. That may remind older viewers of their teams from 1990 to 2008. Their young guns seem to have inherited all the poise of their forebears.
19 min: Yash Gupta sums it up well, then drives in a knife: “Spain’s midfield is more fluid than any other team in this tournament so far with wingers and full backs moving all around. The only constant are Rodri and Morata which must be driving Pep Guardiola mad. At least until Morata will calm things by being miles offside in the build up and then scoring two disallowed goals.”
17 min: Panic in the Sweden area as Olmo whips in a ball. It runs out but the alarms are ringing out for the Swedes.
16 min: First big chance! Koke chips it up, Dani Olmo has come centrally and it’s a fine save from Robin Olsen that denies him.
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15 min: Sweden launch the ball into the Spain half, and it runs straight to Simon in Spain’s goal, who prior to that may as well have been playing a game of patience in his goalmouth for all the action he has been called into.
14 min: Danielson shows real determination in clattering into Morata and getting the ball clear. This is a class of styles, to say the least.
12 min: Rodri doing a decent Busquets impression in squeezing the play, then Olsson clatters Pedri to many boos. Some Swedish rough stuff out there.
11 min: The ball’s in the Spain half, it’s just that Spain have it. Olmo is brought down so we have a Spain free-kick. The ball is aimed for Rodri but the Swedes are the dominant force in the air so far.
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9 min: Sweden yet to get a hold on the ball up front. Berg and Isak are satellites of the whole affair.
7 min: Luis Enrique is on the sidelines, in a Marcelo Bielsa pose, and probably has the quads to be able to do it for longer than his coaching mentor. Jan Andersson sits in his seat looking a little less athletic.
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6 min: Another overlap from Alba, playing a left winger, and Torres fails to read the run and get on the end. Sweden hack behind hurriedly. Koke’s corner comes out to Dani Olmo who shoots over. It’s all Spain.
4 min: Lovely work gets Alba to the byline but Morata is a tad too unselfish in playing the ball backwards. Instead, Spain maintain possession.
3 min: Spain start with plenty of possession as we would always expect, even before they were so dominant from 2008 to 2012. Ferran forces a corner from a panicking Lustig. The corner is cleared.
1 min. There’s a delay due to a hole in the Swedish net but away we go. Aymeric Laporte is the right-hand centre-back for Spain for all you tactics types out there. Pedri, just 18, gets an early touch and early applause.
The sound of Paul “Bono” Hewson and The “Dave Evans” Edge’s Europop nightmare means the game is soon afoot. “We Are The People” indeed.
Julian Menz gets in touch: “Evening John. We are watching here in Sweden with my Swedish in-laws, and our daughter has swapped her England shirt for her Swedish shirt (confusing times for a five-year-old).
This is a decent Swedish team, even without Zlatan (possibly better in his absence), and might well cause Spain problems, though Kulusevski will be missed.”
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Seb Larsson, 36 last week, and Jordi Alba lead out their teams in what is a quiet, and socially distanced Stadium La Cartuja, where it is 29 degrees in the shade. The Swedish anthem is sung lustily and the Spanish anthem rings out. As it has no words, their fans just scat along with their chosen version. The players keep mum.
For those of you not watching in the UK, the backing music for the BBC Spain preview used flamenco guitars, while the Swedish segment used Roxette’s The Look.
Ruth Purdue, on Marcos Llorente: “Hi John, I hope you’re well. It’s the tabloids, anything to sell newspapers.”
Peter Oh is here all tournament: “It’s good that in Rodri, Spain have good cover in the number six position. It would not have been wise to put all their defensive midfield eggs in one Busquets.”
Sweden, too, had a Covid outbreak, and Dejan Kulusevski and Mattias Svanberg have been isolating away from the squad. The Juventus winger and Bologna midfielder might well have been in Sweden manager Janne Andersson’s team, particularly Kulusevski.
Both are back in the camp now, having returned today and a six-man shadow squad have been sent back to their homes and holidays
Those starting line-ups again.
Spain: Unai Simon; Marcos Llorente, Aymeric Laporte, Pau Torres, Jordi Alba (captain); Koke, Rodri, Pedri; Ferran Torres, Alvaro Morata, Dani Olmo.
Sweden: Robin Olsen; Mikael Lustig, Victor Lindelof, Marcus Danielson, Ludwig Augustinsson; Sebastian Larsson (captain), Albin Ekdal, Martin Olsson, Emil Forsberg; Marcus Berg, Alexander Isak.
Re: Marcos Llorente. Does anyone know why it’s being reported he is getting over his absence with Covid with a topless girlfriend?
It looks like he is playing as an overlapping full-back tonight.
Slovakia have the early whip hand in Group E.
Aymeric Laporte is the headline selection for Spain, having switched nationalities, and become his new country’s senior centre-back.
Luis Enrique XI tonight has 8 players from their most recent WC qualifier v Kosovo - in comes Rodri for Busquets, Pau Torres was injured and Laporte was French.
— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) June 14, 2021
Luis Enrique's first #EURO2020 Spain XI then. Unai Simón in goal. Laporte + Pau CBs. Alba over Gayà. PEDRI starts, no Fabián or Thiago in midfield. No Gerard Moreno, Dani Olmo starts on the left, Morata up top. pic.twitter.com/CeoyGKNZQE
— The Spanish Football Podcast (@tsf_podcast) June 14, 2021
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For the Swedes, Marcus Danielson who will be in the centre of defence along with Victor Lindelöf, while Markus Berg is an experienced foil for Alexander Isak.
Here’s Sid’s scene-setter on the Spain team from Sunday.
Here are the teams
Spain: Simon, Marcos Llorente, Laporte, Pau Torres, Jordi Alba, Koke, Rodri, Gonzalez, Ferran Torres, Morata, Olmo. Subs: de Gea, Azpilicueta, Diego Llorente, Gerard, Thiago, Garcia, Sanchez, Gaya, Fabian, Traore, Oyarzabal, Sarabia.
Sweden: Olsen, Lustig, Danielson, Lindelof, Augustinsson, Sebastian Larsson, Ekdal, Olsson, Forsberg, Berg, Isak. Subs: Granqvist, Bengtsson, Johnsson, Svensson, Helander, Sema, Krafth, Claesson, Jansson, Quaison, Nordfeldt, Jordan Larsson,
Cajuste.
Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)
Talking of Rodri, here’s a superb interview, as carried out by Sid Lowe.
Get the full lowdown on tonight’s teams from our Experts’ Network.
Preamble
So then, Seville, a stand-in host for Bilbao, and where the new-look Spain will begin their assault on the trophy they won in both 2008 and 2012, with just one survivor from those golden days in Jordi Alba, the captain due to Sergio Busquets’ unfortunate absence with Covid-19. Busquets, if he comes back at all, will not be playing in this game. No Pepe Reina to cheerlead either. It’s been a rather confused buildup to this tournament, rather like 2018 when they lost their coach, Julen Lopetegui, to Real Madrid on the eve of the big kick-off.
The antidote to those types of shenanigans appears to be to omit everyone from Real Madrid altogether. No Don Sergio Ramos, though at present just two from Barcelona in Alba and Pedri, and just two from Liga champions Atlético in Marcos Llorente and Koke, the experienced midfielder. This team has a more international look, with ten players from the Premier League and others playing in Serie A, France and in the Bundesliga.
If Luis Enrique’s team may feel somewhat unfamiliar, though perhaps not for the Swedes, who faced them in qualifying. Let’s get it over with: no Zlatan Ibrahimovic, his knee twanging at the end of the season robbing us all of a great comeback but an awful lot of toxic masculinity, too. So, swings and roundabouts. And there’s always Seb Larsson who never went away in the first place. This does look a decent Sweden team, perhaps better than that knocked out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage by England. Alexander Isak’s the young man to watch, as you will know from all the previews.
These teams met once before in the Euro finals, a 2-1 Euro 2008 win for Spain in Innsbruck, achieved at the last gasp by a winning goal by David Villa, in a game pre-billed as Villa/Fernandes Torres v Big Zlat/Henrik Larsson. The Spanish pair got one each, with Zlatan getting one, too.
Let’s hope for a game as good as that. Kick-off at 8pm BST. Join me.
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