Ljungberg To Miss England Game
Mon 29 Mar, 9:09 PM
Arsenal midfielder Fredrik Ljungberg will not be in the Sweden side to face England in a friendly on Wednesday.
Ljungberg has only recently recovered from a rib injury and both club and country are eager for the player to rest ahead of the Premiership run-in and Euro 2004 in Portugal.
Therefore Sweden coaches Lars Lagerback and Tommy Soderberg have reached an agreement with Gunners boss Arsene Wenger not to play their influential star.
"Wenger doesn't want Fredrik to play," Lagerback told the Swedish media. "But even if he hadn't expressed his views we would still have made the same decision.
"Fredrik can play, we know that, but with a thought to Arsenal's schedule we don't want to contribute to pulling him down even more.
"In the long run it's better for the national team that he rests," he concluded.
Ljungberg had earlier admitted he was caught between the twin demands of club and country as Sweden's friendly against England threatened to rule him out of next weekend's FA Cup semi-final.
Lagerback and Soderberg reached an agreement with Gunners boss Wenger not to play their influential star, even though he was forced to travel home to Sweden, who are celebrating the 100th anniversary of their Football Association.
Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires were withdrawn from the France squad this week and Ljungberg said: "The boss has been speaking a lot with the Swedish coaches and he didn't want me to go - but I just left it up to them.
"We have so many games and my abdominal muscle has been tight since the Celta Vigo game. The boss was a bit worried that I might pull it if I went.
"Am I caught in middle? Yes, I am a little bit. It's a great honour to pull on the Swedish shirt so I left it to both managers to sort it out.
"Everybody understands the dilemma. Especially for Arsenal, we have Chelsea and Manchester United twice each in a fortnight so it's a tough schedule and they are very important games for Arsenal.
"Then there is a friendly for the national team, so I can understand the club's point of view. They don't want you to go as it's not great timing for the game, but that's how it is."
Had Ljungberg figured on Wednesday, Wenger would have considered resting the Swede from the starting line-up for Saturday's FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park against Manchester United.
The Swede believes the England squad will be buoyed by the news that Sven-Goran Eriksson has committed his future to the team by signing a contract extension.
"Of course, it's great news for England as he's a great manager," he remarked of his compatriot.
However, in what is England's final friendly before Eriksson chooses his provisional 23-man squad for Euro 2004, Ljungberg is expecting a relatively makeshift squad to be competing hard for places.
"I think the players would have done everything they could against us in this game, even if he hadn't signed a new contract," he added.
"There will be a lot of hungry players fighting for their places."
