SWEDEN MANAGER Erik Hamren praised the performance of Ireland — but also issued a warning: they themselves are well capable of winning at Lansdowne Road.
Sweden were surprisingly limp in a 0-0 draw, especially given their recent confidence-boosting 4-4 draw against Germany. Hamren, however, insisted the away game could be different.
“Of course we are disappointed with one point at home but, if we win away, we are OK. We tried to win here but couldn’t today. Then we have a bigger task when we come there but it’s possible. It’s possible to win in Ireland too.”
When asked why it was that Sweden couldn’t build on the confidence gleaned from that draw away to the Germans, Hamren cited inexperience.
“That’s a good question. One question can be that we still aren’t an experienced team. If you see the team today, four or five have only played one qualification game before so some of the players do not have this experience. That’s why it’s like this. The first half against Germany wasn’t good either. I think it’s a combination of that. It’s important game for everybody. That’s one reason we didn’t get the quality of play we wanted.
“We had a team really good away [against us]. If you know the statistics, they haven’t lost away in two qualifications.”
