Sweden relish perfect start
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Article summary
Kim Källström was a contented man following his wonder strike which helped preserve Sweden's 100 per cent record from their first four Group F qualifiers.
Article body
With the best record of any team in UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying, Sweden are well placed to advance from a group packed with big names and improving teams. But the Scandinavian side are not getting carried away by their perfect start to Group F.
Four from four
Sweden came from behind to defeat Iceland 2-1 in Reykjavik last night to make it four wins out of four. The victory puts them five points clear of neighbours Denmark and Northern Ireland, and nine points ahead of Spain with just one game more played. Lars Lagerbäck's side fell behind to Arnar Vidarsson's excellent strike after six minutes only to respond with an even better goal of their own within two minutes. Kim Källström stepped up to expertly drill in a free-kick from fully 40 metres and almost repeated the trick in the second half before Christian Wilhelmsson scored the winner.
Going for goal
Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Källström said: "The balls we use are quite difficult to play with, but once you can hit a set-piece, they are quite comfortable. There was a lot of wind and rain, and the grass was wet, so I thought the best I could do was to hit it as hard as I could. I didn't have much to lose I thought." It was the prefect riposte for Källström after being omitted for the 2-0 win against Spain on Saturday. He said of being dropped: "It is forgotten. You always want to play and I thought I would play but another player was picked and it went well. Today I was picked and it went well. That's how football is - it turns around quickly."
Not over yet
Assistant coach Roland Andersson was also mindful that things can change in an instant in football, and was urging caution. "We have made a fantastic start but there are still eight matches to go and Spain will surely win all their matches at home," he said. "It is all going smoothly so far. We can play better than this but that is not important right now. It wasn't a quality match but we are proud and satisfied with the spirit we showed. But it is not over, far from it. There is a long way to go."
