Swedish threat dismissed

June 11, 2002

The Argentina team manager has stoked the fire ahead of the World Cup showdown on Wednesday by claiming none of the Swedes would make his national team.

Jose Pekerman, coach of the nation's youth team and the man who hired Marcelo Bielsa as national team coach, is not impressed by Argentina's Group F opponents.

"The Swedish players wouldn't even get a place in the Argentina team," he told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.

"But they are a very structured team, both tactically and physically.

"They don't play a very spectacular or visual brand of football, but are dangerous in that they are quick to take advantage of their opponents' mistakes.

"The whole team is very compact, that's Sweden's real tactic - the hardest thing about playing them is their way of playing, the tight marking and pressure."

While Pekerman holds little regard for the Swedish players, there is at least a Swedish coach he views with considerable respect.

"Sven-Goran Eriksson is a good coach. He has been very demanding in Italy and knows many football players," Pekerman said.

Eriksson has coached quite a few of Pekerman's young Argentinian proteges at Lazio.

Still he believes his team will manage to avoid an upset similar to the one France experienced against Denmark on Tuesday.

"Argentina will be one of the teams to qualify from the Group of Death," he said.

BBC Sport Online