Two teams hoping to grab the second qualifying spot behind Germany face off in the 2018 World Cup. Sweden returns after missing two straight Cups, while South Korea has made nine straight.
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• Here’s the 2018 World Cup schedule.
How to watch: In the U.S., Fox Sports 1 and Telemundo have the broadcast at 8 a.m., but you can stream it here.
7’: South Korea Threatens
Swedish keeper Robin Olsen was forced into the first save of the game, a lunging punch off a cross. Lee Seung-Woo, one of three Lees on the Korean team, followed with a header that went wide.
Kickoff!
South Korea in white and Sweden in yellow.
This is not soccer’s fiercest rivalry, but the tension has been stirred up a bit in recent days after accusations that Sweden was spying on Korean practices. The Korean coach responded by claiming that he had his players wear different shirt numbers to confuse any possible snoops.
Bad News for Both Teams
South Korea and Sweden are both already in serious need of a win. With Mexico beating mighty Germany, those two teams seems to be in the driver’s seats for the top two spots in Group F. The loser here might well have to somehow beat Germany and Mexico to advance.
Sweden’s Starting Lineup
1. Olsen
2. Lustig
4. Granqvist
6. Augustinsson
7. Larsson
8. Ekdal
9. Berg
10. Forsberg
17. Claesson
18. Jansson
20. Toivonen
South Korea’s Starting Lineup
23. Cho Hyun-Woo
2. Lee Yong
6. Park Joo-Ho
7. Son Heung-Min
9. Lee Seung-Woo
11. Hwang Hee-Chan
13. Koo Ja-Cheol
16. Ki Sung-yueng
17. Lee Jae-Sung
19. Kim Young-Gwon
20. Jang Hyun-Soo
Sweden vs. South Korea Top Story Lines
• South Korea has qualified for nine straight World Cups, but has never recaptured the magic of its run to the semifinals at home in 1998. It looked OK in qualifying, finishing second in its group behind Iran, but will have to be considered a big long-shot to make much noise in this Cup. Four years ago, it managed just a single point in a so-so group.
• Sweden’s 1-0 win over Italy, followed by a scoreless draw — both the products of organization, grit and determination — knocked Italy out of the World Cup for the first time in 60 years.
• No, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not playing for Sweden at this World Cup. Ibrahimovic retired from international football after the European Championships in 2016.
• South Korea has been to every World Cup since 1986, but it stumbled to Russia. Its coach was fired halfway through qualifying after the team lost to Qatar, and South Korea only narrowly beat back competition from Syria with ties in its last two games.
• South Korea’s man in the middle is Ki Sung-yueng, who plays in the Premier League for Swansea. Most of the team’s moves should come through him.
• With Sweden now in the post-Zlatan era, the leading international scorer on the team is Marcus Berg with 18. But Berg is 31 years old and plays in the U.A.E. Indeed, the squad has few if any players starring at the world’s best club teams. Perhaps Ola Toivonen can tally for them.
• These teams are in a challenging group with Mexico and Germany, so both will be eager for three points.
• This game is the first in the Cup to be played in Nizhny Novgorod, six hours east of Moscow by car. The newly built stadium is on an island where the Volga River meets the Oka.
Bagikan Berita Ini
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