By MATT BARLOW
Roy Hodgson is regarded as a football visionary in this corner of Europe so the Swedes will have been surprised to hear this confession from the England manager.
‘I’ve never been a great crystal ball man,’ he claimed with a shrug.
But his plans for tonight’s friendly – albeit enforced by a glut of withdrawals – are all about the future. There is a nod to Brazil at Wembley in February, to Brazil in Rio in June and, more importantly, to Brazil and the World Cup finals of 2014.
Three of the starting 11 will win their first caps — Leon Osman, Steven Caulker and Raheem Sterling who, at 17 years and 332 days, will be the third youngest England player since the end of the 19th century.
Only Theo Walcott and Wayne Rooney were younger on debut and Sterling will take his bow in a Stockholm district where another 17-year-old made his name in 1958.
Osman, meanwhile, will be the third oldest debutant since 1954, after Kevin Davies and Steve Bould.
Pele lit up the World Cup final at the Rasunda Stadium, the original national stadium in Solna which is about to be demolished and has been superseded by the 50,000-seat Friends Arena where England take on Sweden for the third time in a year.
Inside, the stadium is immaculate, although the pitch was only rolled out five days before Hodgson’s team trained on it last night.
Outside, there is plenty of work to do and the area is dominated by towering cranes, stacks of containers and hard-hatted workers.
As the construction continues, Hodgson expands his team-building programme. A sign beside the stadium indicates that controlled explosions may occur and thoughts turn again to Liverpool starlet Sterling.
Hodgson, briefly acquainted with the winger thanks to his time at Anfield, said: ‘In some of the games, he has been pretty much a star player for Liverpool and extremely dangerous with his ability to run with the ball, his pace, his directness. He has even scored one or two important goals.
‘Steven Caulker and Raheem have been playing regularly for the Under 21s and have made that transition. Leon Osman is the odd one out, he’s a bit different.
‘He has been performing regularly and well for Everton but has been passed over. I thought it was time to give him a chance because he has been one of the unsung heroes of a very good football team for many years.’
As Hodgson laments the dearth of elite talent available to him in the Barclays Premier League, it proves ever more important to secure those with options.
Four uncapped players with dual nationality are in this England squad.
Although this particular friendly does not have the clout to end interest from elsewhere, at least the point has been made to Sterling, Wilfried Zaha, Carl Jenkinson and Ryan Shawcross.
Hodgson claims to have assurances from FIFA that the paperwork to transfer Jenkinson’s allegiance from Finland will be ready in time for kick-off.
If so, Jenkinson could be one of a maximum six substitutes, as could Zaha, whose inclusion bewildered Sweden manager Erik Hamren. ‘I know some Saha but I don’t know if it’s the right one,’ said Hamren.
Hodgson, who has called 48 players for England duty during his six months at the helm, has resisted the temptation to start with Jack Wilshere.
It looks like a change for the second half, as could be the return of Tom Huddlestone, a fine passing talent lost to injury problems over the last two years.
Both can play vital roles in the World Cup and have a more natural defensive instinct than Tom Cleverley and Steven Gerrard, who will be given the task of controlling Zlatan Ibrahimovic tonight when he drops deep, as he has licence to for Sweden.
Ibrahimovic excelled in this role when the teams met in Kiev in Euro 2012, a game England won 3-2 thanks to a fightback inspired by Walcott from the bench.
The inclusion of Caulker and Gary Cahill, two defenders with strength in the air, may also have been to nullify Sweden’s key assets.
They will be aware that no-one has taken possession of the places in the centre of England’s back four since John Terry’s retirement.
This is Hodgson polishing the crystal ball he claims to be no good at reading.
And all the time, thinking of Brazil.
