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A Sweden team bereft of any ‘stars’ beat South Korea 1-0 in their 2018 FIFA World Cup Group F opener at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium on Monday night thanks to a second-half penalty from skipper Andreas Granqvist.
After Mexico had blown the group wide open with their upset of Germany on Sunday, the Swedes and the South Koreans were fancying their chances of qualifying from their group.
However, the European nation dominated their Asian opponents for the most part and the decisive moment came in the 62nd minute when match referee Joel Chicas awarded the Swedes a penalty.
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Initially the penalty appeals had been waved away, but after consulting VAR (Video Assistant Referee), the official decide the award Sweden a spot-kick.
Up stepped their centre-back and captain and cooly opened his nation’s account at the World Cup.
Korea had barely tested Robin Olsen in the Sweden goal up until that point but they made a concerted effort from then on and the Blagult survived an nervy 20 minutes to open their campaign with a priceless win.
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Here are the highlights from the eventual tie, the first of three that took place in Russia on Monday:
With the win, Sweden are now joint-top of Group F with Mexico with three points apiece as both share a goal difference of +1.
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They next take on a wounded Germany on June 23, before completing their group stage campaign by facing off with Mexico on June 27.
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Die Mannschaft are still expected to progress to the knockouts, but if Sweden can upset them or even draw their tie, then matters may not be in their hands.
For South Korea, the writing is very much on the wall as they will now have to beat either one of Germany and Mexico, preferably both, if they are to progress to the next stage.
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