Soccer
Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Graham Potter has allayed worries over Anthony Elanga’s fitness ahead of the World Cup as he appeared to suffer a knee injury in Sweden’s 2-2 draw with Greece on Thursday.
Sweden were looking to earn a winning send-off before heading to the World Cup, having been beaten 3-1 by Norway three days earlier.
However, they were denied that victory in the closing stages by Giorgios Masouras, who salvaged Greece a draw in the 95th minute.
Greece had taken a 10th-minute lead through Kostas Tsimikas and almost doubled their lead shortly after, but Dimitrios Kourbelis’ long-range strike struck the underside of the bar.
Sweden turned things around after the break, with Viktor Gyokeres scoring a free-kick to equalise – his 20th international goal – before Gustaf Nilsson put them in front.
But Masouras’ close-range leveller ensured Sweden head to the World Cup winless in two and with an injury worry under their belt as Elanga went down in a training session following the match.
But Potter is confident Elanga will be available for their World Cup opener against Tunisia on June 14.
“I think Elanga just took a knock on his knee,” Potter said.
“The physiotherapist said it was fine. It is not something we are overly worried about right now.”
Elanga added: “I went knee to knee against one of their [Greece] players. Then, out in training, I felt my knee again. But it feels good.
“When you get pain in your knee, you can get worried, but it feels good. It feels calm. The pain will go away in a day or two. It’s completely okay.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s final friendly before the World Cup saw them beat Mali 2-0 ahead of their first match of the tournament against New Zealand in Group G.
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