Sweden hangs on, beats South Korea, 1-0, in ugly game

FINAL SCORE: SWEDEN 1 - SOUTH KOREA 0

Of all the soccer games I have seen in my life, that was certainly one of them.

Sweden hung on to beat South Korea, 1-0, Monday in their World Cup match, a game that was marked as much by referee’s whistles as any sort of actual soccer. Here, let’s try to find some nice things to say about this game:

1. Son Heung-min had a few times when he got in open space and ran at Sweden’s defense, and it was exciting and fun. He was usually kicked by one of those Swedish defenders a few seconds later, but there were brief moments, however fleeting, where he found some daylight, and it looked like there was the chance that some soccer might occur. It never really did, but it felt at a few times that it might.
2. Sweden’s Andreas Granqvist took his penalty nicely.
3. The weather looked pretty good at the stadium.
4. The players all get fresh air and exercise.
5. At halftime I had a bagel. It was toasted and yummy.

The win gives Sweden 3 points and moves them tied with Mexico to the top of Group F.

Here was the goal:

GOAL FOR SWEDEN — ANDREAS GRANQVIST FROM THE SPOT AND IT’S 1-0.

PREVIEW

Sweden and South Korea will kick off Monday’s World Cup triple header. The Group F match will take place at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia at 8 a.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports Go.

Sweden is playing in its first World Cup since 2006 and 12th in team history. South Korea, who has some pretty cool uniforms, will try to get out of the group stage with help from striker Son Heung-min.

Sweden and South Korea Lineups

Sweden vs. South Korea time, TV channel, and streaming info

• Time: 8 a.m. ET
• Location: Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Novgorod, Russia
• TV: FOX Sports 1 (English), Telemundo (Spanish)
• Streaming: Watch the game on Fox Sports Go (English) and Telemundo Deportes en vivo (Spanish) for free if you sign in with your TV provider. It’s also on subscription services like Fubo and Hulu.
• Odds: Sweden -0.25 (full odds at OddsShark)
• For listings from more countries, check out Live Soccer TV.

No, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not at the World Cup

It seems strange to watch Sweden play without their larger-than-life striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but he is not with the team in Russia. Depending on who you ask, that’s either because he wasn’t healthy enough, he was too old, or — if you ask him — there’s a massive media conspiracy to keep him out of the team. Fun!

Son Heung-min will be the spark for South Korea

Son Heung-min plays his club football for Tottenham, where he’s proven to be a brilliant, energetic winger or striker who can change a game with his pace and power. The South Korea side will look to defend well and then counter by getting the ball to Son in space. If Sweden loses track of him, even for a moment, that might be enough to get in trouble.