Sweden defender Olof Mellberg admits he hopes Wayne Rooney loses his appeal over a three-match Euro 2012 ban.
Swedish star keen not to face England star at Euro 2012
Sweden defender Olof Mellberg admits he hopes Wayne Rooney loses his appeal over a three-match Euro 2012 ban.
The striker will appear before a Uefa disciplinary panel on Thursday in the hope of having his suspension reduced following his sending off in the qualifier against Montenegro in October.
If Rooney's ban is upheld it means the England star will miss the Group D matches against Mellberg's Sweden, France and co-hosts Ukraine.
Former Aston Villa defender Mellberg is a big admirer of Rooney and he prefer not to have to face the Manchester United star as he knows the striker would pose a massive threat to Sweden's hopes of progressing at next summer's finals.
Experience
"Yes, Rooney is a great, great player and already has a lot of experience for Manchester United and England," Mellberg told
The Guardian.
"Rooney is England's best player and, of course, they would miss him. He's young, he's done really well and has a lot of experience in major championships and that would help England too.
"But England had a lot players missing when we played them at Wembley [last month] and they did well. England have more players to choose from than Sweden. If we have two or three players missing, we are probably more affected than England.
"We always do well against England in tournaments, but it's a tough group for us and our first game against Ukraine in front of their own fans will be really tough for us as well.
"We have massive teams like England and France to play, so we'll have to be on the top of our game."
Stay tuned to Sky Sports News and skysports.com today to find out the outcome of Rooney's appeal.
