Clash in Sweden, France on the Ropes, Iceland in A Zagreb Cauldron




Beyond The Pitch show

Summary: With the second legs about to kick off on Tuesday with final passage to Brazil at stake for the last four from Europe, Aftonbladet football writer Kristopher Karlsson joins the show to give us the view from inside Sweden as Zlatan Ibrahimovic looks to cap off his last World Cup journey with a victory that would leave Cristiano Ronaldo at the altar, along with a look at the other three return legs to consider the real favorites at this very crucial stage. We examine the qualification campaign under Erik Hamrén and where the difficulties do reside beyond his superstar striker, how the biggest decision might just be how to deploy the Zlatan and why the lesser figures like Rasmus Elm, Johan Elmander, Sebastian Larsson, Ola Toivonen and others might just have to be what deliver Sweden to the World Cup next summer. We also look into the results and prospects for another Sweden legend in former national team manager Lars Lagerbäck who continues to defy the odds with a young and inexperienced Iceland team that heads for a Zagreb cauldron where Croatia must finally turn the corner under Niko Kovac who replaced Igor Stimac after a set of disastrous results. Also on deck are the surprising Greeks who turned in a complete and thorough performance in the first leg against Romania and look to be a lock for Brazil up 3-1 and then we close on the matter of Ukraine who has France down 2-0 on the back leg with a cast of young talented players who may just need one away goal to book their flight for the World Cup Finals and send France down for disaster. Loads here on the outlook for Sweden, the remarkable job turned in by Lagerbäck after being pushed out from the Sweden bench and a look at one the top players in the world in Zlatan Ibrahimovic who faces what seems to be his final World Cup campaign.