Chris Burton reflects on a largely forgettable contest between Sweden and Greece.
Chris Burton reflects on a largely forgettable contest
Greece against Sweden was never likely to be a fanfare of free-flowing, attacking football. And so it proved.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Freddie Ljungberg and Georgios Karagounis are fine individual talents, but they lack the overpowering aura of a true international ringmaster.
To be fair to Ibrahimovic his goal was worthy of gracing any game, but that one moment of brilliance was preceded, and indeed superseded, by large periods of mediocrity.
While Sweden may be prepared to let Ibrahimovic drift aimlessly in and out of games in the knowledge that he is the only man who can turn a match in the blink of eye with one wave of his magic wand, they expect their skipper to provide the guile and graft to unlock opposition defences.
Whether Ljungberg still has those capabilities is questionable, and he was found wanting in Salzburg.
Aware that he was expected to lead from the front the West Ham man dragged his aging body to all corners in an attempt to exert some kind of influence on proceedings.
With the ball at his feet he still has the ability to commit defenders and drift into dangerous areas, he just cannot do it as often as his team-mates need him to.
In much the same way as David Beckham has been forced to accept that he is no longer the all-action hero who carried the England team on so many occasions, Ljungberg must also refrain from trying too much.
Perhaps I am being slightly harsh on a man who is obviously lacking full match fitness and can only work with what he is given, which is not much in terms of the Sweden squad.
Inspired
However, anyone who remembers the buccaneering, flame-haired star who inspired Arsenal to the Double in 2002 will appreciate that the 2008 model is more Calvin Zola than Calvin Klein.
He could yet prove to be the star of the summer, who knows? And if that proves to be the case then I will happily dine out on humble pie, but I will not be placing my order just yet.
While Ljungberg can undoubtedly do much better, one of the other British-based players on show during Tuesday's encounter can be pleased with his night's work.
Manchester City keeper Andreas Isaksson has spent much of his career at Eastlands picking splinters out of his backside, but he remains the nailed-on first choice for his country.
He looked comfortable throughout against the reigning European champions, with his biggest scare of the night coming in the form of a misguided header from a very relieved Peter Hansson, who then made amends for his error minutes later when he bundled home at the other end.
In a game which included plenty of former Premier League and SPL stars the only other man who is still gracing British shores was Greece's ineffective striker Georgios Samaras.
The Manchester City man, who spent the tail end of the 2007/08 season on loan at Celtic, arrived as a half-time substitute, but need not have bothered.
He rarely touched the ball, and even when he did he did nothing with it.
Ambition
Greece's disgraceful lack of ambition did him few favours as he toiled away with little service, but if he is to fulfil the potential which saw him seal a big money move to England in 2006 then he needs to learn how to exert his influence on games which are going against him.
Of the sizeable group of men who have tried their luck in Blighty over the last decade or so, with varying degrees of success, Anders Svensson was the man who stood out the most.
Comfortable in possession, the former Saint was at the heart of much of Sweden's best work.
Niclas Alexandersson, of Sheffield Wednesday and Everton fame, looked shaky at full-back, while Christian Wilhelmsson proved that he is a better player than the one who failed so spectacularly at Bolton.
Olof Mellberg will be heading for the bright lights of Juventus this summer and he again displayed the dogged determination which will ensure that he is greatly missed by Aston Villa.
Last, but my no means least, Greek defender Traianos Dellas completes our round-up of blasts from the past, with the ex-Sheffield United centre-half having a largely unproductive match.
So there you have it, having hardly had a good word to say about anyone I do not expect to be watching Greece or Sweden drenched in ticker-tape come the 29th June.
Rant over.
