A real dare to Zlatan

Ibrahimovic a world-class striker cut an isolated in the first two games in the group stage. Moreover, the fact that the team hasn’t even managed a single shot at goal says volumes about the poor performance of the Swedish. There is no one to play a foil to Ibra. At 33, Kim Kallstrom fails to adapt to the rigours of box-to-box play. He was solid defensively, but failed to control the midfield and was dismal in attacking. Emil Forsberg was also talked about in the run up to the games but he failed to exert any influence in the matches. The Swedes managed a single point in the first two games and they need to win the match against in-form Belgium to qualify to round of 16. They do qualify even if they salvage a draw only if results in other game go in their favour. 4-4-2 formation employed to make best use of their tall forwards Ibra and John Guidetti is not working, sadly they do not have much depth in the squad to make a tactical change. Ibra, who is probably playing his last international tournament, has to produce something truly spectacular, to keep the team in contention. On the other hand, the Belgians need a draw to qualify to the round of 16. After, facing a lot of flak from press and pundits after dismal performance in the first match, they bounced back in a truly spectacular fashion. Much of this was down to tactical tweaks and a resurgent Romelu Lukaku. They will look down to take inspiration from the previous fixture. Coach Marc Wilmots will retain the line up, Axel Witsel and Moussa Dembele will look to control the proceedings in the midfield and they have a fabulous attacking trio of Hazard, De Bruyne and Carassco to aid Lukaku in his goal scoring exploits. The inclusion of Meunier in place of Ciman at right back added much needed bite to the back four and the centre half pairing of Toby Alderweireld and Thomas Vermaelen were as solid as they get. With Thibaut Courtois between sticks, it is hard for the Swedes to score. The match might produce Ibra special moments but the Belgians have more in them to overcome any threat.