Match 08 - Greece v Sweden / Dan Fitch / 09 June 2008 / 1 Comments

When I was a kid, I'd eat all of the things I enjoyed on my dinner plate first, leaving me with a miserable end to the meal, as I pushed rapidly cooling peas around with my fork.

This game is the footballing equivalent of such a false economy. We've feasted on Portugal, Germany and Spain, only to be left with this unappealing morsel. Only the most dedicated will want to force this one down. Most right thinking people will instead ask to be excused.

Greece were so boring during the last European Championships that they snuck in and won the whole thing, whilst their opponents slept. Meanwhile, Sweden haven't done anything exciting since beating an England team in 92, that featured David Batty at right back.

If the organisers had any sense they would have scheduled this stinker for the 5pm slot, so that most people would not have been home from work and those that did have to sit through it, would only be missing The Weakest Link on the other side.

Still if there's one thing that can get you caring about a football match it's gambling, which is where we come in. Back the unders here and you'll find yourself whooping it up, as these dreary sides play out a 0-0.

Another straw to be clutched is the fact that Sweden are the nation, second only to Brazil, that features the largest amount of preposterously attractive women in their crowd. Expect at least 10 minutes of the coverage to be comprised of close ups of statuesque blonde women with pigtails, with the occasional shot of someone who looks like Demis Roussos, so that no one can be accused of favouritism.

You never know, such tasty side menus may even get David Pleat excited, as he recalls some of those late night drives around North London. I'm pleased to say that ITV's coverage has been reliably cheap and tacky so far, stuck in their plastic looking studio which they're not even bothering to pretend is anywhere near Austria or Switzerland and anchored by that bloke named 'Matt' whom nobody knows the surname of.

Greece won Euro 2004 despite only scoring a total of 7 goals in the whole tournament. However, in the group stages, 2 of their 3 games broke the 2.5 barrier.

Their games have been more open in the qualifying for this tournament, though they were drawn into a weak group with only Turkey and Norway posing serious competition. In all, the Greek's matches averaged a healthy 2.9 goals per game, with 58% of these busting the 3 goal mark.

The Greeks dominated the group, scoring 31 points, which is more than any other qualifier amassed. This was in no small part to the emergence of the striker Fanis Gekas, who scored 5 goals in qualifying and offers Greece the opportunity to switch from a 4-5-1 to a 4-4-2.

Sweden have given a surprise call up to Henrik Larsson, who has 36 goals from 95 caps. But at his age these statistics are largely erroneous. I might as well claim England will win the next World Cup because they've got a boy called Lineker with 48 from 80. More likely to provide the goals is the unpredictable Zlaten Ibrahimovic (18 goals from 50 games).

Ibrahimovic failed to score in a qualifying campaign that he missed much of, due to suspension for missing a curfew and then throwing a tantrum over said suspension. Sweden's games averaged at 2.58 goals per match, with an impressive 66% featuring more than 2.5 goals.

Sweden won their group in 2004, in which only the 1-1 draw with Italy failed to break 2.5 goals. Unfortunately the Swedes have largely the same personnel since this period, with their current squad containing 10 players aged over 30. Of the younger generation, Kim Kallstrom and Johan Elmander are now in their mid-twenties and it's time for them to prove that their heroics on Football Manager are not just the stuff of fantasy.

With Euro 2004 still fresh in the mind, unders is the hot favourite at [1.53], with overs at [2.84]. With the way the tournament has been going, it's hard to oppose this in a match in which neither side has the talent to be anything but pragmatic.

Tags: Euro 2008 betting, Henrik Larsson, Ibrahimovic, Sweden football