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WORLD CUP

Sweden draw a blank in World Cup opener

Sweden were held to a 0-0 draw by Albania in Tirana in their opening World Cup 2010 qualifier. Coach Lars Lagerbäck came under fire for risking a new 3-5-2 formation.

Published: 7 September 2008 11:01 CEST
Sweden draw a blank in World Cup opener

It was an injury hit Sweden that took the field in Tirana looking to secure a victory on the road to their six successive major tournament.

Coach Lars Lagerbäck elected to change Sweden’s default 4-4-2 formation to 3-5-2 and employed Olof Mellberg, Petter Hansson and Daniel Majstorovic in a reshuffled rearguard. Only Mellberg seemed able to carry the ball forward and link up with the defensive midfield pairing of Tobias Linderoth and Daniel Andersson.

Linderoth added to Sweden’s injury woes – which had seen Anders Svensson and Christian Wilhelmsson ruled out before the match – when he limped off with a foot injury after barely a minute played. He was replaced by Sebastian Larsson.

Lagerbäck chose to deploy Mikael Nilsson and the inexperienced Oscar Wendt on the flanks but they made little progress and Sweden looked dangerous only when long balls found their destination in Inter Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Ibrahimovic was partnered by veteran Henrik Larsson winning his 100th cap for Sweden. Larsson had far from his best game in the yellow and blue and created little, not for the want of trying however.

Lyon’s Kim Källström was given the chance to shine in an offensive central midfield role but questions remained unanswered over the 26-year-old who retains the epithet of “man of the future” despite nearing his peak.

Sweden had a couple of chances and on balance could have claimed the three points but Albania also tested Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson on a number of occasions.

“We were better. But it was not a question of underestimation, Albania will cause problems for other teams in the group also,” Lagerbäck said to the assembled press after the game.

Sweden and Lagerbäck now have three days rest and recuperation before they face Hungary at home at Råsunda Stadium in Solna on Wednesday. Lagerbäck was unable to confirm if the new formation would be retained.

“We’ll have to see. Whatever happens we will try to play better against Hungary. I am presuming that the match will be very different. They had nine defenders behind the ball, that makes it hard to find space,” Lagerbäck said before he left the Qemal Stafa stadium in Tirana with Sweden’s World Cup campaign under a cloud.

SPORT

Norway’s football clubs to vote on Qatar World Cup boycott

Will Norwegian football star Erling Braut Haaland stay home or play on what fans have dubbed a "cemetery?" This Sunday, a meeting of Norway's football community will decide whether to boycott next year's World Cup in Qatar.

Published: 18 June 2021 11:27 CEST
Norway's football clubs to vote on Qatar World Cup boycott
Norway's forward Erling Haaland (L) and teammates wear jerseys reading "Fair play for migrant workers" before the international friendly football match between Norway and Greece at La Rosaleda stadium in Malaga in preperation for the UEFA European Championships, on June 6, 2021. JORGE GUERRERO / AFP

Under pressure from grassroots activists the Norwegian Football Federation(NFF) has decided to hold an extraordinary congress to decide on whether to pass up football’s showpiece event all together.

The games on the pitches in the Middle Eastern emirate will “unfortunately be like playing on a cemetery,” according to Ole Kristian Sandvik, spokesman of the Norwegian Supporters Alliance (NSA), invoking a commonly used metaphor among opponents of Norway’s participation.

Norway, which has not qualified for a major international competition since Euro 2000, is currently fourth in its World Cup qualifying group behind Turkey, the Netherlands and Montenegro. 

So while qualification seems an uphill task, the result of the vote could have an impact on whether Norway and its young star Haaland — one of the rising stars of world football — continue to play qualifying matches. 

The movement calling for a boycott began north of the Arctic Circle when football club Tromso IL spoke out against turning a blind eye to alleged human rights abuses at the end of February.

“We can no longer sit and watch people die in the name of football,” the first division club proclaimed.

Qatar has faced criticism for its treatment of migrant workers, many of whom are involved in the construction of stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup, with campaigners accusing employers of exploitation and forcing labourers to work in dangerous conditions.

Qatari authorities meanwhile insist they have done more than any country in the region to improve worker welfare.

“There is no doubt that this World Cup should never have been awarded to Qatar,” Tom Hogli, a former professional footballer turned public relations officer for Tromso IL, told AFP.

“The conditions there are abominable and many have lost their lives,” he added.

In March, a spokesman for the Qatari organisers put the number of deaths on the construction sites at “three” since 2014, with another 35 having died away from their workplaces, challenging the heavy toll reported by some rights groups.

Push from fans
The Tromso call began gathering pace in Norway, where clubs operate under a democratic structure, and under pressure from fans, many teams now say “nei” (no).

According to Sandvik, the fans feel that the deaths on the World Cup sites would have been avoided “if they had not had to build hotels, railways and stadiums”.

Nearly half of Norwegians, 49 percent, now say they are in favour of a boycott, while only 29 percent are against it, according to a poll published by newspaper VG on Wednesday.

The Nordic country’s national squad has already protested conditions in Qatar, but stopped short of calling for a boycott.

Before recent Norway games, Borussia Dortmund superstar Haaland, captain Martin Odegaard and the rest of the team have worn t-shirts with slogans like “Human rights on and off the pitch.”

Other countries, like Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark have also followed suit.

FIFA, on the other hand, argue that awarding the hosting of the World Cup in Qatar has opened the door to social progress.

“We know there is still work to be done, but we need to recognise the significant progress achieved in a very short time,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in May.

‘Few successes’ 
While the executive committee of the NFF have said they regret Qatar being awarded the World Cup, they oppose a boycott.

President Terje Svendsen said he thought it was “not the right tool to improve the human rights situation or the working conditions in Qatar,” when speaking at the federation’s ordinary annual congress in March.

According to the NFF, a boycott could end up costing Norway 205 million Norwegian kroner ($24 million, 20 million euros) in fines and compensation as well as lost revenue.

Feeling the pressure from grassroots campaigns, the NFF referred the matter to an extraordinary congress which on Sunday will bring together the eight members of its executive committee, representatives of 18 districts and of hundreds of professional and amateur clubs.

The discussions will be revolve around the findings of an expert committee which, with the exception of two members representing fans, has also come out against a boycott.

“For a boycott to succeed, you need a critical mass behind it, an opposition that calls for it in the country, the UN to put pressure on the
authorities, the business world, the trade unions and civil society to put pressure on it in the long term,” committee chairman Sven Mollekleiv said in a debate hosted by broadcaster TV2.

“Historically, there are few successes,” he said.

Rather than a boycott, the committee recommended 26 measures to consolidate and further the gains made in Qatar but also to ensure that FIFA doesn’t become complicit in so called “sportswashing” — the polishing of a country’s public image through a major sporting event.

Some initial supporters of a boycott, like Tromso’s Hogli, have since sided with these conclusions, although calls for a complete boycott remain.

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