Sweden v Ukraine: Euro 2020, last 16 – live!
29-Jun-2021 18:42:15 | Guardian
A bit more on Sweden, who are trying out a third strike partnership in four games. Dejan Kulusevksi was forced to isolate at the start of the tournament due to a positive Covid-19 test, but he came on against Poland and set up two goals, including Viktor Claesson’s late winner. He’ll team up this evening with Alexander Isak. Marcus Berg, who started the first two group games against Spain and Slovakia, joins Robin Quaison, selected against the Poles, on the bench.
The national anthems. Ukraine’s anthem, Shche ne Vmerla Ukrainy ni Slava, ni volia, is an avant-garde earworm waiting to happen.
Soul and body, yea, our all, offer we at freedom’s call
We, whose forebears, and ourselves, proud Cossacks are
That’s a nice suit, that’s a swanky suit
Yes, I want to live, I want to die in the North
Sweden make one change to the XI named for the victory over Poland. Dejan Kulusevski replaces Robin Quaison, who drops to the bench.
Ukraine make two changes to the team selected for the defeat to Austria. Serhiy Kryvtsov and Taras Stepanenko are in; Ruslan Malinovskyi and Vitaliy Mykolenko are benched.
Sweden: Olsen, Lustig, Lindelof, Danielson, Augustinsson, Sebastian Larsson, Ekdal, Olsson, Forsberg, Kulusevski, Isak.
Subs: Bengtsson, Berg, Johnsson, Svensson, Helander, Sema, Krafth, Claesson, Jansson, Quaison, Nordfeldt, Cajuste.
Ukraine: Bushchan, Karavayev, Kryvtsov, Zabarnyi, Matviyenko, Shaparenko, Stepanenko, Sydorchuk, Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk, Zinchenko.
Subs: Sobol, Malinovsky, Marlos, Pyatov, Makarenko, Tsygankov, Mykolenko, Bezus, Besyedin, Trubin, Tymchyk, Dovbyk.
You obviously heard there was another football match on tonight. Yep, the winners of this will face England in the quarter-finals in Rome this Saturday!
Related: England v Germany: Euro 2020, last 16 – live!
So did you enjoy the Lord Mayor’s Show? The latest Danish fairytale? Italy’s continued resurgence? The shock defeat of the Dutch? The end of Portugal’s reign? Manic Monday? Whatever’s happening in the England-Germany game that hasn’t finished yet? Yep, this straggler has a fair bit to live up to. Few are expecting.
Thing is, nobody was making any great claims for Italy-Austria, Croatia-Spain or France-Switzerland beforehand. And yet all of those matches, with incremental levels of magnificence and sheer jaw-dropping wonder, delivered. Why not this one? Both teams have already been involved in a 3-2, Ukraine coming back from two goals down against the Dutch only to lose, Sweden shipping a two-goal lead against Poland only to win. Perfection may be a pipe dream; fun and thrills are not. Also, this is being played at Hampden Park, where the most famous fixture involving two visiting teams from mainland Europe finished 7-3. It’s all part of the mix. Fingers crossed.
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