Sweden Breaks the Schneid

Thanks to an 89th minute header from Freddy Ljundberg off a short cross from second half sub Marcus Allback, Sweden finally scored (with injury time from the first game, over 3 hours of scoreless soccer) and defeated the now-eliminated Paraguay 1-0. Standing second in Group B with 4 points, Sweden looks more than capable of beating a still-lackluster England team when they meet next week. Nothing seen with England's play suggests that this team can do what no English team has done for 38 years: beat Sweden. Of course, a tie earns England the top spot in Group B, with Sweden finishing second.

T&T has a very outside chance of advancing, but it requires first that it score several goals, something it hasn't yet done, not give up any, and watch England beat Sweden by more than 2 (or at least 2 -- I don't know all the tie-breakers). As between Paraguay and T&T, I'd give an early nod to the South Americans, which has seemed dangerous at times with a woeful inability to finish. T&T has not shown the same offensive aggressiveness, but with nothing on the line but pride, may be more willing to push the attack.

By the way, for you non-gin rummy playing youngsters out there, "schneid" means scoreless.