SWEDEN LAID DOWN the gauntlet to France in World Cup qualifying as Marcus Berg scored four goals in an 8-0 thrashing of Luxembourg.
The Swedes now lead France, who face Bulgaria this evening, by two points in the race for top spot in Group A.
The result also effectively eliminates Holland, just days after Dutch coach Dick Advocaat said that they did not need to worry unnecessarily about their goal difference because “Sweden won’t beat Luxembourg 8-0″.
Holland, who play Belarus tonight before hosting Sweden on Tuesday, need to win both games and now overturn a massive 14-goal deficit in the goal difference between the sides.
Berg tore Luxembourg apart in Solna as the visitors were brought back down to earth after their 0-0 draw in France last month.
After Andreas Granqvist had broken the deadlock with a 10th-minute penalty, the 31-year-old Berg grabbed his first eight minutes later.
He wasn’t finished there and completed a hat-trick with goals either side of half-time by heading in a rebound after his initial shot was saved, and curling home an excellent individual effort.
Celtic defender Mikael Lustig made it five, before another Granqvist spot-kick and Berg’s fourth.
Berg was taken off with 16 minutes to play, but that didn’t spare Luxembourg more embarrassment, as Ola Toivonen completed the rout.
- © AFP 2017; additional reporting by Niall Kelly
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