There was not much time left for England. Three days after the group stage game, England welcomed their opponent in the round of 16, Sweden, at the home of the La Liga club, Sevilla.
Before the game, the English media did not want to publicize the feud between the two teams as much as they did in the game against Germany. They just mentioned the embarrassing record of 48 years without a win against Sweden, hoping that Twain's team could end this record.
There was no other way if they did not end it. If they did not win, they would be eliminated … No Englishman wanted to be eliminated by Sweden in the World Cup.
From the fans on both sides entering the stadium before the game, it could also be seen that the two teams did not have that kind of irreconcilable hatred. The fans of both teams could even enter the stadium together with their arms around each other. There was not a single provocative banner to be seen. The media only reported on it as an ordinary game. At most, they compared Ibrahimović and Aaron Mitchell. Both men were proud of their height, but their footwork skills were excellent. Mitchell also had the title of "Ibrahimović the Second" in England.
The England players did not have their eyes wide open like they did in the previous game. It was as if they were facing the enemy who killed their parents and stole their wives. They could not wait to rush up and slash them to the ground with their knives and then step on them so that they would never be able to make a comeback.
Twain also took special care not to mention England's "humiliating" record of 48 years without a win against Sweden in the locker room before the game. He was worried that the players' minds would always think in that direction.
The feud between England and Sweden was different from the feud between England and Germany.
When England played Germany, Twain could also use the feud between the two sides to stimulate the morale of the England players. But the best way to face Sweden was not to mention the feud between them at all.
The reason was simple. It was hatred with Germany, and it was fate with Sweden. When it comes to the fact that England has not played against Sweden for 48 years, the England players will have bad thoughts in their minds – is this what God wants them to do? Otherwise, why can't we beat Sweden when there is such a big difference in strength between us and them? Especially in the group stage of the World Cup ten years ago, they scored in the 85th minute and were about to win, but in the last minute, they let the opponent use a foul ball in the front field to equalize the score … It was simply too arrogant and could not be explained with common sense!
The more the players thought about it, the more their brains would be muddled. This kind of mysticism was a bad thing. It would affect the players' mentality and directly cause them to play abnormally. Tang En could not guarantee that none of his players would think that way.
In any case, no matter how hard he tried, the final result would be the same …
Therefore, he decided not to mention it at all to prevent people from letting their imaginations run wild.
For this special match, Tang En had also made corresponding arrangements.
Chris Cohen, who was in the starting lineup for the last match, continued to be in the starting lineup for this match. Downing still had to sit on the bench. Due to Bentley and Walcott's injuries, Adriano Moke started for the first time in this UEFA European Championship.
Tang En arranged for as many of Nottingham Forest's players as possible because, compared to the players from other clubs, he had more faith in the psychological qualities of the players he had brought up.
In fact, there were a lot of people in the England national team who did not have any special feelings towards Sweden. That was because they had basically not experienced a match against Sweden. If not for the media bombarding the players with stories about the feud between England and Sweden before the match, Tang En would not be worried at all. He would just treat it as a normal round of 16 match.
But now, he had no choice but to be more cautious.
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England took the initiative from the start of the game. They threatened Sweden's goal many times.
After all, in terms of strength, England was far superior to Sweden. The biggest and most famous star player in the Sweden team was Ibrahimović. The Inter Milan striker was already 33 years old. His skills were getting better, but his physical qualities had deteriorated.
He was at the forefront and did not pose any threat to England's defense. Because Sweden had no way to send the ball to his feet.
The England team's midfield was suppressing the Sweden team's midfield, and it was not easy for them to send the ball out.
Sweden could not find a good way to attack, while England's offense was colorful. When George Wood could not play in the game, Gerrard became the hub of England's midfield. Although Gerrard was old, his skills and awareness were still there. The decline of his physical qualities would not hinder him from being one of the world's top midfielders.
Tang En took advantage of the situation where Sweden's defenders were generally tall and big, and did not arrange for the team to play in a way like Mitchell passing from the flanks. He knew very well that with Mitchell's physique, he would not be able to take advantage of Sweden's defenders. Passing the ball to him would only be a waste of opportunities. Therefore, in this game, the ball under his feet became the focus of Tang En's attack.
Anyway, Mitchell's footwork skills were excellent, and he could also be useful in a ground attack.
Gerrard passed the ball straight from the midfield to Mitchell in front.
Mitchell leaned on Sweden's center back, Jonas Olsson, and stepped the ball under his feet. Olsson, who was 1.96 meters tall, stretched out his long legs to intercept the ball, but Mitchell pushed him with one hand, and he could not reach it. Just as Olsson raised his hands to the referee to signal Mitchell to push him, Mitchell pulled the ball back and knocked it to Wayne Rooney, who plugged in from his side!
"Rooney received a wonderful pass from Mitchell! Breakthrough! "
Fortunately, the other Olsson, the left back, Martin Olsson, stepped forward at this crucial moment. When Rooney had just kicked the ball out, he rushed out from the side, and with a clean shovel, he shoveled the ball out of the sideline!
When England threw the ball out of bounds, Mitchell did not wait in front of the goal, but ran to the sideline, and gestured to receive the pass.
The right back, Richards, threw the ball to him, and he licked the ball forward with his chest, turned around and was about to break through! Martin Olsson was slightly careless, and Mitchell caught him behind him. He pushed Mitchell from behind, but he did not expect it to help Mitchell instead – he took advantage of the situation and knocked the football forward, speeding up to rush over. Then he stretched out his long legs and buckled the ball in the air.
Martin Olsson rushed over, and Mitchell's left foot lightly pushed the ball inwards. At the same time, he jumped up, sideways to avoid Olsson's tackle, and once again got rid of Olsson's defense!
After getting rid of Olsson, Mitchell continued to dribble the ball inside. Sweden's center backs were all tall and big guys, and they casually passed the ball high up in the air. The possibility of Rooney getting the ball was too small.
When Jonas Olsson pounced on Mitchell again, Mitchell passed the ball!
He swept the ball along the turf toward the goal, and as long as someone slightly touched the pass, there was a high chance that it would fly into the goal.
Unfortunately, this time Sweden's veteran goalkeeper, Andreas Isaksson, came out in time and caught the ball in his hands.
Although the attack did not result in a shot, Mitchell's previous series of performances still won the applause of the England fans in the stands, and the praise of the English commentator.
"What outstanding footwork. It's unbelievable that he's 2.1 meters tall! "
Even the Swedish commentator had to praise Aaron Mitchell as "England's Ibrahimović."
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England had been besieging Sweden since then, and everyone could no longer see the defensive counterattack that Twain used in the game against Germany and Portugal.
Sweden's tall defenders seemed to be able to defend the ball in the air with ease, but in the face of England's cooperation on the ground, they were a little helpless. Adriano Moke was given a very special task in this game, and Twain did not ask him to stick to the side. Instead, he gave him a lot of free space to move around, allowing him to move freely on the side and in the middle, as well as in the penalty area. He used his footwork skills to cooperate with his teammates on the ground in a small area to create a killing opportunity.
This move was quite effective in the first half. Moke was short, agile, and had good ball control skills. He made the Swedes run around in circles.
By the 27th minute, England finally found a good opportunity. After Mitchell controlled the ball in front of the penalty area, Sweden's defensive attention was placed on the right side where Adriano Moke was, and England's left side was neglected. Chris Cohen was not good at dribbling, so for a long time, England's offense was seriously "leaning to the right".
Seeing this scene, the players who were also from the Forest team had a tacit understanding. After Mitchell protected the ball and made a feint to pass the ball to Moke, he turned his body and kicked the ball in the completely opposite direction.
"Chris Cohen received the ball, and there are no Swedish defenders in front of him!" John Motson shouted. This was a good opportunity for the England team!
The tight defensive line finally revealed a gap, and it was up to the England players to seize it!
After Chris Cohen received the ball, he looked up at the penalty area. Sweden's right back, Mikael Lustig, who was supposed to be defending against him, was in the penalty area at this time. His eyes glanced at Moke's side, and it was clear that Moke's continuous active performance had also attracted his attention.
Cohen no longer hesitated and cut directly into the penalty area. At this time, Lustig ran over to prepare to defend.
Any team's defensive line was a whole, and a slight move would affect the whole team. With Lustig's run, the center of the penalty area was empty.
Cohen saw the opportunity and directly passed the ball in. Mitchell and Rooney were both under the control of the Swedish defenders. His pass was not passed to them, but …
Gerrard plugged in from the back and suddenly appeared at the edge of the penalty area. Cohen's ball had just reached his feet. Gerrard faced the ball and directly lifted his leg to shoot! The football whizzed toward Sweden's goal.
Isaksson did not expect the person to complete the attack would be Gerrard. He was a little unprepared for Gerrard's powerful volley, and only when the ball hit the net did he make a save.
"What a beautiful goal!" Motson shouted, "Steven Gerrard's powerful volley is unstoppable!"
"It looks like our players are not affected by the feud between England and Sweden at all. So far, Sweden has not gotten any chances, and England has the overall upper hand!"
After the goal, Gerrard waved his fist excitedly. The last time England lost to Sweden in the World Cup, he played and scored England's second goal, but he did not save England's fate. They were forced to a draw by Sweden in the end.
This time, he did not want to let such a thing happen again!
If two goals are not enough to guarantee that we can beat Sweden, then we will score three goals, four goals, five goals! More goals!
Gerrard waved his fist hard to vent the frustration in his heart.
The Swedes seemed a little numb to the goal concede. For nearly 30 minutes, they did not have a chance at all. They were all suppressed by their opponents, and it was only a matter of time before they conceded a goal …
Tony Twain stood up and applauded the team's performance. He was not excited, because his thoughts were very similar to the Swedes' – our performance in the past 30 minutes was perfect. If we can't score again, then we will be damned. This was the difference in strength, coupled with the team's attentiveness to their opponents from the beginning to the end. They did not leave any fatal gaps for the opponent, so it was normal to take the lead.
The Swedes must not have thought that England would be so determined to raise the flag of attack, and it could be seen from their bewildered reaction. The Swedes must not have thought that this England team seemed to be completely unaffected by the fate of 48 years.
"The performance of the England team gives us hope, the hope to end that laughable fate!" Motson said what the majority of England fans were thinking.
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After taking the lead, Twain did not relax. Instead, he got up from the manager's seat and stood on the sidelines, constantly signaling the players to continue to strengthen the attack and not give the Swedes a chance to rebound. The England players on the field faithfully carried out Twain's tactical intentions, fiercely robbing the Swedes in the midfield, and strictly defending in the backfield, not giving Ibrahimović too many chances to take the ball, and at the same time, not allowing him to easily turn around. In this way, the space that Ibrahimović could play in was compressed to the minimum, so much so that the commentator wondered if the Swedish pagoda player was actually playing …
In the face of the England team's tidal wave of attacks, the Swedes could only shrink their defensive line and temporarily avoid the brunt of the attack. The Swedish manager, Lagerbäck's idea was that even if they were one goal behind in the first half, it would still be considered a victory. As long as the score gap was not widened, they could make adjustments during the halftime interval and then go all out with England. Based on his understanding of the England team, the psychological quality of this team was not flattering. They played well in the first half, but it did not mean that they could maintain such a performance in the second half. As long as they put a little pressure on them, they would panic.
Think about the group stage of the World Cup ten years ago. England's performance in the first half was also perfect, but the result?
Lagerbäck sat on the fishing platform, as if everything was under his control.
He also heard the whistle that ended the first half as he wished. The Swedish team was 0: 1 behind England.
Lagerbäck, who left the field, did not show any dissatisfaction with the team falling behind. He glanced at Twain and saw that the other side had a smile on his face, as if he was satisfied with the team's one goal lead.
Lagerbäck laughed in his heart.
The arrogant Englishmen, very soon you will know what is called fate!
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PS: I recommend a website made by the domestic Nottingham Forest fans: Nottingham Forest Chinese Website.
WWW.NOTTMFOREST.CN
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