Sweden manager Erik Hamren confirmed that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rasmus-Elm-c30628 will play no part in their country’s final Group D fixture against France on Tuesday, as both the players encountered fitness problems during the ongoing European Championships.
Elmander, who plays for Galatasaray, is currently suffering from a foot injury while Elm has been marred by a viral ailment.
With the match carrying little or no significance for Sweden, as they have already crashed out of the tournament after suffering successive defeats against Ukraine and England, the Blue-Yellow boss refused risking the possibility of exacerbating the duo’s
fitness for future, and confirmed their absence from the game against the Les Bleus.
While talking to reporters, he said: “Johan Elmander is not considered to play tomorrow [Tuesday] because his foot is not 100 per cent yet… Rasmus Elm is not feeling too good, and during the morning had a few problems with a strain in his leg.”
The duo’s omission is likely to mar http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sweden-c3015’s chances of bagging a consolation win against the mighty French side. Even though any result will bear little value to Erik Hamren, the fixture may still shape the fate of the remaining three teams in the group,
who are all in with a chance of grabbing the quarterfinals prize.
As things stand currently, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ukraine-c3032 have 3, with all the teams having played 2 games.
With some reports unravelling the English apprehensions over Hamren’s decision to field a second string team, the 54-year old advised England to set their focus on their own game against Ukraine, and dismissed the notion that he is not serious about beating
France.
He added, “England must focus on themselves and we are going to focus on our game. We can’t do any more than that. We will do everything we can to win our game. We need to leave with a good performance and a good result.”
Earlier, the Swedish defender Olof Mellberg had announced he will retire from international football at the end of the European Championships- which means he might be appearing for the last time in Sweden’s colours on Tuesday.
However, Hamren refused to pass judgement on the matter, insisting that he will hold talks with Mellberg to see whether he can be cajoled into changing his decision.
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