Wennerholm: Pray a prayer that it will be Finland – Aftonbladet

Sweden beat France 4-2 and are finished group runner-up here in Prague.

Now it’s all about what awaits in the quarter.

Russia or Finland.

Top teams met in the group game last game.

And I pray a prayer that it will be Finland.

Russia has been a nightmare for Sweden in the World Championships.

Three Crowns have not won against the Russians in eleven years.

Comfort ye? Later it happened was precisely in Ostrava, where Sweden’s quarter-finals will be played. The time when we wrote in 2004 won the Swedes 3-2.

But since then there have been black as night.

The one draw and seven losses on the times the teams have met in the World Cup. Later it became 1-3 in the semifinal in Minsk last year.

Everyone remembers well most of the game to Russian coach Oleg Znaroks was off to have threatened the Swedish assistant coach Richard Grönborg when he pulled the thumb over neck with complete address to the Swede. Grönborg which incidentally also was suspended from the bronze match, then he screamed something equally inappropriate. And we expect the Olympic Games in Turin and the 0-5, it was in the group stage there, it’s about nine straight championship games without a Swedish victory.

Now, Russia has a kanonlag with stars like Ilya Kovaltjuk and Vladimir Tarasov, plus a leash with players been as big names and they’ve chosen to play the NHL and not the KHL. And they’ve Columbus-star Sergei Bobrovski in Case.

Historically, they are a nightmare

Now is not the group stage were any Russian exhibition, besides the team’s 7-0 against Belarus and they have been beaten by the United States. But historically, is still the Russians a nightmare in Swedish Championships.

The positive for Sweden if it is Russia, is that they get beat underdog.

The Russians will be ready favorites.

But I see much rather a Finnish across the ice in Ostrava on Thursday.

But then they have to beat the Russians in last game, no matter what happens between the US and Slovakia in the game before.

Three Crowns broke the home curse

There is already speculation about a läggmatch, then it can be seen as an advantage on paper that allowed to stay and play fifteen minutes “at home”. In a stadium and an ice learned by heart.

Instead of going to Prague and meet Czech Republic faced a boiling O2 Arena.

But I’m not so sure.

The Czechs have not been good here in the World Cup and history shows that the pressure is on the home nation.

When Sweden won the Globe in 2013 was the first time the host country won in 27 years.

But win Slovakia against the United States in the early Tuesday match in Ostrava, which I do not think is impossible, so is the Russia-Finland later in the evening for group victory. Then both teams will definitely go for the win.

But whatever will still Finland or Russia to become Sweden’s opponents in the quarter, when the Americans may be the worst second place in the group.

That is why I hope for Finland.

A nation Sweden have a clear mental advantage over historically. A nation Tre Kronor made some of his most classic matches against. I am thinking particularly of the turnaround in Helsinki, then 1-5 became 6-5 in the World Cup quarterfinals in 2003.

And later the teams met in a World Cup, it became clear 3-0 in the Globe on Sweden’s road to World Cup gold medal in 2012.

In addition, we would get a match in the match between the World Cup’s top scorer Filip Forsberg and the World Cup’s keeper King Pekka Rinne – normally teammates in Nashville in the NHL.

The match against France, then?

Well, a little exciting it was when the French were turned 0-1 to 2-1 in the second period. In the state risked Swedes to become third in the group and end up on Canada’s side in the playoff draw.

Eight goals for Forsberg

Now tweaked Sweden’s two World Cup kings a turnaround. Filip Forsberg with two new goals and reside in a total of eight, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson who scored a goal and played until two.

The Arizona-hill was thus the first in the World Cup’s entire poängliga with its eleven points Total (2 + 9) and Filip Forsberg pulled away the top scorer.

Fantastic well in a World Cup tournament with so many big names.

The fact is that the World Cup the two hottest name is Swedish.

Not Crosby, not Kovaltjuk, not Malkin or Jagr.

No, Ekman Larsson and Forsberg.