Euro 2020: Sweden eyes top spot for extra days off, says coach Andersson

The group winners will head to Glasgow to face the third-placed side from Group A, B, C or D next Tuesday. The second-placed team will play on Monday in Copenhagen.

Published : Jun 23, 2021 14:39 IST , ST PETERSBURG

Sweden coach Janne Andersson said he wanted to team to win the game against Poland to have a longer break for the players to recharge.
Sweden coach Janne Andersson said he wanted to team to win the game against Poland to have a longer break for the players to recharge.
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Sweden coach Janne Andersson said he wanted to team to win the game against Poland to have a longer break for the players to recharge.

Sweden might be through to the Euro 2020 knockout stages but coach Janne Andersson says his side will still be going for the win in the final game against Poland to secure extra days off before its last-16 match.

The Swedes top Group E on four points, with Slovakia second on three, Spain third with two and Poland bottom on one.

The group winners will head to Glasgow to face the third-placed side from Group A, B, C or D next Tuesday, while whoever comes third will be back in action on Sunday against the Netherlands or Belgium. The second-placed team will play on Monday in Copenhagen.

"We want to win the game (on Wednesday), and if you look at future opponents, it's very difficult to evaluate who is hardest and who is easiest, you usually know that afterwards. All the teams that will be in the last 16 are good football teams," Andersson told a news conference on Tuesday.

"Then again, if we win the group we play on Tuesday, if we're second we play Monday and if we're third we play on Sunday, and if we can get a longer recovery period before our next game that's good, just that little factor from the perspective of trying to win the game weighs heavily for me," he added.

Asked for his opinions on protests against Hungary's passing of an anti-LGBT law last week, the 58-year-old said he found the reasoning behind the controversial law hard to understand.

"I think it is sad and deplorable that in 2021 we have to talk about these issues, that a human being should not be allowed to love and live with whoever they want. That it should be legislated against it in a strange way, as has apparently been done in Hungary, I think is very odd," Andersson said.

Meanwhile, Poland coachPaulo Sousa says his team's decisive clash against Sweden will require his players to focus as if they were playing for the trophy itself.

READ: Poland's Lewandowski looks to find a way past Sweden

After losing its opening game to Slovakia 2-1, Poland got its campaign back on track with a 1-1 draw against Spain, and must now beat Sweden to reach the knockout stages.

"For us this is a final and we need to focus as if it was a final," Sousa told reporters on Tuesday.

"We want to have the same mentality everywhere, when we play at home, when we play abroad."

That could be also helped by the team's fans who travelled in large numbers to St Petersburg and Seville and could be heard by the players throughout the games against Slovakia and Spain.

"Fans are vital, looking at the examples of Hungary and Denmark," Sousa said. "We never feel (like) playing away."

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