The first game on World Cup Monday pits Sweden against South Korea.
Kick off
Monday (June 18), 14:00, Nizhny Novgodorod Stadium (Nizhny Novgorod)
Head-to-head
The only time these two have previously met were two friendly matches back in 2005 and they both ended in draws (1-1 and 2-2).
Preview
Sweden is the team that knocked off Holland during the qualifiers and then denied Gigi Buffon his World Cup farewell by eliminating Italy in the playoffs. Janne Andersson’s squad is a highly defensive one by design, as the coach loves to rely on his defence. His tactic obviously work, as Sweden is here, in Russia. We’ll see whether opponents will figure out a way to break it at the top level. Captain Andreas Granqvist and Manchester United’s Victor Lindelof are the defensive pillars, while Martin Olsson and Ludwig Augustinsson are two underrated side backs. RB Leipzig’s Emil Forsberg is the most dangerous offensive player. His displays for the German team have some of Europe’s best lurking, including London’s Arsenal.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not a member of the Swedish national team. He retired from international football in 2016. There was some buzz regarding his presence in Russia and how the Swedes might be hiding something up their sleeve. The manager denied those claims and he wasn’t lying. As it turned out, Zlatan’s World Cup engagement is purely financial, as he’s part of a Visa promotional campaign. An interesting fact is that Sweden failed to qualify for the previous two World Cups with Ibrahimovic in the squad, yet succeeded in doing so without him.
South Korea is rarely bothered during Asian qualifying, but this time around, they had trouble. Head coach Uli Stielike was fired due to bad results and youth team manager Shin Tae-Yong was assigned with the task to ensure Korea’s ninth consecutive World Cup appearance. He did that, although just barely, as the Koreans needed a draw in the last game against Uzbekistan to finish second. As one might expect, this team is all about Son Heung-Min. The Tottenham winger is by far the most skilled footballer in the squad, so the hopes of a nation will be resting on his shoulders. Swansea’s Ki Sung-Yueng, Augsburg’s Koo Ja-Cheol and Red Bull Salzburg’s Hwang Hee-Chan are three more players to keep your eyes on.
Prediction
Germany’s loss to Mexico has changed the complexity of Group F. Joachim Low’s men will have to win their next two matches in order to secure a place among the last 16. Sweden and South Korea are their next opponents. Unless they go for the win here, it’s highly likely they both get left behind. It should force them to attack more than they want to, but I wouldn’t bet on it. The Koreans’ expectations are lower, thus they have less to lose. On the other hand, Sweden will play it safe and try to achieve what most teams have done in the World Cup so far – win 1:0. If any 2018 World Cup game has the potential to finish in a goalless draw, it’s this one.
