UEFA EURO 2008 GROUP D
Sweden v Spain (1700 BST)
Greece v Russia (1945 BST)
GOALFLASHES AND MAJOR INCIDENTS (all times BST)
To get involved use 606 or text us your views & comments on 81111.
(Not all contributions can be used) By Jonathan Stevenson
Live - Greece v Sweden ...
Spanish petrol stations begin to run dry amid strike ...
European soccer championship to kick off in Basel ...
Rooney & Vidic doubts for Man Utd ...
1705: "Re: 1655, you sound like my mother. Yesterday she spent 10 minutes saying how the colour of the Netherlands' socks didn't match their shirts. Seriously."
Mike, via text
1703: Andres Iniesta, not known for his 30-yard left-foot screamers, hits a 30-yard left-foot strike that flies just high and wide of Andreas Isaksson's goal.
1701: Zlatan Ibrahimovic gets the first sniff of a chance but after chesting down a cross in the box, Carles Puyol clears.
1700: We are under way in Innsbruck.
1658: "Torres and Villa are going to outgun Swedes. Surely best forward partnership in Euro 2008?"
Paul, Ickenham, via text
1655: The teams are out. Isn't it exciting?
1653: "If you look at Henrik Larsson, it's a tribute to him that he is in good enough shape at 36 to walk back into this team. He is a personality that lifts the whole Swedish nation, he's fantastic. He hasn't lost the ability to create chances through exceptional movement, either."
BBC Radio 5 Live pundit Graham Taylor
1649: "Stevo ma man. Henrik Larsson is so good, that when he does press-ups, he doesn't push himself back up, he pushes the earth back down."
Federer175 on 606
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1646: "Spain will go to the final and lose to the Netherlands."
David, via text
Just to clarify, that can't happen. The final will be between a country from Groups A and B and one from Groups C and D. Honest.
1642: Stevo - I finished reading an article yesterday about the fall of Dutch football - and why they won't win Euro 2008 - in a magazine that bears the name of a decent formation."
Script Writer on 606
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A decent formation? How very English of you! I think it's harsh to criticise people for worrying about Holland - I mean they were dull throughout qualifying and even the great Johan Cruyff said beforehand he didn't think that squad was capable of playing beautiful football. How wrong we all were.
1638: Sweden, according to reports, will perform before an illustrious guest in Innsbruck in Prince Carl Philip. He is predicting a 1-0 win to the Swedes, so let's hope he's as rubbish at predos as I usually am. Old PCP once completed the Vasaloppet - longest cross-country ski race in the world.
1634: So these two, having faced each other in qualifying, meet again. Sweden won 2-0 in Stockholm in October 2006 - Spain's last competitive defeat - and Spain bounced back with a 3-0 win in Madrid in November 2007.
1629: "It amazes me how Kim Kallstrom doesn't get a start for Sweden. He is a key man for Lyon, a strong European team, but he gets chosen behind a Southampton reject! Crazy!"
Ross, via text
1626: Now my correct Czech Republic 1-3 Portugal prediction the other day sent shockwaves through Euro 2008. So I'm guessing (another prediction?) I'll be back to looking ridiculous again by this evening. After much deliberation, here we go...
Sweden 1-3 Spain
Greece 0-2 Russia
1622: "Remember: Spanish anthem - no words."
G, via text
After a hammering the other day, how could I possibly forget??
1619: "Sweden are gonna win this. The Spanish will struggle to get past Sweden and the defenders will struggle to stop Ibrahimovic and Larsson."
danny muttley on 606
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1616: Sweden have reshuffled their side after injuries to right-back Niclas Alexandersson and right-midfielder Christian Wilhelmsson. Fredrik Stoor comes into the defence and boss Lars Lagerback switches from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 and brings in Johan Elmander. Spain are unchanged from the team that tore Russia apart in their opening game.
1613: So get involved. If you want to talk about the Netherlands frankly I'm not going to stop you, because they're awesome. But Sweden-Spain and then Greece-Russia contributions would be very gratefully received, too. Get texting on that magic 81111 number and join the debate on 606. What golden days these are.
Join the debate on 606
1609: TEAM NEWS Spain v Sweden
Spain: Casillas, Ramos, Puyol, Marchena, Capdevila, Xavi, Silva, Senna, Iniesta, Villa, Torres.
Sweden: Isaksson, Stoor, Nilsson, Mellberg, Hansson, Svensson, Ljungberg, D Andersson, H Larsson, Ibrahimovic, Elmander.
1608: Which is why many neutrals will be hoping Spain and their own brand of beautiful football can finish top of Group D and stay apart from the Dutch until the semi-finals. Spain, fresh from their 4-1 mauling of Russia on Tuesday, meet Sweden in Innsbruck, in the first of our two games today and winner takes top slot. And I say this as I wipe a tear away from my eye, but today marks the last day of Euro 2008 with a 1700 BST game and a 1945 BST game too. I'm with Cheesy - I wish it would never end.
1604: I don't know about you, but I'm still absolutely buzzing after last night. Surely 13 June 2008 will go down in history as the greatest Friday the 13th of all time? And what did we learn? Well, that the world's greatest goalkeeper is still the same (Gianluigi Buffon), that it's embarrassing to see players who were once awesome look finished (Lilian Thuram) and that the Netherlands so far have, without question, played the most glorious tournament football for a generation.
Netherlands 4-1 France
Italy 1-1 Romania
1600: Euro Two Thousand And Great. It's all Dutch to me.
BIG MATCH STATS
Head-to-heads
Sweden and Spain have met each other on 12 occasions with Spain winning five times and Sweden three.
They have met in five competitive matches including two occasions in the qualification for this tournament. They each won one of the qualification matches for Euro 2008 and Spain have won three to Sweden's two in total.
Sweden were the last team to beat Spain in a competitive match, winning 2-0 in Euro 2008 qualification in October 2006.
Team facts - Sweden
Boast the second oldest ever squad in the history of this tournament at an average age of 31 years and three days.
Unbeaten in five successive European Championship matches (two wins and three draws).
Scored two goals in a match for the first time in seven outings this year when they beat Greece 2-0 in their European Championship opener.
Team facts - Spain
On a streak of seven straight wins, their best since 1999. Their record of nine date back to the 1920s.
Selected one of the most inexperienced squads at Euro 2008 - only Austria and Russia have fewer caps in the squad than the Spanish.
This is the 50th match for Luis Aragones as Spain's head coach. Spain have won 34, drawn 11 and lost just four of his matches in charge. The quartet of defeats were against France (1-3), Northern Ireland (2-3), Sweden (0-2) and Romania (0-1).
The next card shown to a player from Spain will be their 50th, a total made up of 48 yellow cards and one direct red card.
Player facts - Sweden
Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson has not let in a goal for 235 minutes at the European Championship. If he keeps a clean sheet against Spain, his streak will be the fifth longest in the competition's history.
Henrik Larsson now holds the record as the oldest player for Sweden in their European Championship history. He will be 36 years and 268 days when this match is played.
Larsson is also his country's top scorer in the competition with four goals. Larsson, Thierry Henry (France) and Nuno Gomes (Portugal) can join Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany) and Vladimir Smicer (Czech Republic) as the only players to have scored in three European Championship editions.
Olof Mellberg, Fredrik Ljungberg and Larsson all jointly hold the Swedish record for most appearances at a European Championship (eight).
Player facts - Spain
Fernando Torres has been selected by Aragones in 41 of the Spanish head coaches' 49 previous matches in charge, more than any other player.
David Villa is Spain's top scorer under Aragones with 17 goals. Villa scored Spain's first ever hat-trick at the European Championship when netting three in their opener against Russia. He needs one goal to become Spain's record goalscorer at the European Championship. He currently shares the record with Alfonso.
Villa is the competition's top scorer after one match. At Euro 2004, the top scorers after one match were Zinedine Zidane and Henrik Larsson with two goals. Both managed only one more goal in the rest of the tournament.
Big Match Stats source: Infostrada Sports
(BBC)
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