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Sweden to play England to open Swedbank Arena

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Sweden to play England to open Swedbank Arena

England will take on Sweden in a friendly next year to mark the opening of a new national stadium in Stockholm.

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Fabio Capello's side face the Swedes in a friendly at Wembley on Tuesday as part of their preparations for Euro 2012.

And in a reciprocal deal, the English Football Assocation have agreed to send a team to be the first opponents at the new 50,000-capacity Swedbank Arena on November 14 next year.

The new stadium, which is still under construction, boasts a retractable roof and is located just outside of central Stockholm in Solna municipality.

England also played the first match at Sweden's current national stadium, the Råsunda, in May 1937.

By next November England will be under new management as Capello plans to step down at the end of the Euro finals in Poland and Ukraine.

Capello's successor will hope to improve England's poor record against Sweden.

Tuesday's meeting will be the 22nd between the two teams, with Sweden boasting the remarkable record of not having lost to England since 1968.

However, England also handed Sweden its worse defeat ever, trouncing the Swedes 12-1 in a match played in London back in 1908.

Originally opened in 1910 with a capacity of 2,000 people, Råsunda was expanded to its current size in 1937.

The stadium is one of only two stadiums in the world to have hosted both the men's and women's World Cup finals.

In 1958, the Brazilian men's squad defeated the host nation Sweden to claim its first ever World Cup title.

And the Norwegian women claimed World Cup gold in 1995 by defeating Germany 2-0.

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