Let’s be honest, it wasn’t exactly a blockbuster. But there were some talking points from Sweden’s deserved 1-0 win over South Korea, not least a demonstration of how VAR can help the game when deployed properly. Here are the key talking points from the Group F encounter.
Sweden boring, but effective
As we saw in Italy’s World Cup playoff disaster versus Sweden, Janne Anderssen’s men are more than capable of getting the job done even if their football isn’t the most exciting to watch. Their play may have been livened up by the inclusion of a veteran Zlatan Ibrahimovic, however the coach was absolutely adamant that the LA Galaxy man would not feature even when the man himself hinted at a return.
“I became the head coach almost exactly two years ago, after the Euros, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, together with a number of others, chose to announce they were leaving the national team,” declared the Coach on Sunday. “I respected that and that was the end-point of his extraordinary career for Sweden. He hasn't had any involvement whatsoever with the team since.”
In a match where South Korea were fancied to take the win, the decision of the Coach seemed to be vindicated as Sweden were so effective as a unit and won their first World Cup opener since 1958, rather than their entire World Cup be turned into a one-man show.
VAR works
As Viktor Claesson nicked the ball away from Kim Min-woo in the penalty area, referee Joel Aguilar initially failed to spot a clear foul when the South Korean sent the Sweden attacker flying. In the past, this would have been seen as a huge injustice, especially as the resulting spot-kick – converted by Captain Andreas Granqvist – ended up as the only goal of the game.
This is the textbook example of an incident the technology has been put in place to avoid “clear and obvious errors”. It is true that the play could have stopped earlier, as South Korea were already on the counter-attack, however had the penalty been correctly awarded, this would not have been allowed to happen anyway. As the referees become more familiar with the new, football supporters will see them stopping play when there is a more natural break.
Group F shaping up to be exciting
As Mexico have already sprung a surprise by beating Germany, this group is now wide open. Sweden will face Die Mannschaft next, and are in with a chance should they be able to put in a similarly controlled performance.
With Mexico and Sweden now on three points each, there is everything to play for in the remaining two matches.
