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EURO CUP 2016 | ||
| vs | SWEDEN | ||
| FIFA RANKING 33 | FIFA RANKING 35 | ||
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| TEAM PROFILES |
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| REPUBLIC OF IRELAND Ireland qualified for their first major tournament in the 1988 UEFA European Championship, opening their campaign with a famous 1-0 win against England thanks to Ray Houghton's early header. They then held the Soviet Union 1-1 and Charlton's side were only edged out for a semi-final place in West Germany by an 82nd-minute goal for the Netherlands. Ireland narrowly missed out on the final tournament in 1992 and lost play-offs to the Netherlands and Turkey in 1996 and 2000 respectively. They finished third in their qualifying groups for both 2004 and 2008 but made the 2012 finals; beaten to an automatic place by Russia, they defeated Estonia in the play-offs. They had performed consistently throughout, at one point going eight matches (friendlies included) without conceding, establishing a new national record. Trapattoni's side arrived in Poland and Ukraine 14 games unbeaten, but that was soon forgotten as they lost 3-1 to Croatia, 4-0 to Spain and 2-0 to Italy. It was not until 2000 that they successfully negotiated qualifying to reach the final tournament, yet the Blågult have been ever-presents since. Sweden exited UEFA EURO 2004 unbeaten, losing 5-4 on penalties to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals after a goalless draw, while their last two campaigns ended at the first hurdle, a win and two defeats not enough each time. In 2012 they lost to Ukraine and England despite having led both matches in the second half, and were already out before their last game when Ibrahimović's brilliant acrobatic goal set up a 2-0 win against France. |
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BEST RESULT |
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| REPUBLIC OF IRELAND | SWEDEN | ||
| group stage 1988, 2012 |
semi-finals 1992 |
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| KEY PLAYERS | |||
| REPUBLIC OF IRELAND They got through the play-offs without him, but Shane Long’s work-rate and intrepid running when leading the line makes the whole O’Neill/Keane system work. Daryl Murphy did an excellent job filling in for him for 145 minutes in the two Bosnia ties but Long does more than hold the ball up and relentlessly harass defenders as his cracking winner against Germany in Dublin proved so emphatically. He doesn’t have the class of peak Robbie Keane but Ireland’s record goalscorer is 35 and will be used at best as an impact substitute because Long’s value is so appreciated by the management team. Jeff Hendrick, the 23-year-old Derby midielder, has improved with each game and demonstrated his dribbling flair and ability to sell a dummy when setting up Jonathan Walters’ goal against Georgia. When he plays alongside James McCarthy and Glenn Whelan he is the one given the most freedom to get forward and he has the feints, positive running and eye for a pass to flourish in that role. |
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| SWEDEN Zlatan. Although he's now 34, he remains as vital as ever for country if not club. During the 2006 World Cup, Martin O'Neill, delivered a scathing assessment of him - "possibly the most overrated player in the world". But for the past 10 years he has continued to prove O'Neill wrong, making that other famous quote about him come to mind. "He invents moves that don't exist in the material world," wrote the Swedish novelist Bjorn Ranelid, "and they are done like jazz improvisations on the pitch." Just because he might not be quite as good as he proclaims himself to be - who could be? - does not mean he isn't special. Sixty-two goals in 112 Sweden appearances emphasises just how special he is. Oscar Hiljemark captain Sweden to victory at the 2015 Under-21 European Championship and has been joined by a number of graduates from that campaign in Hamren’s full squad. The 6ft, 23-year-old midfielder moved to Palermo in the summer after two years at PSV and plays in a central role, passes well with both feet and demonstrated his finishing prowess with two goals against Milan. Won the Swedish title with Elfsborg in 2012 playing in the heart of midfield with Anders Svensson and it is little wonder that his style most resembles that of his mentor. |
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