Sweden 0-0 Denmark
Sweden and Denmark played out an uninspiring goalless stalemate at Friends Arena, failing to create many chances in a game marred with fouls.
Sure enough, both nations would take the result as it is heading to Russia for FIFA 2018. After all, international friendly results aren’t that important for both World Cup-bound teams who are merely assessing the depth of their respective squads.
However, there are lessons to be learned from the match-up, especially the fact that the two teams still lack the killer instinct to win games—something which will separate the contenders from the pretenders in the upcoming summer event.
Highlights of the game
Sweden’s Isaac Kiese-Thelin had the best chance late in the match, but he spooned his shot over the bar to frustrate the home fans that flocked the Swedish capital for the Nordic derby.
The Swedes didn’t have many scoring chances in the game. Nonetheless, fans had their hopes up when Emil Forsberg dazzled with some great ball-handling to tee up Kiese-Thelin in the 84th minute. The 25-year-old striker, however, sent his close-range shot above the cross-bar, keeping the scores at 0-0 at the final whistle.
Earlier in the match, Martin Olsson had a solid attempt for Sweden, but his 16th-minute volley from outside the box flew way left and high into the stands.
Denmark, on the other hand, came close to scoring through Pione Sisto who fired a stinging right-footed shot from the edge of the box just after the half-hour mark. Unfortunately for the Danes, Sweden’s first-choice keeper Robin Olsen—who suffered from a broken collarbone in February—smartly saved the ball to keep it out of the bottom-left corner.
Both Lasse Schone and Thomas Delaney also had good opportunities to break the deadlock for Denmark in the second half, though to no avail. In the 75th minute, Schone fired his free-kick a bit too high while Delaney bungled an attempt from the centre box five minutes later.
Key statistics
The Danes obviously missed Tottenham star Christian Eriksen and his offensive ability in the game. The 26-year-old playmaker—who catapulted Denmark to the World Cup with a hat-trick against the Republic of Ireland last November—didn’t join the team for the friendly to be with his partner as they wait for the birth of their child.
In his absence, the Red-White squad finished with only four shots on target despite having 13 shot attempts. Denmark fielded Deportivo La Coruña’s Michael Krohn-Dehli to fill the void left by Eriksen, but the 34-year-old struggled greatly against the well-organised Swedish defence.
It’s worth noting though that Denmark were the more aggressive team throughout, finishing with 22 fouls and five offsides compared to Sweden who had 11 fouls.
For Sweden, things didn’t go as they were expected. They shared ball possession equally with Denmark but never really threatened, unlike their visitors.
In our preview of the match, the Sweden vs Denmark betting odds showed the home team as the slight favourites. Nevertheless, Jannes Anderson’s men failed to take advantage of playing on home soil and ended with only two clear-cut scoring chances.
What’s next?
Sweden still have an upcoming friendly against Peru before taking on South Korea in their World Cup Group F opener in Nizhny Novgorod.
Meanwhile, 12th-ranked Denmark are set to play 15th-ranked Mexico in another friendly as both Russia-bound nations look for a morale-boosting win just days before the big event. The Mexicans are coming off a 1-0 friendly victory over Scotland.
Following their performance against Denmark, Sweden need to push Forsberg a little more to become their talisman—the same role that Zlatan Ibrahimovic played for the national team. The RB Leipzig man had his moments in the friendly, but he was largely inefficient and was missing for the most part.
Forsberg’s creativity and ability to spot openings and counter-attacking opportunities will be crucial for Sweden, and they will certainly hope to get Forsberg more involved when they play the Peruvians.
On the other hand, Denmark must find a way to take the burden off Eriksen’s shoulders. The Tottenham midfielder has a knack for scoring when it matters, but having him is not enough—it just won’t cut it in the World Cup where the heavyweights boast top-level quality and depth.
Sisto has shown against Sweden that he can become the Robin to the team’s Batman, though Denmark need him to be consistent. He has a chance to do it and make a statement against Mexico.
That being said, other Denmark players must step up at times too especially if they want to make it out of the World Cup Group C.
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