Sweden's Andersson to miss Argentina game

Sweden's Patrik Andersson looks set to miss Wednesday’s decisive clash with Argentina after pulling up in training.

The 30-year-old Barcelona defender, who had been capped 96 times for his country, has failed to start a game so far in this tournament.

Hopes had been high that he would recover from a thigh strain in time but those predictions now appear to have been premature.

‘‘I could not do training,’’ admitted Andersson. ‘‘I had to leave the field after a few minutes because it was too painful.

‘‘We must go on treating the injury - we were far too optimistic.’’

Sweden’s team doctor Anders Valentin added: ‘‘An x-ray of the injury showed that it was not too bad, but the injury has proved to be in an awkward place and very painful for the player.’’

Andersson’s likely omission from the squad means Hansa Rostock’s Andreas Jakobsson looks set to continue at centre-back alongside Celtic’s Johan Mjallby.