T. Linderoth protected in the Sweden team due to injury © EuroFootball.com

The defender of the Swedish national team Tobias Linderoth missed Monday's team training due to a calf injury, while earlier complaining of back pain, the team's goalkeeper Andreas Issakson is returning to the lineup.

"Issakson trained today, and we wanted to protect Linderoth so we left him at the hotel. The championship is approaching and we want to be in the strongest lineup when it starts," said Swedish coach Lars Lagerback at a press conference. - "On Tuesday, we decided to give the players a day off. They have worked hard and now need to rest."

Sweden will start the World Cup on June 10 with a match against Trinidad and Tobago, which will take place at the Dortmund stadium. L. Lagerback believes that the team will start well and reach the knockout stages.

"We always said that there will be a tough fight between England, Paraguay, and Sweden. I think the underdogs in the group are the Trinidad and Tobago team." I am sure that we can reach the second stage and the team spirit, as always, is very good," said the Swede. - "Reaching the top 16 teams is our main goal, but on a good day, we could beat any team, and I think we will perform very well," shared Lagerback's thoughts.

The assistant coach Rolandas Andersson said that Sweden must stick to their strategy in potentially the most important matchup against England on June 20 in Cologne.

"We know each other well. There are no secrets between these teams and we will stick to our style of play, regardless of whether Wayne Rooney plays or not. We always defend in a certain way and it doesn't matter to us if Rooney is in the team, if he doesn't recover, someone else will take his place," reflected R. Andersson.