Beating England would be so Swede, says Larsson

Sebastien Larsson symbolises the differences between England and Sweden perhaps better than any other player in the two sides.

A talented, technical midfielder, Larsson has played for three English sides and enjoyed relative success at each of Arsenal, Birmingham City and Sunderland.

But not for him an immediate fast-track into the Manchester United or Chelsea first-team; instead, he is a player that has had to fight for his opportunities since moving to Arsenal in 2004 aged 19.

That is why tonight’s game, where the country of his birth faces the one where he earns his living, means so much.

Defeat for Sweden to follow their opening loss to Ukraine and they will be heading back to Stockholm; win and they head into their final Group D game against France knowing they have a chance of making the last eight.

Yet with Zlatan Ibrahimovic the only star in the Sweden side, Larsson knows the collective will of his team will have to outweigh individual talents in their opposition.

“I’m really eager to play against England,” he enthused at the pre-match press conference in the Olympic Stadium in Kiev.

“Most people would say England are favourites. We don’t worry about that though, we must just play at a high level again.

“It’s a special game for me against the league that I’ve grown up with. I hope that England’s style of play will suit us.

“We don’t need to play that differently from how we did before, we just need to keep the level high and just take more chances.

“We expect a tough game, they will be organised, especially since Roy Hodgson took over.

“We both need the points and if we play to our capabilities we can beat England.

“It’s going to be hard. We need to have precision. I hope that I can be one of theplayers who can bring that to the team.

“If we face a team that plays very defensively (as England did in their opening draw against France) then we can still play the sort of game that we want to. We know we can have chances against them but they are a very good team.”

Yet it has been a troubled build-up for the Swedes. Preparation has been dominated by talk of rifts within the camp, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic said to have criticised his team-mates for spending time with their wives after the defeat to Ukraine rather than focussing on their short-comings.

Larsson would not be drawn on the issue, and instead preferred to praise England’s players. This is not the most surprising tactics, perhaps, with England past-masters at lulling themselves into a false sense of security.

Yet still it exposed the differences between the teams when Larsson talked in such glowing terms about Steven Gerrard and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, two fine players at very different ends of their careers.

“Steven means a lot to the team, he knows what it’s all about,” enthused Larsson. “He has it all. He is a player I have been looking up to for a very long time. He is one of the engines in their team.

“As for Oxlade-Chamberlain, he is of course a terrific talent and has impressed a lot of people. Playing against France shows he has a lot of ability and a big future.”

Yet what, finally, of Sweden? They will be roared on by 18,000 people tonight but have not justified the faith of their fans so far.

“It’s amazing that we have great support and it’s important for us, England will always be England and it will be tough to play against them.”