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Sweden without Ibra going for win against Dutch
Posted Monday, October 10, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

Sweden must end the Netherlands’ winning streak to qualify automatically for the 2012 European Championship, and will have to do it without suspended star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The Dutch have already won Group E and the Swedes are assured of a playoff spot regardless of Tuesday’s result. But if Sweden wins at Rasunda stadium it will take the last automatic spot given to the best runner-up in the nine groups.

Sweden coach Erik Hamren says beating the Dutch—is “a tough task, but not impossible.”

Ibrahimovic will probably be replaced by Johan Elmander or Tobias Hysen.

While Sweden is largely injury-free, the Netherlands is missing several key players due to injury, including playmaker Wesley Sneijder, goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, winger Arjen Robben and defender John Heitinga.

Standings
    Rank Team W/D/L Pts

    Cities & Stadiums

    The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments

    Year Winners Runner-up Third place
    2008SpainGermanyRussia / Turkey
    2004GreecePortugalNetherlands / Czech Republic
    2000FranceItalyNetherlands / Portugal
    1996GermanyCzech RepublicFrance / England
    1992DenmarkGermanyNetherlands / Sweden
    1988NetherlandsSoviet UnionItaly / West Germany
    1984FranceSpainDenmark / Portugal
    1980West GermanyBelgiumCzechoslovakia
    1976CzechoslovakiaWest GermanyNetherlands
    1972West GermanySoviet UnionBelgium
    1968ItalyYugoslaviaEngland
    1964SpainSoviet UnionHungary
    1960Soviet UnionYugoslaviaCzechoslovakia