Internationals / Tobias Gourlay / 21 June 2009 / Leave a comment

Tobias Gourlay questions Mediterranean levels of commitment to Sweden 2009. Best Bet: Back Under 2.5 Goals at [2.18]

The way the Spanish players have been talking in the last few days, it is as though they have already given up on Sweden 2009. A 2-0 defeat to England on Thursday, on the heels of a goalless draw with Germany, has taken their fate out of their hands. To qualify for the semi-finals, the European champions' baby brothers must beat Finland - they are [1.34] shots to do so - and already-qualified England must beat Germany, and those results must add up to a four-goal swing in goal difference in Spain's favour.

Winger Diego Capel said yesterday, 'The lads are devastated. This has been a tough blow. We had a lot of hopes pinned on this tournament.' The past tense of that last sentence seems telling.

Others are already lodging their excuses. The team has not yet managed a goal, so it is the forwards who are now moving fastest to deflect criticism. Bojan Krkić, who played an unremarkable part in Barcelona's remarkable season just gone, has claimed he is 'not 100%' at the moment. If the young striker felt this first-ever meeting of these two countries at Under-21 level was still important, would he have revealed this information so readily?

All this leaves the words of coach Juan Ramón López Caro sounding rather hollow: 'I'm sure my players will show the right attitude against Finland; we're defending the colours of Spain.'

López Caro's counterpart, Markku Kanerva, offered a slightly eccentric tennis analogy at his pre-match press conference: 'We came here to play three Grand Slam finals; we have lost two matches on a tie-break, but still have a chance against Spain.' A chance of what exactly, Markku? Your team has already been eliminated.

The coaches have been less forthcoming with the hard facts of team news. It seems likely that López Caro will play a full-strength team to ward off complaints about a lack of commitment, but, after he made four changes to his starting line-up between the Germany and England games, it is not entirely clear what he will consider his full-strength team to be.

The goals markets look a shade more interesting than the match outcome market. Neither team could claim to have been free-scoring of late - Tim Sparv's penalty for Finland against England is the only goal they can muster between them at this tournament so far - and the Finns have shown themselves to be a hardworking and well-organised defensive unit. The tentative selection here is Under 2.5 Goals at [2.18].