By Khilen Mehta

Russia- Guus Hiddink’s maiden campaign as coach could hardly have had a more dramatic ending as Russia snatched second place in Group E  right at the death. Victory over England in Russia left them needing just six points from their last two games to be sure of qualifying. However defeat to Isreal left England back in pole position. On the final day however, England lost to Croatia and victory of Andorra gave the Russians their route to the tournament. In recent times, Guus Hiddink has made wholesale changes to the the squad in recent times, and the Russia side competing in Austria and Switzerland bears little likeness to the one that traveled to the finals of UEFA EURO 2004 in Portugal.

Manager- Guus Hiddink, I am very happy with the players’ mentality.”

Key Player- Andrei Arshavin will be a big loss as he is suspended for the first two games

Prediction- Will battle it out for second spot with Sweden

Sweden- Sweden qualified in second place in Group F behind Spain, completing the job on the last night of qualifying when they beat Latvia 2-1 and Northern Ireland lost in Spain. Lars Lagerbäck’s side made a bright start, winning their opening four games – including a 2-0 success over section favourites Spain courtesy of goals from Johan Elmander and Marcus Allbäck. Although defeat in Spain put the champagne on ice, a victory over Latvia ensured Sweden qualified for their fifth successive tournament. Sweden are unlikely to make many changes to the habits that have brought them such success. The surprise recall of striker Henrik Larsson, following his retirement from international football, has given Sweden a major boost as the veteran can forge a partnership  with Zlatan Ibrahimović.

Manager- Lars Lagerbäck, “It’s going to be less physically demanding and with more focus on tactical preparations for the coming matches,”

Key Player- Henrik Larsson will lead the line with all his experience

Prediction- All will depend on their result with Russia.

Tags: Euro 2008, football, khilen mehta, Sport

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 1:47 pm and is filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.