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Ibrahimovic in squad for Scotland clash

Barcelona star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been named in the Sweden squad to face Scotland in a friendly at Råsunda stadium in Solna on August 11th, marking the end of a nine month national team hiatus.

Published: 3 August 2010 15:53 CEST

Ibrahimovic in squad for Scotland clash

Swedish national team coach Erik Hamrén announced the squad for the game, the last before the Euro 2012 qualifiers begin in the autumn, at a press conference on Tuesday.

“It is of course great to see the return of a highly motivated Zlatan in the national team,” Hamrén said of his newly appointed captain who last played for his country in Sweden’s ill-fated World Cup campaign.

The former Rosenborg coach was able to name an almost complete squad of first choice players with only Rasmus Elm missing out through injury. Johan Wiland, Tobias Hysén and Johan Elmander were among those returning to the team.

While the game against Scotland is classified as a friendly Hamrén underlined the importance of the clash and said that he was looking forward to the meet up with his players as many of the major European leagues begin their seasons.

“This is an important international for us. It is important to train together and talk together before the important matches against Hungary and San Marino on September 3rd and 7th respectively.

The August match is the 12th meeting between Sweden and Scotland with the statistics at five wins apiece and one draw. The last meeting was in November 2004 when Sweden won 4-1 in Glasgow.

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Why has the expansion of Barcelona airport prompted mass protests?

People march during a demonstration against the expansion of the Barcelona-El Prat airport. Photo: Pau BARRENA / AFP

Several ecological and agricultural organisations, have demanded that the expansion be stopped due to the fact nearby wetlands and farms would have to be destroyed.

The demonstration took place on Calle Tarragona in the Catalan capital between Plaça d’Espanya and Plaça dels Països Catalans.

The protests still took place, even though last week, Spain suspended the €1.7 billion airport expansion project, citing differences with the Catalan government, after president Pere Aragonès said he wanted to avoid destroying La Ricarda lagoon, a natural reserve next to the airport.

Environmentalists decided not to call off the march, in case plans for the airport expansion still went ahead.

READ ALSO: Six things you need to know about Barcelona airport’s €1.7 billion planned expansion

Political representatives from ERC, En Comú Podem and the CUP also attended, as well as the leader of Más País, Íñigo Errejón; the Deputy Mayor for Ecology of the Barcelona City Council, Janet Sanz, and the Mayor of El Prat de Llobregat, Lluís Mijoler.

People from neighbourhoods across the city marched towards Calle Tarragona and could be seen holding placards that read “Nature yes, airport no and shouting slogans such as “More courgettes and fewer planes” and “Fighting for the climate, health, and life”.

One of the largest groups of people were those from El Prat de Llobregat, the municipality which is home to the airport, who were led by tractors.

People march during a demonstration against the expansion of Barcelona-El Prat airport. Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP

In addition to protesting against the expansion of the El Prat airport, people were also demonstrating against the Winter Olympic Games in the Pyrenees and extensions to airports in Mallorca and Madrid.

A representative of Zeroport, Sara Mingorría said “We are here to defend not only La Ricarda, but the entire Delta”.

The philosopher Marina Garcés also argued that the expansion of the airport would mean “more borders, more mass tourism, more control and more precarious jobs.”

The leader of the commons in the Catalan parliament, Jéssica Albiach, who also attended the protest, asked the PSOE for “coherence”: “You cannot be passing a law against climate change and, at the same time, defend the interests of Aena [the airport operations company]”, she said.

She also urged the leader of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, to “definitely say no”.

If the airport expansion in Barcelona goes ahead, environmentalists say that CO2 emissions would rise by a minimum of 33 percent. These levels would surpass the limits set by the Catalan government’s climate targets.

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