Sweden coach: Lars Lagerback
The 59-year-old is the longest-serving coach at Euro 2008 and recently agreed a contract to stay on until 2010.
He has been involved with the Swedish FA since 1990, joining as a youth team coach, moving on to manage the Sweden B team and scouting opponents
at the 1994 World Cup.
Lagerback joined Tommy Soderberg as co-coach in 2000 and took sole charge of the national team in 2004 when Soderberg retired.
As a player, he was with lower-league clubs Alby and Gimonas. He began his coaching career in 1977 with lower league Kilafors, moving on to Arbra and Hudiksvalls.
What would make it a successful tournament for you?
One goal, of course, is to make it through to the last eight. Another would be to perform to our capabilities, to give
a good account of ourselves. You can always lose to a better team even though you’ve played well yourselves.
How do you rate your group opponents?
Spain are, in my opinion, one of the best three or four teams in the world at the moment. Greece and Russia are on a par with ourselves, which means it is going to be a closely-fought, tough group right to the end.
Who do you see as the favourites for the competition?
There are, to my mind, five or six teams of roughly the same ability who could emerge as winners. Similarly, I think there are five or six countries who have an outside chance if things go their way, as was the case with Greece in 2004. It’s really hard to pick one favourite. But if you look at it historically, one of the big nations is likely to come out on top.
And the surprise package?
Hopefully, Sweden.
What are the main assets of your team?
We are strong collectively, we are well organised. We defend well, we are good on the counter-attack and have players who can make a difference in a close game, such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Another big plus for us is the excellent morale in the camp. I’m also pleased to see that we have a fine stock of attacking players, which is a little bit unusual for a Swedish team. It’s ironic that despite the international retirement of a world-class striker such as Henrik Larsson, we still have lots of interesting options in this area, not only Ibrahimovic but also Allback, Elmander, Rosenberg and others.
How does your squad compare to the one for the last World Cup?
Given that almost all our best players are fit and in shape, I would say we are at about the same level of strength as we were in 2006.
How would you define yourself as a coach?
The way I work is to be as well prepared as I can be. Ninety per cent of a coach’s job is detailed preparation for a game. My philosophy is that as many players as possible should participate in both the attacking and defensive aspects of the game, and that the team is well set up. I do put a premium on organisation and physical qualities but I’m equally proud of the high number of very good footballers we have and the fact that we score more goals now than when I took [joint] charge in 2000.
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