SWEDEN v TURKEY

Sweden 0 Turkey 0

Johan Mjällby's pose tells us all about this game. "Drat, what a waste of time", he seems to be saying. But why is he looking so distressed, he didn't have to watch it!! Perhaps if the boys had played without shirts throughout the match, then I might've managed to watch the game without matchsticks in my eyes. Guys! It was dreadful! I think what it was, was that both teams were afraid of losing; thus ensuring their exit from the competition. The rotten part, from my point of view, is that neither were!! Sorry to all fans of Sweden (thanx for the postcard, Marten - lousy though it was!! :)) and Turkey - but I fail to understand how either of these teams qualified in the first place on this performance. ("Oh, if only Croatia") They sure as heck did nothing to endear themselves to me with this display of poor passing, mistimed tackles and seemingly no desire to win the game. The warning was there at the beginning though, when Muzzy Izzet stood proudly during the national anthem and didn't know any of the words (probably not the tune either) - well, why should he! And the tape of Sweden's anthem fizzled out after the first few bars, leaving the players and crowd to sing-a-long-themselves. Bordering on farcical. And bordering on farcical to even try to imagine that these were two international teams, playing for the right to progress in the 2nd most prestigious football tournament in the world. C'mon Belgium!!!

I cannot for the life of me think of anything to say about the actual game! However, read below (after the team line-ups), Eurosport's minute-by-minute account (backwards) - they seem to have found something to say - must've been hard though - bravo Eurosport!

Teams and things

SWEDEN (4-4-2): 1 M Hedman (Coventry City) - 5 T Lucic (AIK Solna), 14 O Mellberg (Racing Santander), 4 J Björklund (Valencia), 6 G Sundgren (Real Zaragoza) - 7 H Mild (IFK Gothenburg), 17 J Mjällby (Celtic), 9 F Ljungberg (Arsenal), 11 N Alexandersson (Sheffield Wednesday; sub: 16 A Andersson, Aalborg, 62min) - 19 K Andersson (Bologna; sub: 10 J Pettersson, 1FC Kaiserslautern, 46), 20 H Larsson (Celtic; sub: 13 M Svensson, Brondby, 77). Substitutes not used: 12 M Kihlstedt (SK Brann), 22 M Asper (AIK Solna), 2 R Nilsson (Helsingborgs), 8 T Gustaffson (Coventry City), 15 D Andersson (Bari), 18 Y Osmanovski (Bari), 21 M Allback (Orgryte IS). Booked: Mjallby.

TURKEY (3-5-2): 1 R Rüstu (Fenerbahçe) - 5 O Alpay (Fenerbahçe), 4 A Fatih (Galatasaray), 3 T Ogün (Fenerbahçe; sub: 8 K Tugay, Rangers, 59) - 22 D Ümit (Galatasaray; sub: 11 K Tayfun, Fenerbahçe, 45), 7 B Okan (Galatasaray), 14 K Suat (Galatasaray), 15 M Izzet (Leicester City; sub: 10 Y Sergen, Galatasaray, 58), 20 H Ünsal (Galatasaray) - 9 H Sükür (Galatasaray), 6 E Arif (Galatasaray). Substitutes not used: 12 C Omer (Gaziantepspor), 21 T Fevzi (Besiktas), 2 H Tayfur (Besiktas), 13 O Osman, (Trabzonspor), 16 P Ergun (Galatasaray), 17 D Oktay (Gaziantepspor), 18 A Ayhan (Besiktas), 19 Abdullah (Fenerbahçe). Booked: Suat.

Referee: D Jol (The Netherlands).

92' : THE last chance of the match. A free-kick for Sweden: wasted chance by Sundgrend. FULL-TIME!

90' : The late goal for Sukur? The one and only perfect cross that reaches Sukur's forehead goes anywhere but in Hedman's goal.

88' : Terrible cross by Arif. Sukur looks disappointed.

86' : Suat fouls Ljunberg in a very good position for Sweden. Very central, short on target, there could be a winner for Sweden. Pettersson the substitute takes it just over the wall and the crossbar. Nice kick though.

84' : Deprived from ball all night long, Hakan Sukur needs to get back in midfield to get it.

82' : Good effort by Svensson who 's trying to give some pace to his team.

80' : Ten minutes to go. Hakan Unsal in a good position on the left angle fails to cross the ball to Sukur.

77' : The symbol of the game: Sundgrend gets mlixed up with the ball and Tugay gives a bad ball deep for Sukur off-side.

74' : Sukur deflects it nicely for Arif with the chest, but it is a wasted chance again. Sukur is shouting in despair...He hassigned for Inter Milan yesterday and he wants to reach the quarter-finals...

71' : Sergen has the best chance for Turkey, a great run towards the edge of the penalty area and a powerful strike punched by Hedman OKAN gets it miraculously back but his instant volley goes over the bar.

67' : Good effort by Larsson, and good challenge by Alpay.

65' : A succession of missed passes and quite appaulling sequences of football from both sides.

61' : Sundgrend alone on the left angle of the penalty area could have crossed for Larsson or pettersson, but he prefers to strike. Deflected by a defender.

59' : Tugay replacing Ogun is applaused by the Turkish fans after a nice move in midfield.

56' : It is quite unbelievable how poor the passing can be in this game!!

54' : Pettersson made a decisive dribble on the left, Ljunberg is on his left, but Pettersson gives it too much backward. Wasted chance again!

52' : Strong challenge from behind from Suat. It could have been a red card! Free-kick taken by Sundgrend...Saved by Rustu.

50' : Good cross by Sundgrend. Corner-kick. Wasted chance.

48' : Very good run by Okan dribbling Sundgrend on the wing. Corner-kick. A Header over the bar and finally Goal-kick.

46' : They're back! SECOND-HALF!

45' : Nice move from Turkey., good cross for Sukur...a little bit too high. Umit is down on the pitch apparently badly injured. He fell down on his own after crossing. Erdem strikes and M. JOl the referee whistles HALF-TIME!

42' : Clever ball past Sundgrend for Okan, good run and nice cross behind Sukur.

40' : The best chance of the match for Ljunberg hwo misses the last flick in front of Rustu!!

38' : The flag went up for Arif, when the player looked on side.

36' : Too many misplaced passes for the moment. Corner kick taken by Arif. Decent ball in but Alpay's header flies over the crossbar.

34' : Ljunberg, Larsson, and K.Andersson... Three main dangers for Turkey at the moment. The quick passing game of Turkey seem to be unefficient for the moment.

32' : Long range shot by Okan, going slowly wide on the right.

28' : Superb move and great skill by Larsson putting the ball in the box. Clever backheel from Larsson again for K.Andersson, good shot in an awkward angle. Blocked by Rustu.

26' : Another dangerous situation for Turkey when Larsson and K.Andersson had two chances in a row to volley the ball in. Their shots are well blocked by the Turkish defense.

24' : Good skill by Larsson on the right angle his cross finds no header but Turkey will suffer if Sweden keeps using the wings that way.

20' : Andersson is back, and Alpay is not happy about that. Sukur missed his cross from the right angle when Okan was asking for the ball at the near post.

18' : Kenneth Andersson twisted his ankle but his injury looks quite nasty.

17' : Sweden look slightly better but Turkey are still dangerous when Sukur and Okan get the ball.

15' : Long throw in for Larsson but Rustu catches it just above his head. Kenneth Andersson faces several dual with the Turkish defenders...it is heating up between the Swedish striker and Alpay or Fatih.

13' : Splendid volley by Arif on the turn, but the ball goes over the top.

12' : Turkey are recovering possession of the ball after a good start from Sweden. Ljunberg and Larsson are trying to combine.

10' : Sukur fighting for the ball in the Swedish box. Hedman secures it.

8' : Excellent run by Okan while Sukur goes in the left angle, good cross by Sukur for Arif who misses his volley.

7' : Turkey daces the same pressure Belgium suffered in the opening game of the competition. Sweden get several free-kicks.

5' : The same free-kick. Missed this time.

3' : Succession of headers from the Swedish players, Mild is fouled and it is a good opportunity for Sweden, 20 meters from the goal. Great ball by Kenneth Andersson on free-kick floating down to the top right corner but it's a superb save from Rustu.

0' : GOOD EVENING FANS! Destiny match for both Turkey and Sweden in the Philips Stadion tonight, they have both lost their first match and could be out tonight. KICK OFF!