For those hoping to get a feel of how Sweden stand compared to France, the game against Serbia was a disappointment. Serbia changed 10 (!) players from the line up against France so any attempted at comparisons will be distorted.

Sweden won the match 2-1 after goals by Toivonen and Ibrahimović (penalty) but there are clouds in the sky for the Swedes. Serbia were the better team for the first half and substitutions in the second half make analysis harder for the latter part of the game.

Sweden conceded the goal from a corner and with the tallest team in the upcoming Euros those are not the kind of goals Sweden will want to concede.

I am left with the worrying feeling that Sweden will struggle to keep clean sheets against all the teams in the group. An injury to regular starter Majstorović in central defence in late February has really weakened this team defensively.

There is no obvious replacement and Andreas Granqvist and Jonas Olsson will fight for that spot right up until match day against the Ukraine. Both have been given chances and neither of them has really impressed. Add to that keeper Andreas Isaksson struggling to find his form coming back from an injury to his shoulder and Sweden look genuinely weak at the back.

One can only hope that the attackers carry the weight and score the goals that very much will be needed during the group stage.

On a more amusing note, Aleksandar Kolarov asked Ibrahimović for his shirt when the AC Milan striker was on his way off the pitch in the 81^st minute. Funny, as they may play together at the Etihad Stadium next season.

Kristopher Karlsson

With the Euros creeping closer there are some interesting aspects from a Swedish point of view to take a closer look at.

Sweden and my favourites to win the group, France, are getting ready for the tournament in very much the same way. We are playing the same teams in friendly games, Iceland and Serbia.

France will also have time to play Estonia as they have had more time together (24 days compared to Sweden’s 18). But these games against Iceland and Serbia are interesting as we get a sense of how Sweden and France compare as teams. And when France struggled to win 3-2 at home against Iceland I was filled with hope and asked myself:

How can France go two down against Iceland at home?

How can Evra and Mexes, playing for top clubs in Europe, be so poor defensively?

And could Sweden put a number on Iceland to get a psychological edge over France?

The first two questions are hard to answer, and I’ll leave them to my French colleague. The last question is a bit easier to answer: No, Sweden couldn’t put a number on Iceland. Sweden repeated the French result of 3-2 and status quo remains between France and Sweden.

France moved on and impressed in their 2-0 victory against Serbia and Sweden will have to work hard to match that result home against Serbia on the 5^th of June. I’d say getting a good, or even better result than 2-0 will be of very big importance as France will remember their 3-2 victory away against Sweden in 2008 and be strengthened by the result on that day.

In other news Sweden’s Under 21 team took a hammering against Ukraine’s counterparts on Thursday 6-0 (!). Let's hope Erik Hamrén and his men can avoid such a result on the opening day against Ukraine.

Kristopher Karlsson