Italy vs Sweden a few quick thoughts
Dan Tracey
June 18, 2016
1,597 Views
- It looked like we were going to be set for the second successive blank of Euro 2016 in what it had to be said was quite a tough watch
- If you had the pleasure or should that be misfortune of watching this game while recovering from the England game the day before you would have probably have been better opting for a day time nap
- But just as the game was petering out for a stalemate Eder lit up the game with a moment of brilliance
- He managed to latch on to Simone Zaza’s knockdown then cut inside to unleash an effort from the edge of the box which fizzed past Andreas Isaksson
- That goal meant that Italy have maximum points from their two group games and have already secured qualification to the Round of 16 with a game to spare
- If they were brilliant against Belgium then they were pretty boring against Sweden
- But Antonio Conte will not care too much as to how they got the points just that they did
- As for Sweden though it was quite a lacklustre offering as once again Zlatan Ibrahimovic was kept quiet
- Giorgio Chiellini had the mercurial Swede in his pocket for the duration of the game as once Ibrahimovic failed in his bid to be the first man to score in 4 successive European Championships
- The one time Ibrahimovic did break clear he was presented with a golden opportunity to slot home from close range but he ended up somehow putting his effort wide
- Thankfully though on this occasion the assistant referee spared his blushes by signalling for offside but it just summed up another under par performance from Ibrahimovic
- And he has an off day it seems as if the whole team do, the fact that they failed to register a single shot on goal pretty much tells the story
- They may have had calls for a Penalty in injury time but any claims were waved away and Italy saw out the game unscathed
- Sweden will now have to go into their final game against Belgium knowing that they must win to have any chance of qualification out of the group stages
- While Italy have the luxury of knowing that their place in the knockout stages is secure
- It was by no means a classic this game but it was saved by one single moment of brilliance
- As for Zlatan with the two performances that he has shown in this tournament you have to wonder if it’s worth all the hassle of Manchester United chasing his signature, hopefully he’ll turn up in the final group game otherwise Sweden are done for.
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