| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 214.1 | Norwegian football | OSLCSC::SVEINN | Cold wind from V a l h a l l ...... | Fri Jun 19 1987 03:42 | 11 |
| The Norwegian national team also played a European Championship
qualifying match last tuesday,they beat France 2-0 at Ullev�l Stadium.
France was the last European champions in soccer,and this match
ment that neither France or Norway will qualify for the European
Championship finals next year,the French team is of course suffering
from the retirement of the eminent football player Platini.
Not only the Norwegian men are doing well in soccer these days,
Last sunday the Norwegian national team for ladies,became
European Champions in football by beating Sweden 2-1.
Svein Nordrum
|
| 214.2 | 1989: D�j�vu? | WHYVAX::SAVAGE | Neil @ Spit Brook | Thu Oct 26 1989 10:16 | 12 |
| From: [email protected] (Svante Lindahl)
Subject: Soccer, World Championship qualification games
Summary: Sweden and South Korea qualify for Italy
Date: 25 Oct 89 19:24:20 GMT
Organization: Royal Institute Of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Europe, group 2
Poland 0 Sweden 2
Sweden wins the group without losing one game and is the eleventh
country to get a berth to the championship playoffs.
|
| 214.3 | Denmark/soccer | BHAJEE::JAERVINEN | Bitte ein Bit? Bitte 64 Bit!! | Fri Jun 26 1992 16:47 | 2 |
| Congratulations!!!!
|
| 214.4 | 1992 European Cup, the details | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon Jun 29 1992 11:29 | 226 |
| From: [email protected] (Ohayon Tsiel)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.french,soc.culture.german,soc.culture.netherlands,
soc.culture.nordic,soc.culture.celtic,soc.culture.soviet,
soc.culture.british,rec.sport.soccer
Subject: European Cup
Date: 28 Jun 92 03:14:11 GMT
Organization: UBS Phillips & Drew INT'L Ltd. TOKYO, JAPAN
Hi soccer fans,
This is a recap of what has happened during the last 2 weeks in Sweden.
To all of greatest surprise, Denmark came out victorious of Europe's
most coveted championship.
Next time UEFA will probably think twice before evicting a qualified
team :-) This is a crazy situation where a team which didn't even
qualify takes the trophy home. Maybe a new formula for this
championship should be thought of.
Two of the main favorites, France and England didn't make to the second
round. The Netherlands, title holder, were pushed out by Denmark after
a heroic fight.
In group I, the last day of play provided 4 different qualified teams
at various points of the 2 games. Sweden was always qualified, England
(after 5 minutes of play) then France (after an hour of play) then
Denmark (after 79 minutes of play).
4 Players scored 3 goals, we are far from M. Platini's record of 8
goals scored in 1984 in France.
Holland's Van Basten didn't score once when 4 years ago he was best
scorer. He was just able to miss a penalty which eliminated The
Netherlands from the competition.
Denmark the other viking team is to congratulate for its fighting
spirit and overall fair play. Their supporters were also quite a good
bunch. The Danes got better with every game.
World Champions Germany as usual did not surprise. The Germans made it
to the last four. What did surprise is that they didn't take it at the
end. In round I, the Germans won what they had to win and lost what
they could lose. This is typical of this team. They played quite well
against hosts Sweden in the semi-finals but had no response to the
Danes and P. Schmeichel in the finals.
Holland lacked luck in the semis, they were too confident about beating
the Danes. It cost them their title. They were the best team in round
I.
Sweden animated most of the competition and T. Brolin has come out to
be a very valuable player. The price for him is certainly on the rise.
As usual the Scots wasted a spot ... But at least with them there are
always many goals. If not for them, against them :-)
Papin was unable to keep France alive. He scored twice for the 2
chances that he had and proved that he is the best around. But without
better support from his team mates France had to bow out. France was
more than disappointing. For a team that won all eight of its
qualifiers, there is no explanation for such a poor performance. France
was one of the only team that had no injured. they played with the same
group that made it to the last eight.
England next time should send a squad like Liverpool, Leeds or M.
United which would probably do better :-). The national squad was a
mere shadow of itself compared to the team sent two years ago to Italy,
which was also not the greatest of all teams.
The C.I.S. which was decimated by injuries and the breakup of the
U.S.S.R. only held out for 2 games. They could have qualified had they
beaten the Scots as Germany and Holland did.
The first round was quite disappointing with very little action and
almost no wins. 3 wins for the first 8 eight games, not much isn't it.
Hooliganism was on the rise. English, Swedish, Dutch, German soccer
fans were to blame for the violence. The Scottish and Danish fans
supported their team in good and friendly spirit.
+-----------------+---------------+
| GAMES | FINAL SCORE |
+-----------------+---------------+
|France-Sweden | 1-1 |
+-----------------+---------------+
|Denmark-England | 0-0 |
+-----------------+---------------+
|C.I.S.-Germany | 1-1 |
+-----------------+---------------+
|Nether.-Scotland | 1-0 |
+-----------------+---------------+
|France-England | 0-0 |
+-----------------+---------------+
|Sweden-Denmark | 1-0 |
+-----------------+---------------+
|Nether.-C.I.S. | 0-0 |
+-----------------+---------------+
|Germany-Scotland | 2-0 |
+-----------------+---------------+
|France-Denmark | 1-2 |
+-----------------+---------------+
|Sweden-England | 2-1 |
+-----------------+---------------+
|Nether.-Germany | 3-1 |
+-----------------+---------------+
|C.I.S.-Scotland | 0-3 |
+-----------------+---------------+
| Semi-Finalists | 1) Sweden |
| Group I | 2) Denmark |
+-----------------+---------------+
| Semi-Finalists | 1) Netherlands|
| Group II | 2) Germany |
+-----------------+---------------+
| FINALS : |Germany-Denmark|
+-----------------+---------------+
| WINNER | Denmark |
+-----------------+---------------+
GROUP I
+-------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+
|Teams | Played| Win | Loss | Draw | GF | GA | Diff.| Total|
+-------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+
|1) Sweden 3 2 0 1 4 2 2 5 |
+-------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+
|2) Denmark 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 3 |
+-------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+
|3) France 3 0 1 2 2 3 -1 2 |
+-------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+
|4) England 3 0 1 2 1 2 -1 2 |
+-------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+
GROUP II
+-------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+
|Teams | Played| Wins | Loss | Draw | GF | GA | Diff.| Total|
+-------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+
|1) Netherlands 3 2 0 1 4 1 +3 5 |
+-------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+
|2) Germany 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 3 |
+-------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+
|3) Scotland 3 1 2 0 3 3 0 2 |
+-------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+
|4) C.I.S 3 0 1 2 1 4 -3 2 |
+-------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+
ROUND I
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Best Offense | Best Defense | Best Difference |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 1) Netherlands 4 Goals| 1) Netherlands 1 Goal | 1) Netherlands +3 |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 1) Sweden 4 Goals| 2) Sweden 2 Goals| 1) Sweden +2 |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 1) Germany 4 Goals| 2) England 2 Goals| 3) Germany 0 |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 4) Scotland 3 Goals| 4) Denmark 2 Goals| 3) Scotland 0 |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 5) Denmark 2 Goals| 4) Scotland 3 Goals| 3) Denmark 0 |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 5) France 2 Goals| 4) France 3 Goals| 6) France -1 |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 7) England 1 Goal | 7) Germany 4 Goals| 6) England -1 |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 7) C.I.S 1 Goal | 8) C.I.S 4 Goals| 8) C.I.S -3 |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
ROUND II
--------
SUNDAY JUNE 21 SWEDEN - GERMANY 2 - 3
MONDAY JUNE 22 NETHERLANDS - DENMARK 2 - 2 (P.K. 4 - 5)
ROUND III
---------
FRIDAY JUNE 26 GERMANY - DENMARK 0 - 2
+-----------------------------------------------+
| Goal Scorers | 32 Goals| Average: 32 / 15 =
+-----------------------+-------------+---------+ 2.13333 Goals / Game
| T. Brolin | Sweden | 3 Goals |
| T. Haessler | Germany | 3 Goals | +-----------+--------------+
| D. Bergamp | Netherlands | 3 Goals | |Germany | 7 / 5 = 1.4 |
| H. Larsen | Denmark | 3 Goals | |Denmark | 6 / 5 = 1.2 |
+-----------------------+-------------+---------+ |Netherlands| 6 / 4 = 1.5 |
| K.H. Reidle | Germany | 2 Goals | |Sweden | 6 / 4 = 1.5 |
| J.P. Papin | France | 2 Goals | |Scotland | 3 / 3 = 1.0 |
| J. Ericksson | Sweden | 2 Goals | |France | 2 / 3 = 0.66 |
| F. Rijkaard | Netherlands | 2 Goals | |England | 1 / 3 = 0.33 |
+-----------------------+-------------+---------+ |C.I.S. | 1 / 3 = 0.33 |
| T. Haessler | Germany | 3 Goals | +-----------+--------------+
| R. Witschge | Netherlands | 1 Goal | | Avg./Team | 0.991667 |
| S. Effenberg | Germany | 1 Goal | +-----------+--------------+
| J. Klinsman | Germany | 1 Goal |
| L. Elstrup | Denmark | 1 Goal |
| J. Jensen | Denmark | 1 Goal |
| K. Vilfort | Denmark | 1 Goal |
| K. Andersen | Sweden | 1 Goal |
| P. McStay | Scotland | 1 Goal |
| P. McAllistair | Scotland | 1 Goal |
| P. McClair | Scotland | 1 Goal |
| D. Platt | England | 1 Goal |
| I. Dobrovolski | C.I.S | 1 Goal |
+-----------------------+-------------+---------+
N.B.: Penalty kicks between The Netherlands and Denmark not counted.
The Championship could come down to:
1) Denmark
2) Germany
3) Netherlands (They only lost on P.K.)
4) Sweden (Beaten fair and square)
The last four are based on Goal Difference and goals scored.
5) Scotland
6) France
7) England
8) C.I.S
That's all folks, see you in America in 1994.
Tsiel
--
---8<---------------------------------------------------------------------->8---
Tsiel : [email protected] | Nothing is faster than the speed of light ...
Employer may not have same | To prove this to yourself, try opening the
opinions, if any ! | refrigerator door before the light comes on ...
|
| 214.5 | Sweden going to the World Cup | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue Aug 24 1993 14:40 | 49 |
| From: [email protected] (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.sports.misc,clari.news.europe
Subject: Coaches demand pride as Austria faces Finland
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 93 9:03:26 PDT
VIENNA (UPI) -- Austria and Finland meet Wednesday in a European Group
Six World Cup qualifying match with both sides already out of contention
for a place in the United States in 1994.
Austria is fourth in the six-team group with five points from six
games, with Finland one spot lower with three from six. Sweden and
France, who drew 1-1 Sunday, lead the group, both with 11 points, with
Bulgaria third on nine.
But despite their lowly positions both coaches promised their teams
would set out to provide top soccer and give their all.
"We want to gain the two points, we must win, therefore we will risk
everything," said Finland's coach Tommy Lindholm.
While Austrian coach Herbert Prohaska announced: "The player who
views our remaining four qualifying matches as burdensome duties, will
not be allowed to wear the national colors again.
"We cannot allow ourselves to become even more alienated from
international soccer," he added.
Prohaska and his squad will be seeking revenge the for the May 13
tragedy, when a 3-1 loss to Finland at Turku ended Austria's already
slim qualification hopes.
The completely demoralized Austrians went on to lose 1-0 away against
group leader Sweden a week later.
However, Lindholm is convinced his side can repeat May's result,
adding that his target was to finish ahead of Austria and Israel,
currently last, in the group standings.
"France and Sweden are going to the World Cup for sure, we can't
beat Bulgaria anymore, but we want to make sure we leave Austria and
Israel behind," said Lindholm.
"I do believe the Austrian's are stronger now than they were in May,
they have a top-rate player in Andy Herzog," he added.
Herzog, star striker of Germany's league champion Werder Bremen, was
unable to join team training Sunday due to an injured toe, but doctors
believe he will be able to take part in Wednesday's game.
Austrian regulars Heimo Pfeifenberger and Wolfgang Feiersinger are
once again in the squad after missing the first Finland match through
suspensions.
Finland will be looking for a cammand performance from its 22-year-
old midfielder Jari Litmanen, who has been developing into a quality
player at Holland's Ajax Amsterdam.
Austrian squad:
Austria -- Franz Wohlfahrt, Michael Konsel, Michael Streiter, Walter
Kogler, Robert Pecl, Anton Pfeffer, Wolfgang Feiersinger, Peter Artner,
Michael Baur, Peter Stoeger, Andreas Herzog, Didi Kuehbauer, Thomas
Floegl, Andreas Ogris, Heimo Pfeifenberger, Thomas Janeschitz
mp-ap-skxmi
|
| 214.6 | Denmark is defending European champion" | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue Sep 07 1993 15:43 | 41 |
| From: [email protected] (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.sports.misc,clari.news.hot.east_europe,clari.news.europe
Subject: Denmark must overcome Albania to keep pressure up
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 93 7:29:46 PDT
TIRANA (UPI) -- Denmark travels to Albania for a World Cup qualifier
Wednesday knowing it needs to win to keep the pressure on its Group
Three rivals.
Ireland leads the group with 15 points from nine games and is
favorite to qualify. The Danes are second with 14 points from nine games
with Spain a point behind, also from nine games.
Spain hosts Denmark in the final qualifying fixture on Nov.17 but the
situation could be settled by then if either side fails to gain maximum
points from its games against the lesser teams in the group.
Ireland has shown the way, collecting three successive away victories
in Albania, Latvia and Lithuania and Denmark will be looking to follow
that example on Wednesday.
Denmark has been boosted in recent games by the return from self-
imposed international exile of Michael Laudrup.
Laudrup appears to have settled his differences with coach Richard
Mollers Neilson and brings considerable European experience to the
squad.
Albania, currently last in the group standings, has lost seven of its
ten matches so far, including a 4-0 loss to Denmark last June.
``For Albania the match versus Denmark is very important,'' said
coach Bejkush Birce. ``Denmark is European champion, but I think that my
players have the possibility for a good result,'' he added.
Most of the Albanian squad play in the Greek first division, but
absent this week are regular defenders Hysen Zmijani, Abnand Ocelli and
Kastriot Peqini. But Birce is boosted by the return of his leading
midfielder, Lefter Millo, after a year's absence from international
soccer.
Millo, who plays for Greek club Larisa, will almost certainly start
but even with his touch of class the Albanians look set to struggle.
Lineups:
Albania (From): Foto Strakosha, Xhevair Kapliani, Salvator Kacaj,
Rudi Vata, Artur Lekbello, Artan Bano, Ilir Shulku, Arben Milori, Lefter
Millo, Sulejman Demollari, Indrid Fortuzi, Altin Raklli, Sokol Kushta,
Bledar Kola, Viktor Paco.
Denmark: To be announced.
mwp-skxmi
|
| 214.7 | Sweden 1, Bulgaria 1 | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Sep 09 1993 13:03 | 43 |
| From: [email protected] (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.sports.misc,clari.news.europe
Subject: Sweden gains valuable 1-1 draw in Bulgaria
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 93 12:55:16 PDT
SOFIA (UPI) -- Sweden gained a valuable 1-1 draw away to Bulgaria
Wednesday in a World Cup European Group Six qualifier.
Despite France's 2-0 win in Finland earlier Wednesday, the point
consolidated Sweden's second place in the group, while Bulgaria still
has a slim chance of qualifying for the 1994 finals in the United
States.
A passionate crowd of 39,000 at Sofia's Vassil Levski stadium nearly
willed its team to a first minute lead when Emil Kostadinov's low shot
was saved by veteran Swedish keeper Tomas Ravelli.
Gun striker Tomas Brolin responded for Sweden in the 4th minute with
a shot which flew narrolwy wide.
Polish referee Rikhard Vitchek awarded the home side a penalty when
defender Jan Eriksson fouled star striker Hristo Stoichkov in the 21st
minute. The Barcelona spearhead took the spot kick himself and scored to
put Bulgaria 1-0 ahead.
Sweden responded only five minutes later by profiting from a
Bulgarian defensive error.
Trophon Ivanov's attempted back pass was intercepted by Brolin, who
slotted the ball home under Bulgarian goalkeeper Antonio Ananiev.
Kostadinov put the ball in the back of the net in the 63rd minute,
but his effort was disallowed for offside and the match petered out to
the draw.
``It's a very good but unhappy match for us, the real result should
have been 5-1 for us,'' said Bulgarian coach Dimitar Penev, who admitted
his side did not defend well.
``The Bulgarians did play strong but the result is OK and we could
have won this match with a little more luck,'' said Swedish coach Tommy
Svensson.
_L_i_n_e_u_p_s
Bulgaria: Antonio Ananiev; Emik Kranenliev, Triphon Ivanov, Tsanko
Tsvetanov, Zapryan Rakov, Zlatko Yankov, Emil Kostadinev, Hristo
Stoichkov, Petar Alexandrov (Gueorgi Donkov 54th), Iordan Lechkov,
Krassimir Balukov.
Sweden: Tomas Ravelli; Jonas Nilsson, Jan Eriksson, Patrik Andersson,
Roger Ljung, Stefan Schwarz, Anders Limpar, Klas Ingesson, Jonas Thern,
Martin Dahlin, Tomas Brolin (Johnny Ekstrom 70th).
Referee: Rikhard Vitchek, Poland.
js-ap-skxmi
|
| 214.8 | Norway over Poland | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon Oct 18 1993 11:51 | 24 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Leif Romell)
Subject: Grattis Norge! [Was: Norge - Polen 3 - 0]
Organization: University of Western Ontario
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1993 06:55:12 GMT
Sender: [email protected] (USENET News System)
BIG Congratulations to Norway, now qualified together with us Swedish
neighbours for the 1994 soccer WC.
Now we're only waiting for the Danish (vi e roede, vi e hvide...) to
join, then we'll set out on a Viking crusade and show everyone what
_football_ is all about, right?
Look out!
_______________________________________________________________________________
Leif Romell
15 Jacksway Crescent #409 Voice: (519) 858-1707
London, ONT Email: [email protected]
CANADA N5X 3T8
"It's better to burn out - than to fade away..."
|
| 214.9 | The Danes didn't make the cut | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Nov 18 1993 10:42 | 15 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Ahrvid Engholm)
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: Stacken Computer Club, Stockholm, Sweden
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 01:18:23 GMT
The Norwegian national soccer team is probably well worth seeing. They
have just qualified to the World Cup in soccer (that will take place in
the US next summer!). The Swedish national soccer team has also
qualified, but the Danes failed to qualify (after losing agains Spain
this evening).
(The word "soccer" is believed to come from "AsSOCiation Football",
from the English Football Association which in the 1800's was the first
to endorse standardized rules for the game.)
|
| 214.10 | Norway to play USA at Tempe, AZ | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue Nov 23 1993 12:31 | 19 |
| From: [email protected] (Ruth M. SYLTE)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Fotball i Arizona
Date: 22 Nov 1993 10:31:14 -0600
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
Sender: [email protected]
The Norwegian National Football Team will play the USA
National Soccer/Football Team on Saturday, January 15.
The game is at Arizona State University's Sun Devil Stadium in
Tempe, Arizona (near Phoenix). Game time is 12 noon.
Tickets are $40, $30, $25, $20 and $15 and are being sold by
Dillards ticket outfit. They can be reached at tlf.
1.800.638.4253 or 1.602.678.2222.
** Thanks to Sons of Norway District 6 Recreation Director Howard
Barikmo <[email protected]> for this information.
|
| 214.11 | Swedish team looking to make more memories | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue Apr 19 1994 16:35 | 105 |
| SOCCER-SWEDEN'S WORLD CUP PAST--PROUD MEMORIES
...
Wire Service: RTs (Reuters Sports Report)
Date: Mon, Apr 18, 1994
STOCKHOLM, April 19 (Reuter) - The proudest moment in Sweden's soccer
history came on the afternoon of June 29, 1958, when the national team
walked on to the field infront of almost 50,000 home fans at the
Rasunda Stadium in Solna to face Brazil in the World Cup final.
A little over 90 minutes later, Sweden collected their runners-up
medals from King Gustav, beaten 5-2 by the dazzling South Americans but
far from disgraced.
Never before or since have Sweden been that close to being crowned
champions of the world.
Instead Sweden has become a world champion at exporting their greatest
players to some of the greatest club sides in the world -- a trend that
began in the late 1940s, continues to this day and illustrates better
than almost anything else why Sweden are always likely to finish among
the also-rans at competitions like the World Cup and European
championship.
Without well-paid full-time professionalism in the domestic league,
Sweden's top players will always go abroad, making it that much harder
for whoever the national coach happens to be to build a team capable of
challenging for the top honours.
The trend began when the famous strike force of Gunnar Gren, Gunnar
Nordahl and Nils Liedholm -- the legendary Gre-No-Li trio who formed
the nucleus of Sweden's 1948 Olympic gold medal winning team -- moved
with great success to AC Milan helping them win the Italian
championship in 1951.
Their "descendants" are doing the same today with the top Swedes
scattered throughout the continent earning the kind of riches
unavailable at home.
The individual skills of Napoli's Jonas Thern, PSV Eindhoven's Klas
Ingesson, Everton's Anders Limpar, Parma's Tomas Brolin, Martin Dahlin
of Borussia Moenchengladbach and Henrik Larsson at Feyenoord should --
in theory -- be enough to propel Sweden through the first round.
But without all-round strength in depth, Sweden's progress after that
at the highest level remains uncertain. Now coach Tommy Svensson has a
squad of worthy -- if uninspiring -- players going to the United States
where they will be more than keen to improve on their awful record of
three straight defeats and an early plane ride home from Italy in 1990.
In World Cup qualifiers Sweden lost just one of their 10 matches,
spearheaded by Dahlin and Brolin who have earned their place among the
world's most reliable attackers.
Svensson has the very Swedish characteristic of being level-headed and
makes no claims that his side can repeat their 1958 achievement.
However, he has made it clear that Sweden's 1990 performance has not
left any deep scars.
In the build up to Italy, Sweden breezed through the qualifying
campaign without losing a match in a tough group that included England
and Poland and the squad had high hopes when they landed in Italy for
their first finals since 1978. But in 10 disastrous days they lost to
Brazil, Scotland and, worst of all, minnows Costa Rica and were
eliminated without collecting a point.
When they line up against Cameroon in their opening Group B match in
Los Angeles on June 19 they will be looking for their first victory in
a finals match since they beat Yugoslavia in 1974.
Svensson, 49, has improved his squad since 1992, when Sweden, as host
nation, reached the semifinals of the European championship. And though
the general feeling is that Sweden will not flop as they did in 1990,
Svensson knows that with just over two months to go, being ready is
more important than dreams of victory.
"We will be prepared for anything," says the coach, who is particularly
anxious to get a good result in the team's opening match against
Cameroon. The group promises to be a tough one. For as well as
Cameroon, Sweden play Russia and old rivals Brazil who have usually
held the upper hand against the Swedes in their numerous World Cup
meetings.
As well as beating Sweden 5-2 in the 1958 final, the South Americans
also beat them 4-2 in 1938, 7-1 in 1950 and 2-1 in Italy four years
ago. In 1978 the teams drew 1-1. So Svensson has to prepare to face the
unpredictable free-flowing soccer of the central Africans -- and the
rather more organised free-flowing soccer of the South Americans. In
between those two matches Sweden faces a Russian side who play a more
orthodox European-style game.
Sweden are preparing for the finals at a training camp at Solna and
Svensson has organised a friendly against fellow qualifiers Nigeria,
the newly-crowned African Champions, as part of his build-up.
After that game on May 5, he will slim down his pool to his final squad
of 22. They will fly to California 11 days before the first game,
acclimatising by training in the mornings only.
Svensson must hope that his planning is right and Sweden make it
through the opening exchanges. They may not have been traumatised by
their showing in Italy, but a place in the latter stages this time
around, would certainly go some way in easing a rather disappointing
memory.
|
| 214.12 | Norway, scoreless tie against England 22 May | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue May 24 1994 12:00 | 26 |
| From: [email protected] (AP)
Newsgroups: clari.sports.misc,clari.world.europe.uk,clari.world.europe.northern
Subject: Norway Ties England, 0-0
Date: Sun, 22 May 94 11:50:06 PDT
WEMBLEY, England (AP) -- England and Norway played a scoreless
tie Sunday in an exhibition game as the Norweigens prepared for
their first World Cup appearance in 56 years.
"I thought it was a dour game," England coach Terry Venables
said. "They put a lot of players behind the ball. In the first
half we had some chances. In the second half they put everybody
back and that made it more difficult."
A 1-1 tie at Wembley and Norway's 2-0 victory in Oslo last year
helped eliminate England from World Cup qualifying.
"We had the aim to be better than the last time we were here,
and we succeeded in that," Norway coach Egil Olsen said. "We
created as many goal-scoring chances as England, and we are
satisfied. I thought the tempo and speed of the match should be
higher (in the second half). I think we have a lot to make better,
we are too slow in attack."
Venables said Norway's defensive style should fare well at the
World Cup, which begins June 17.
"They will be very difficult to break down," Venables said.
"They are not pretty to watch."
Sporadic showers made for a heavy field -- not to mention
discomfort for the 64,327 fans.
|
| 214.13 | Sweden-1, Brazil-1 | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Jun 29 1994 10:43 | 21 |
| From: [email protected] (Rajala Juha)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Sweden/Norway
Date: 29 Jun 1994 08:23:04 GMT
Organization: Tampere University of Technology
Congratulations Sweden! The first team to score against Brazil! In fact
the first team that didn't lose to them!
Good luck in the future games!
And Norway, tough luck. Maybe if you keep on eating that intelligent
food you will get some witt in your game.
* *
* * * * Juha Rajala
* v v * [email protected]
* *
* *
*
|
| 214.14 | Brazil: shouldn't take victory for granted | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue Jul 12 1994 14:26 | 89 |
|
DALLAS, July 11 (Reuter) - Like an elk emerging unexpectedly
out of the Nordic pine forests, Scandinavian soccer has taken
the world of football by surprise.
Take Sweden. For the first time in 36 years, they have
reached the World Cup semifinals, where they meet favourites
Brazil on Wednesday, and few would suggest the South Americans
can take victory for granted.
Think of Norway. Although knocked out in the group stage,
the Norwegians made it to the tournament for the first time
since 1938 and even prevented England from getting there.
And how about Denmark? It was the Danes who first
demonstrated to the world that Scandinavia could compete with
the best when they won the 1992 European title for the first
time after being invited to take part as last-minute
replacements for banned Yugoslavia.
Despite regional rivalries, the Scandinavians have all
followed a similar trail out of the Nordic soccer wilderness, a
path that has taken sportsmen to play in other countries.
It is only in the past four years that players from Denmark
and from Sweden and Norway, whose football is still largely
amateur, have been playing in foreign leagues in any great
numbers.
It is a pattern newly-liberated East European countries like
Romania and Bulgaria have also used to their advantage. Both
reached the last eight and Bulgaria beat champions Germany to
make Wednesday's other semifinal against Italy.
Nine of the 11 players who started for Sweden in Sunday's
quarter-final victory over Bulgaria's Balkan neighbours Romania
played the last season at foreign clubs, and 14 of the 22-man
Norwegian squad play outside of their country.
Sweden coach Tommy Svensson, who took charge five months
after a disappointing showing at the 1990 World Cup, says the
change in fortunes for his country began at Euro '92 when his
players realised they could match the best in Europe.
``That was the start of the new era of Swedish football,''
he said, recalling they reached the semifinals there.
Their triumph in reaching the last four at the World Cup for
the first time since losing as hosts to Brazil in the 1958 final
shows this is not just sporting hyperbole.
Although Denmark won Euro '92 they were denied a place in
the 1994 World Cup by Ireland by the slimmest of margins.
But Norway joined Sweden when they qualified for their first
finals in more than half a century from a group containing
England and Poland. It marked the first time since 1938 that two
Scandinavian teams had appeared in the finals.
Sweden showed promise four years ago when they qualified for
Italia '90, but failed to live up to high expectations and lost
all three first-round games including one to Costa Rica.
When Svensson took over, he constructed carefully and then
built on the foundations laid in the European championship to
forge a well-balanced side that, while not spectacular in any
area of the game, is solid in defence, midfield and attack.
They remain unbeaten in the tournament, together only with
Brazil, with whom they drew 1-1 in group play.
In attacking midfielder Tomas Brolin, who plays in Italy,
and striker Martin Dahlin from the German league, they have two
outstanding world-class players.
But as they showed on Sunday when missing midfielder and
captain Jonas Thern through injury, and reduced to 10 men, they
have the depth of talent and strength of character to win.
When the Swedes overcame Romania in a tense penalty
shootout, they surpassed the achievement of the talented 1974
team which reached the last stages of the World Cup finals in
West Germany and finished fifth.
It was the invaluable experience of having players in the
top European leagues that has given this Swedish side both the
technique and willpower to match the best in the world.
Norway, whose players have gravitated to the English league
only in the last two seasons, took three points off England and
the Netherlands in qualifying last year.
But Norway coach Egil Olsen admits Sweden are a
more-balanced side than his own and predicted before the
quarter-finals that they would reach the final.
``Despite Norway's historical antipathy towards Sweden, I
would have to say they are good enough to beat anyone, and they
have a good balance throughout the team,'' Olsen said.
``Martin Dahlin is good with the ball in the box and is
scoring goals, and they always pose a danger from midfield,
where they are very creative.
``Stefan Schwarz and Jonas Thern are very strong defensively
in midfield, and they play a flat back four zonal defence which
is much harder to break down than man-marking.''
Olsen, who masterminded the rise of Norwegian soccer, says
the time when smaller European nations lagged behind is over.
``I think the difference between the teams is growing
smaller all the time,'' he said.
|
| 214.15 | World Cup: Sweden takes bronze | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon Jul 18 1994 10:28 | 51 |
| To: International Swedish Interest discussion list
<SWEDE-L%[email protected]>
From: Kathleen Fletcher <[email protected]>
Subject: Sweden is Bronze-team.
It is impossible to live in Pasadena without attending the last Swedish
game in this World Cup. About 20 minutes before the game, we were
stopped by a young Swedish man who wisely sacrificed two mid-field
tickets to the 3rd-place Sweden-Bulgaria game, for under half price!
The 100,000+ stadium was only filled to about 80% capacity (a bit more
than 83,000 spectators, it is estimated), with a great number of these
sporting bright yellow football-jerseys. The major visible team
support came from the Swedes, and a rather large section off to one
side, with huge Swedish flags, kept a minimum of cheering for Sweden at
all times. They were rewarded at the end of the match when several
Swedish players took off their shirts and threw them up into the
stands. (I felt like throwing my T-shirt down to them. :-) )
Sweden 4 -- Bulgaria 0
All four gouls for Sweden were scored within the first 39" of play.
'94 WC summary:
: 4 wins (against Russia, Saudi Arabia, Romania, and Bulgaria).
: 2 ties (with Cameroon and Brazil).
: 1 loss (to Brazil).
: Only team (so far) to deprive Brazil of a win in this World Cup
(from the First Round game).
'94 WC statistics:
: Kennet Andersson scored 5 goals, Martin Dahlin 4 goals, and
Tomas Brolin 3 goals, in all matches.
: Only Sweden (up to the final game) has the dubious distinction
of having been served 2 red cards in WC play (after first round
games).
: Sweden ties with Italy for 7 yellow cards (after first round
games); the 2 yellow cards for Roger Ljung unfortunately
prevented his playing in the match against Bulgaria.
Previous World Cups:
: Sweden is reported to have appeared in 8 other World Cups, with
a 11-14-6 record.
: 1938--Sweden placed 4th.
: 1958--Sweden was runner-up to Brazil.
: 1994--Sweden places 3rd!
Congratulations to the Swedish National Team from Pasadena!
Kathleen ([email protected])
|
| 214.16 | Congratulations Norway! | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Jul 27 1995 11:54 | 21 |
| From: [email protected] (Torbjorn Semb Dahl)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Vi er de ( nest ) beste!!
Date: 26 Jul 1995 17:01:47 +0100
Organization: Dept. of Computing, Imperial College, University of London,
UK.
Just wanted to spread the good news.
Norway is now ranked the second best nation in the world as far as
football ( for men, of course we are reigning world champions when it
comes to women's football ) is conserned, by FIFA.
I can't wait until we beat England on Wembley in the European Cup Final
next year.
Heia Drillos!!!
( not so ) humbly,
Torbjorn
|