Lagerbäck combs Swedish fringe

Sweden coach Lars Lagerbäck has named an experimental 22-man squad for the friendly games against Costa Rica and the United States on 13 and 19 January respectively, as he ponders his UEFA EURO 2008™ options.

Fringe players
Ten members of the party are in line to make international debuts, with the likes of Hammarby's Louay Chanko and Malmö FF's Behrang Safari eyeing a first cap. "It's fantastic that we can get this chance to give the players valuable international experience, and credit to the clubs for making this co-operation work," said Lagerbäck. More experienced home-based players will also be available, including the 103-times capped Niclas Alexandersson and 83-times capped Anders Svensson.

Sweden squad
Goalkeepers: Johan Wiland (IF Elfsborg), Rami Shaaban (Fredrikstad FK).

Defenders: Mattias Bjärsmyr (IFK Göteborg), Peter Larsson (Halmstads BK), Mikael Lustig (GIF Sundsvall), Oskar Rönningberg (Helsingborgs IF), Behrang Safari (Malmö FF), Fredrik Stoor (Rosenborg BK), Jimmy Tamandi (AIK Solna).

Midfielders: Niclas Alexandersson (IFK Göteborg), Daniel Andersson (Malmö FF), Louay Chanko (Hammarby), Andreas Dahl (Helsingborgs IF), Viktor Elm (Kalmar FF), Samuel Holmén (Brøndby IF), Stefan Ishizaki (IF Elfsborg), Andreas Johansson (Aalborg BK), Anders Svensson (IF Elfsborg).

Forwards: Johan Oremo (Gefle IF), Rade Price (Aalborg BK), Dusan Djuric (Halmstads BK), Pontus Wernbloom (IFK Göteborg).