Our football match prediction:
Sweden
Match Time & Date:
18/06/2018
13:00 GMT
Prediction: 1-0
South Korea
Stadion Nizhny Novgorod will host Monday’s football game between Sweden and Korea Republic. Against all odds the Swedes eliminated Italy in the World Cup play-offs, but they do not want to stop now. The Nordic side aim to give fans more cheer and they are definitely capable of beating Korea Republic, who rely on one man. His name is Son Heung-Min and all eyes will be on the Tottenham Hotspur ace when the two teams face each other in Monday’s football game. Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not represent Sweden at the showpiece tournament in Russia, but coach Jan Andersson is doing a great job with the Yellow-Blues and we predict that they are going to pick up all three points from their opener. It has to be noted that the two teams meet for the first time ever in the finals of the showpiece tournament.
Highlighted Player (Oscar Hiljemark):
Oscar Hiljemark is a central midfielder who won the Under-21 European Championship with Sweden in 2015 and has also started to leave his mark on the senior national team. His talent was spotted early on as a number of Swedish sides battled for the player’s signature before he penned a professional contract with Elfsborg. Following some impressive performances in Swedish Allsvenskan, Hiljemark was purchased by PSV Eindhoven, where he somewhat struggled for playing time, but that did not stop Serie A side Palermo from offering him an escape route from Dutch Eredivisie. The central midfielder enjoyed a brilliant start to his career in Italy, scoring several important goals in the opening exchanges, and he was in turn linked with the likes of Southampton, West Ham, AC Milan and Napoli, among other clubs. While making several appearances for Blagult even before said success with the Under-21 side, Hiljemark only secured his place in the senior team after the aforementioned trophy, and he is tipped to prove a worthy successor to long-serving midfielder Kim Kallstrom.
Highlighted Team (South Korea):
Over the years South Korea have established themselves as one the best Asian national football teams. Back in 1954 the Reds qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals for the first time ever, but then they missed the next seven major tournaments (1958 Sweden, 1962 Chile, 1966 England, 1970 Mexico, 1974 Germany, Argentina 1978 and 1982 Spain). South Korea then qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup finals, but they failed to make it to the knockout stages of the prestigious tournament. The Koreans recorded their best result at the World Cup finals in 2002, when they co-hosted the showpiece tournament with Japan. By beating Italy and Spain in the knockout stages South Korea set up a meeting with Germany in the semis, but they failed to claim yet another major scalp. To make things even worse for the hosts, Guus Hiddink’s troops were beaten by Turkey (2-3) in the third-place play-off. South Korea footballers wear red shirts, blue shorts and red socks when playing at home, whilst the colour of their away kit is white.
