Euro 2008 LIVEBLOG: Greece vs Sweden

GROUP D	June 10th, 2045 CET, Salzburg (Austria)
Greece 0 VS Sweden 2   Ibramovic 67′, Hansson 72′

90′ +2 : Almost all done here now. The second half got a bit better, especially that lovely goal from Ibra. And that’s our full time. 2-0 to Sweden. Good win, and the Greek game plan does not do it this time.

And for those that wish to see something a bit less pretty, here’s the second goal:

90′ : The Greek long ball shows surprising resilience in the face of the scoreline.

For those of you that haven’t had the pleasure, here’s the Ibra goal. Thanks, Laurie.

88′ : Vasilis Torosidis again, with a decent chance. He takes it at too acute of an angle.

87′ : Torosidis makes a nice move on the right, but once again, there is nothing up top for Greece. This will finish scoreless for the Greeks.

84′ : The Swedish fans appear to have taken up the Tomahawk Chop.

81′ : Marcus Rosenberg gets spun around and it’s a short free kick for Sweden. Here’s a chance. Larsson lining up. Way wide.

80′ : That’s our garbage goal of the tournament thus far, Sweden’s second. Larsson wants in on the party. Ljungberg’s cross goes long, long, long, but Sweden retains.

78′ : There’s a lucky fan. The Greek cross goes to the cheap seats.

76′ : Sweden is slowing down. Larsson is up top and he plays drums on the back of the Greece defender. It’s Christian Wilhelmsson with the injury.

74′ : We have a major hamstring issue on the sideline for Sweden. I have to admit, I’m not sure who it is. Sorry folks. Charisteas takes a shot, but not enough of one. Still 2-0.

72′ : Oh. My. God. After several shots, several bungles, and some terrible defending, Hansson falls into the ball, and the ball into the net. Ouch.

71′ : The Greeks are in a more attacking formation - will it work? Ibra is off, after finishing his duties for the day.

69′ : Almost a terrible gaffe from Sweden, as the lone Greek front man gets a second chance, even with three Swedes around him. Danger averted, though.

68′ : The Greeks are trying to counter. Wake up everybody - we might have a game.

67′ : IBRA GOOOOOOOOL. Zlatan pops it in, and it’s 1-0 to Sweden. Gorgeous crossing shot to the far corner. Lovely, lovely stuff.

66′ : Petter Hansson almost heads it in. He has Nikopolidis beaten, but he goes wide. On the replay, it’s not so clearly beaten.

64′ : We’re batting things around in front of the Greece goal. Amazingly enough, the game has slowed down.

62′ : They almost bloody did it. The Greeks get their first real look through the middle, and Giorgos Karagounis’s shot goes off of a defender’s leg. That could have been a very undeserved 1-0.

61′ : Yellow for Vasilis Torosidis after a too-eager tackle. We have another free kick from 30meter-ish.

60′ : Deguillo’s last comment is a bit unfair. Rangers sometimes score.

58′ : A 45 yard shot from the Greeks. That ought to do it.

56′ : Ibra goes for another header, and nothing going. The Greeks are slowly setting up .. hopefully that means something will be created. Better one well-set up move per half than another long ball … and THERE IS ANOTHER LONG BALL. Yeesh.

55′ : Sweden attacking again, and the cross is blocked. Greece’s counter is weak and it’s Sweden again. Give me something better to write about. Please.

53′ : No, Laurie, blogging from a bar is not cheating at all. Here comes a free kick for Greece … and it’s cleared well by Anderssen.

50′ : Both sets of supporters are getting a bit frustrated here. The cheers are becoming a little nastier sounding. Yellow card for Seitaridis, and a nice chance for a free kick for Sweden. Ibra goes high, and the resulting corner goes nowhere too.

47′ : Corner for Sweden. It gets kicked around for a while, but again, no finish. A ridiculous lob catches Nikopolidis way, way out, and it just knocks off the crossbar. That was close to being it.

46′ : The Swedes look like they may have something early, but once again, it’s their last ball that fails them. Unlike the Greeks, whose second, third, and fourth balls are all a bit poor right now.

Coming back now. Let’s see if we can see some chances from Greece this time, and some finishing from Sweden.

HALFTIME: 0-0 here. If a goal is coming, one sees it coming either from Larsson’s head or a Greek corner. But it might not come from anywhere.

45′ : Great cross over the Greek net, but there’s no one on the end. Larsson isn’t far off, but the Greeks are always successful in the air. Another hit to the private parts of a Swedish striker.

44′ : Basinas takes a gorgeous long shot and almost beats Isaksson, who goes down early on it. Greece wastes the corner.

43′ : Not much going on for the moment. I got to talk about my job for a minute in the bar, and that’s always fun. Another long ball from the Greeks to NO ONE. Weak.

40′ : Little chip form Sweden, but nothing. Giorgos Karagounis fouls his numbermate Ibra with a boot to the JUNK. My. God.

38′ : Charisteas takes advantage of a bad Swedish pass, but is surrounded and Isaksson handles it easily.

37′ : Larsson has a chance, but he’s not up to it. The Greeks in response are content to hold it and wait for something to happen. Good luck with that.

35′ : Horrible pass from the Greek midfield. That one was 10 meters from the closest man, and that was the ref.

34′ : The Greeks take a corner, where they should be threatening, but nothing doing.

32′ : Ibra SHOT … his heads fails him, but only just. It goes high.

32′ : Greece clears the corner, but the Swedish are pressing. It’s tennis, but only in one half. Larsson takes a shot, but it’s weak and easily dealt with.

29′ : Kyrgiakos gets to a dangerous long cross, and Greece is holding some possession. Until Ljungberg jumps in and tries to do it himself. Greece gives up a dumb corner. 3-on-1 against Ljungberg should be quite doable.

28′ : Svensson gets a leg in on his man, and it’s a Greek free kick in the center. They follow it up with a long, long ball to no one. Very little in the way of attack here from Greece.

27′ : Whistle for whaaa? Ibra fouled, I think, but I don’t see it. Weak call.

25′ : A chance for Greece. A long ball comes forward for a header, but Charisteas is sandwiched and it comes to nothing.

23′ : Charisteas makes a nice move down the right, but the Swedes take over, and Ibra looks a bit scary on the counter. Greek defense takes control.

21′ : Long throw-in for the Greeks on attack, but Isakkson handles easily.

20′ : There is a wall between the Swedish midfield and their duo of fine strikers. Ibra and Larsson play around just outside the box, but no shot. Ljungberg is down after being squashed between two Greek defenders, neither of them small.

18′ : Greek corner comes back to them, but miscommunication costs them the move.

17′ : First real shot from the Swedes - offside by a mile, but even so, Nikopolidis makes the save. Better safe than sorry, as Italy knows.

16′ : The Swedish attack breaks down, but Greece clears instead of countering. The ball will spend a lot of time in the air tonight.

14′ : Charisteas isn’t quite up to that ball down the right side, and it’s Sweden’s ball again. No domination by any means one way or the other.

13′ : It’s all gotten a bit slow between the two midfields now. Shocker. Just as I say that, Ljungberg goes for a long ball. Free kick to the Greek keeper.

12′ : Larsson’s move down the left ends in no more than a throw-in. Sweden goes back and resets.

11′ : Anders Svensson takes a long but fine effort from outside the box. That could have been 1-0, but it’s off target.

10′ : The Swedes’ attack has so far been a bit toothless. We’ll see if that lasts.

8′ : Katsouranis is down for Greece. He would certainly be a loss … but he’s up and okay.

7′ : Charisteas makes a gorgeous little run, but finishes weakly. The Greeks are starting well.

6′ : The Swedish reaction isn’t far from being very dangerous, but produces nothing. The Greeks counter, but Katsouranis bounces it straight to Sweden’s massive keeper.

5′ : Katsouranis is knocked down hard in the center circle, and the free kick is a quickie. Nothing doing for the Greeks.

4′ : Anders Svensson is putting in some nice corners early.

3′ : The Swedish corner looks dangerous. Sent in well, but the header is off.

2′ : Yellow card for the hero of Portugal, Angelos Charisteas.

1′ : Sweden absorbs the opening push from the Greeks, and settle things down . Long ball forward to Ibra goes nowhere.

The last two teams in Euro 2008 are on the pitch. The defending champs and the perennial quarterfinalists. I jumped the gun a little … either that or kickoff is a few moments behind. Since the TV guys are comparing trophy sizes and weights, it seems like they’re filling time.

- 5′ : About to see kickoff here - will we see more goals, or did we get our fill with that 4-1 earlier? Zlatan has gone 14 Sweden appearances without a goal. Is it his night, I wonder.

-10′ : Nice blue and white wrestling helmets for the Greek support. That’s up there with my favorite team swag.

-15′ : Greece is going with Charistreas and Gekas at striker.

- 25′ : We have our starting elevens. And here they are:
Greece: Nikopolidis, Seitaridis, Kyrgiakos, Antzas, Dellas, Torosidis, Charisteas, Basinas, Katsouranis, Karagounis, Gekas.
Sweden: Isaksson, Alexandersson, Mellberg, Hansson, Nilsson, Wilhelmsson, Svensson, Ljungberg, Andersson, Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson.

- 30′ : Spain has finished up their dismantling of Russia, 4-1, and all eyes move to our second game, the Greeks and the Swedes.