Mellberg shows Swedish spirit
Friday, June 11, 2004
Article summary
Sweden captain Olof Mellberg has said he is ready to play through the pain barrier for his country.
Article body
Fully focused
The Swedish Footballer of the Year has ligament damage in his heel but is determined to line up against Bulgaria when the Group C rivals meet in Lisbon on Monday night. Speaking to euro2004.com, Mellberg said: "I am in pain but I can keep it at such a level that I can play. I just have to focus on other things. It doesn't bother me, I just go out and play my game."
Special effort
With the match at the José Alvalade stadium fast approaching, the hills overlooking the Estoril training camp were full of Swedish fans watching their favourites today as coaches Lars Lagerbäck and Tommy Söderberg put Mellberg and the rest of the 23-man squad through their paces. One supporter, in particular, had made a special effort to show his support.
'Fantastic thing'
Lars Isaksson had cycled all the way to Portugal from Dalarna in his homeland and was more than happy to have arrived. He said: "It is a long way to go but we have a good team. As fans we will do anything we can to help them get the best possible result." Isaksson's unique journey earned the praise of Lagerbäck, who said: "This is a fantastic thing. The more fans in the stands for us the better. It means a lot to the team as a whole."
Ljungberg excited
Also delighting the coaches was the fact that there were no new injury worries aside from the existing concerns over Mellberg and Mattias Jonson, who had been suffering from a cold yesterday. Jonson was put through his paces today and will be back in full training tomorrow. Another positive for Sweden was the liveliness of key men Henrik Larsson and Fredrik Ljungberg, with the latter in particular finding it hard to contain his excitement. "It is all drawing closer now and every day it gets more exciting and everyone is raring to go," Ljungberg told euro2004.com.
Likely lineup
Following a tactical session assessing Bulgaria's likely team and formation, the Swedes will have two more practices over the weekend. Regarding Monday's lineup, it is thought Mikael Nilsson will get the nod ahead of Christian Wilhelmsson while Andreas Jakobsson will likely partner Mellberg in central defence.
