Several European teams are getting prepared for the next qualifying round which is going to be held this next weekend. Portugal and Sweden are going to play this Saturday October 11th and while Portugal recovers their all star player Cristiano Ronaldo, Sweden on the other hand, has lost almost half of their top players because of injuries.
The match is going to be held at the Rasunda Stadium, in Sweden, where the local team has only lost one game in 10 years.
Portugal, which is part of the UEFA Group 1, currently is at the 4th place of the group with three points after beating Malta 4-0. However, after that they were beaten at home by Denmark 3-2. The 3 teams in the group placed above Portugal are Denmark, Albania and Sweden, all of them with four points after two games.
"From here on in it's going to be difficult and we can't lose any more games like we did against Denmark," said Ronaldo "I can assure you we'll be looking for three points in Sweden," he added. "I want us to play our usual game and make the Swedes defend and cause them headaches...".
Ronaldo was a doubt since he underwent an ankle surgery after the Euro 2008. In Portugal lineup, there are some important players missing too. Deco, who plays with Chelsea, has a torn muscle and cannot play. Midfielder Maniche, winger Simao Sabrosa and central defender Ricardo Carvalho are also sidelined with injuries.
However, for Sweden the picture is even worse, Strikers Henrik Larsson and Markus Rosenberg, defender Olof Mellberg, and midfielders Christian Wilhelmsson, Tobias Linderoth and Anders Svensson are out of the team due to injuries as well.
On the other hand, for UEFA Group 5 in the qualifying round, there are a lot of concerns about injuries too for the games of this weekend. For the Spanish coach, Vicente del Bosque, the mayor concerns are Sergio Ramos and Andres Iniesta who had both leg injuries. Nevertheless, there are also some good news for the team, some of the players that were injured are now back, such as Carles Puyol, Carlos Marchena and Raul Albiol, and some others are expected to be back later.
Del Bosque is considering on making some other changes in the midfield since two of the players are sidelined. But after all, they are very confident with the work that the team has been doing since they consider that they cannot be playing better than right now and that they are targeting the most important title. Spain is facing Estonia this coming Saturday and they are planning to do their best at this game.
Xavi Hernandez also expressed that he is pleased with the team, "Without a doubt, we all feel more appreciated, more important across the world. We just needed to win something," Xavi said. "Myself, personally, I feel better prepared, stronger."
Some other teams are getting prepared as well, since most of the second round qualification matches are going to be held during the weekend. Certainly this will be a very exciting weekend and we will be anxious to see the results.
Author : Nolan
http://www.articleclick.com/Article/World-Cup-Qualifiers-UEFA-Previews-for-the-next-round/1049698
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