England must cast off burden of history against Swedes

All the talk after England’s uninspiring yet nevertheless, satisfactory, draw against France was that one victory over Sweden on Friday will leave them within touching distance of the quarter-finals and potentially kick-start a new era under manager Roy Hodgson.

But they will need to heed lessons from the past to make that future a reality.

On paper, the Swedes should not be feared but the truth is rather different — and it’s a truth that has been replayed time and time again over the last decade.

For 65 years, the two countries played only friendlies but since they were drawn together in the qualifying competition for Italia 90, they have become almost perennial rivals in tournament finals and England have rarely had the upper hand.

In fact, England’s friendly victory over Sweden last year, 1-0 at Wembley thanks to a deflected goal from Gareth Barry, was their first against the Scandinavians since 1968. The Swedes have proven even more obdurate in major competitions. Having met 14 times in qualifying, 10 of those fixtures have been drawn.

“It’s an interesting statistic,” said Sven Goran Eriksson, the Swede who managed England against his own country in the World Cup.

“Maybe one reason for it is because playing against England is a very big thing for the Swedes. We love English club football — so they are very up for the game.

“And perhaps, even now, England underestimate Sweden, too. They have some good players who might be a lot more famous if they were English!”

It’s hard to imagine England underestimating Zlatan Ibrahimovic & Co this time.

“We are not getting carried away after drawing against France, we just need to build on each game and the France game has gone now,” Steven Gerrard said yesterday.

“We need to get three points against Sweden and then the point against France becomes very important. But the Swedes are difficult and I don’t think we’ve beaten them for a long time in a competitive game. We will respect them but, with all respect, it’s a game we should win.”

It’s that last sentence which will make England fans most nervous. If England players still believe they are up against inferiors opposition, then you wonder where on earth that superiority complex comes from.

It certainly doesn’t come from results. In 22 matches against the Swedes, England have won only seven. Even taking into the account the days when the nation that invented football really did see itself as the mother of the game. And perhaps that skewed vision of world football is what hampers the current team most.

“I don’t know about that, but what I do know is that being England manager is a massive job,” said Eriksson. “You can never imagine just how big the job is, you really can’t. You feel the whole country is supporting you, carrying their hopes and dreams along like a big wave. It’s very nice, it’s beautiful.

“But it’s very difficult to win trophies at international level, you need everything to go for you.

“The tournament in 2006 is the one that I look back on and think we had the capacity to win it.

“In fact, if I could go back in time I’d go to the 2006 World Cup and bring along a mental coach to work with the players on taking penalties. England did have a mental problem with that. It was a mistake that I didn’t use a psychologist, so I regret that.”

Sven is right of course; but England’s biggest mistake has been underestimating opponents too often in major tournaments; and whatever the margins of success and failure, they can’t afford to make that mistake again in Kiev.