Sweden's set-piece capitulation frustrates Andersson

Harry Maguire headed in a corner to put England on the path to a 2-0 win over Sweden, denting the pride of Janne Andersson.

Published : Jul 08, 2018 03:26 IST

Andersson readied his team for a battle from set-plays and was consequently irked it proved to be its undoing.
Andersson readied his team for a battle from set-plays and was consequently irked it proved to be its undoing.
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Andersson readied his team for a battle from set-plays and was consequently irked it proved to be its undoing.

Janne Andersson was frustrated England broke through against Sweden in its World Cup quarter-final from a set-piece, an area of the game he prides himself on.

Harry Maguire headed Ashley Young's corner home in the 30th minute in Samara, the Three Lions scoring off a dead ball for the eighth time during its campaign in Russia.

Dele Alli clinched a 2-0 victory for Gareth Southgate's men with a second-half header, sending England into the semi-finals for the first time since 1990.

Andersson readied his team for a battle from set-plays and was consequently irked it proved to be its undoing.

READ: Pickford: 'Great to follow in footsteps of Banks and Shilton'

"We were prepared for it but unfortunately the opponents can also do good stuff. We lost that duel, basically," he said in his post-match news conference. "We were prepared for that coming."

"Sometimes you lose duels, I have to look at it in detail. From my perspective as a coach, set-pieces are something I emphasise a great deal and I have done that here, so it's particularly unfortunate to get caught on one of those.

"But sometimes the opponents get it all right and that's what happened this time. It's very, very frustrating because until that corner I felt we had everything under control. We had the match in our hands even if we're not clear in everything we do, we could've grown out of the first 30 minutes."

All three of Sweden's shots on target were kept out by Man of the Match Jordan Pickford, but Andersson was proud of his side's response to going behind and its impressive run to the quarter-finals.

"Against a team playing a five-man defence it's difficult to create opportunities against them," he said.

"We did create some opportunities at start of second half, Marcus Berg's header with an excellent save for example. If he scored at that point that could've revived the match. We had three excellent opportunities and we were unable to score those attempts.

"We came to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, I think we performed beautifully to get this far. We met tough opponents every single match so we weren't quite good enough to beat this side. We'll all be very sad but when you step back after a few moments and analyse the big picture I'm sure at that point all in all I'll be satisfied, I'm certain of that. But I can't say I am right now."

 

Asked if he felt England are capable of winning the World Cup for just the second time in their history, he said: "Yes, I definitely believe they are. They're forceful, well-organised. I would like to pay tribute to the team and the coach. They're a good football side and they don't give a lot of openings. I believe they're perfectly able to go all the way."

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