Denmark and Sweden prepare for EURO battle
Monday, November 16, 2015
Article summary
The Denmark and Sweden camps both have cause for optimism, but the coaches are united in their belief that the play-off second leg will be just as tight as the first.
Article top media content
Article body
- Sweden take 2-1 first-leg lead to Denmark
- Morten Olsen expects Denmark "to win and qualify"
- Zlatan Ibrahimović has scored once against Denmark in seven previous meetings
- Denmark beat Sweden 1-0 in their last Copenhagen meeting in May 2014
- Teams to wear black armbands and observe minute's silence following events in Paris
Possible lineups
Denmark: Schmeichel; Jacobsen, Kjær, Agger, Durmisi; Eriksen, Kvist, Højbjerg, Krohn-Dehli; Jørgensen; Bendtner.
Out: none
Doubtful: none
Sweden: Isaksson; Lustig, Granqvist, Johansson, Olsson; Durmaz, Lewicki, Källström, Forsberg; Berg, Ibrahimović.
Out: Antonsson (groin)
Doubtful: Olsson (cold)
Morten Olsen, Denmark coach
Our performance in the first match was not all that bad. Of course, the winner is always right, and if you lose people often tend to think that everything was bad. That is not always the way it is. It is my job to analyse what we did well and what went not so well.
I expect us to win and qualify. It will be tough, but no one ever said it would be easy. However, we have home advantage and we have the chance to decide matters on our own turf. I expect a close match.
Erik Hamrén, Sweden coach
I expect Denmark will try to play like they did during the last 25–30 minutes on Saturday. Let's see if we can manage to prevent them doing that. I'd prefer it if it goes like it did for the first hour or so.
I want to see my players show courage, the same courage we showed after the first five to ten minutes last time. We've got a good feeling in the squad after Saturday and beating Denmark for the first time in a long while.
If we think 0–0 will take us through then we'll have a hard time. Of course we've studied their penalty takers [just in case] and Kasper Schmeichel too. But our aim is for this not to end in a penalty shoot-out.
Qualifying record
Denmark, third in Group I
W3 D3 L2 F8 A5
Sweden, third in Group G
W5 D3 L2 F15 A9
EURO play-off record
Denmark: W1 L0
Sweden: N/A
Reporter's view: Nicklas Vinde (@vinde7)
Nicolai Jørgensen's first-leg goal – Denmark's first in four competitive matches – has given his side real hope; a 2-0 away defeat would have left the Danes with only a very slim chance of progress. Now it seems wide open.
Did you know?
The neighbours have met 105 times, Sweden winning 47 games and Denmark 40. Find out more in our comprehensive match background.