Sweden vs Greece 10th June

June 10, 2008: The defending champions, Greece faced a 0-2 defeat to Sweden today at Salzburg, the city of Mozart?s birth. Both these teams, known for their strong defense, were tied 0-0 till the 67th minute of the play. The goal scorers in the match were Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Peter Hansson.

The match number 8 of Euro 2008 started on a fast pace. The forward line of Sweden formed by Henrik Larsson and Ibrahimovic proved too strong for the defense line of Greece. The coordination between these two led to Ibrahimovic netting the first goal of the match for Sweden.

The second goal of the match was scored within the next five minutes. But this goal by Hansson was not as spectacular as the one by Ibrahimovic. It was a lucky goal for Hansson, who scored it out of chaos when Greek goalkeeper Nikopolidis failed to grab a shot of Swedish midfielder Fredrik Ljungberg.

This Group D Euro 2008 match saw Greece's Euro 2004 hero Angelos Charisteas receiving the yellow card within 2 minutes of the match for a foul on Hansson. Charisteas created the first positive chance to score a goal for his team in the seventh minute of the match. Isaksson smartly saved his shot taken from Swedish penalty box.

Ibrahimovic created many open chances in the entire match for his team. But the first success came only in the 67th minute of the game. For Greece, the midfielder Georgios Karagounis proved very efficient in the second half of the match in breaking the Swedish defense line. But the Swedish goalkeeper was always at his best to block his attempts.

After the win Sweden now stands in the second position in Group D. Spain is ahead of them by better goal difference. The other teams of the group, Greece and Russia rank at the bottom. Greece expects the miracle of Euro 2004 to repeat when they reached the quarterfinals with four points.

Final Score Sweden-Greece Match June 10

Sweden 2-0 Greece

Goals: 2

Teams:

Sweden: Andreas Isaksson, Mikael Nilsson, Olof Mellberg, Petter Hansson, Niclas Alexandersson, Christian Wilhelmsson, Anders Svensson, Fredrik Ljungberg, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson, Daniel Andersson, Johan Elmander (for Ibrahimovic in the 70th), Fredrik Stoor (for Alexandersson in the 73rd), Markus Rosenberg (for Wilhelmsson in the 77th)

Greece: Antonis Nikopolidis, Giourkas Seitaridis, Vassilis Torossidis, Sotiris Kyrgiakos, Traianos Dellas, Costas Katsouranis, Angelos Basinas, Giorgos Karagounis, Paraskevas Antzas, Angelos Charisteas, Fanis Gekas, Georgios Samaras (for Gekas in 46th), Ioannis Amanatidis (for Dellas in 69th)