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Today at 21:45 at Lisbon's Jose Alvalade stadium, the national teams of Bulgaria and Sweden will meet, two teams known for their teamwork and strong tactical preparation before the match.
The Swedes will try to overcome the traditional starting nervousness and break the streak of eight consecutive unsuccessful opening matches in the tournament. The last time they succeeded was in the 1958 World Cup when they defeated the Mexican national team. These teams have played against each other 11 times so far. Bulgaria won twice, and the matches ended in a draw twice. Out of the 11 matches, Sweden won in 7 of them.
Bulgarians believe that they are well-prepared for the championship and hope for victory in today's match. The coach of the Bulgarian national team, Plamen Markov, usually uses a 4-4-1-1 tactic, which is not always liked by the team's key players.
"So far everything is going in the right direction, we have reached excellent form before the match. All players work hard during training, and I believe that we will fulfill our tasks." - said the coach of the Swedish national team, Lagerback.
The leaders of the Swedish attacks are considered to be Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Larsson played against the Bulgarians 4 times and scored 5 goals, which is truly a remarkable result.
"We know everything about the Swedes: their capabilities and moods. We are really capable of defeating both the Swedes and the Danes and reaching the quarterfinals." - said Markovic.
Predicted line-ups:
Bulgaria (4-4-1-1): Zdravkov, Ivailo Petkov, Pazin, Kirilov, Ivanov, Milen Petkov, Stilian Petrov, Hristov, Peev, Jankovic, Berbatov.
Sweden (4-4-2): Isaksson, Lucic, Jakobsson, Mellberg, Edman, Nilsson, Linderoth, Kallstrom, Ljungberg, Ibrahimovic, Larsson.
Guess the match results in the totalizator!
