Kinda surprised they didn’t take Rodrigo or Aspas, especially with them having two spare spaces in the squad
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did they though? its one of those odd football cliches, that…
on what football metric did they ‘deserve’ the draw?
they might have been happy with a draw, they might have planned for a draw, they might have worked hard for a draw, they might have defended welll, but at what point does that make it ‘deserved’?
its the european championships, there should be an expectation of quality, an expectation of football adventure…good enough to get there, good enough to try to play IMHO…its not the FA cup third round where the dog and duck are trying to get a draw out of Liverpool so they can get a lucrative home game replay
not having a go, genuinely interested…
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Strange selection from Luis Enrique.
Got to agree. Spain were toothless but even defending for 96 mins Sweden had 2 very good chances. Imagine if they’d had a little bit more ambition.
2 very good chances against Spain is good enough imo. More than some teams get. They would definitely have lost if they had more of that ambition you speak of. In Group stage, it is about getting through, not entertain for bread and circus.
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Spain are obviously far superior to Sweden and most expected a 2-0 or 3-0 win at least, Sweden just let them have the ball and defended for their lives and ended up getting a draw so I think they deserve some credit, they knew their limitations and frustrated their opponents, not great to watch but I’m sure Sweden 
don’t care.
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Judging from the Swedish media, they don’t. It is not their job to entertain when they meet Spain.
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Partial credit.
Not the discussion. But thanks for the lesson on the philosophy of tournament football, I would never have figured it out for myself…
The exact term is ‘they deserved a draw’
The ‘hung in for a draw’ is more apt.
Deserving a draw is more fitting when two teams go toe to toe and trade blows each trying to win the game. That could be a slugfest , or even a tactical battle.
Giving Spain the ball and getting players behind the ball isn’t a tactical masterpiece deserving of credit
My opinion only.
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First of all, I didn’t even aim my comment at you, but as a commentary on what Red Opium said above. So hardly any need for your silly snide sarcasm. And you do not dictate that general discussion about the game. It is about getting through, you do not get points for style. When you have inferior players you must use more primitive tactics . If Sweden had tried to play adventurous football against the ball technicians of Spain they would have been absolute morons.
As for tactical masterpiece, I don’t think anyone thinks that anywhere, nor have I heard anyone say that, as the strategy was primitive. Deserving of credit it certainly was though. If they had played like you wanted, they would have deserved absolutely no credit, for they had been stupid and would have deserved to lose with the 4-5 goals they would have probably lost by. That would have been both infantile and idiotic, deserving only of scorn. You are supposed to try to be competitive with the skills you have after all, a Sweden playing open football against Spain would be more akin to match fixing, since it would mean an automatic defeat.
My opinion only.
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ill use bullet points for you
- 1 poster said sweden deserved a draw’ (thats red opium)
- 2nd poster said they he found that saying odd (thats me)
*3rd poster chimes in (this is you btw) banging on about what sweden needed to do to get a draw, how they owe no one anything and so on… and now wants to dictate the tone of the conversation. even throwing in the old classic ‘i wasnt refering to you’ defence when clearly the conversation at the time was about the subject
whatever mate, its a boring side point i made off the cuff. i dont think the terminology sweden ‘deserved a draw’ is the right choice here…Sweden ‘battled hard’, ‘scrapped a draw’, ‘defended well’…but to say they ‘deserved’ a draw, indicates they were on the same level as the spanish…when clearly, they werent.
before we head into ‘defending is an art’ territory…i have italian heritage…i know when its an art form…
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So far Italy is the only team that impressed me, high hopes for Portugal this afternoon though. 
Also no one said Sweden had to play gung ho. The term was too be a little more adventurous. There are teams who are limited but use a style, method of play so the sum of it’s parts is more.
If Sweden vs Spain was typical of every game, I would give up watching football.
To be fair, I don’t enjoy watching Spain, or Barca. I liked Rijkaard’s Barca but not Pep’s.
They deserved a draw because they did not concede any goals. HTH.
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As you say, a boring side point not worthy of going back and forth about. I don’t agree with with you (I find it absolutely absurd that people want Sweden to stand higher and be more adventurous against Spain who are so good on the ball), you don’t agree with me; that’s ok.
Have a nice day and let us focus on the coming games instead !
Not what anyone said at all.
LOL.
aged well.
Aged better than your prepostriously idiotic snark. It is downright pathetic.
you know i dont think it actually did to be honest.
Hope Scotland loses so Robertson can get an early break. But going by my record in this tournament they are probably going to win 3-0. 
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