England Euro 12: Footballers That Must Have an Impact to Prevent Sweden Upset

England can’t suffer a letdown.

A loss to Sweden would put them in danger of elimination. Here are the footballers who must rise to the occasion for England to advance out of Group D.

Glen Johnson

Johnson has arguably been England’s best player in international competition this year. He’s performed well despite battling through injury. According to Ian Herbert of The Independent, Johnson admitted to playing through a toe injury for a while now:

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"For the last four games of the Premier League [season] I had a toe infection and was playing with three injections just to kill the pain. I've been on antibiotics for pretty much five weeks now and it's still there but it's getting better. I came off them for five days and it got a lot worse, so I'm still on them. They're obviously doing something. It's still there but it's manageable. I'm training but it's generally sore after games. We're in a European Championship: I'm not going to let my little toe stop me. We've got two more games and I want to enjoy these moments and give it every effort I can."

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Johnson must continue to fight through the pain and provide England with a top-notch defensive presence.

Danny Welbeck

In England’s final international friendly match against Belgium, the 22-year old Manchester United star scored the game’s only goal. With Wayne Rooney still out, Welbeck must again have that type of impact for England to defeat Sweden.

According to ESPN, Welbeck promised that his club will be ready to bounce back. He said:

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"You'll see a much more determined England side. We'd have liked a win to start with but we want to get forward and get more goals. We have to get more bodies into our attacking third and create more opportunities. When they arrive, the strikers will be ready to put them in. France was a start for us and we set a platform. We really want to build on that and I think we can improve a lot more. We've got to go out there and get the three points."

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Joe Hart

Hart only allowed one goal in England’s tie against France. He played well, but he’s capable of better.

Dating back to 2011, Hart recorded a shutout in three of his previous four starts with England. In the one game he didn’t finish with a goose egg, though, the Netherlands launched three goals by him.

Whichever Hart shows up will ultimately determine England’s fate. If he can’t shut down Sweden’s offensive attack, England will find themselves in a hole that’ll be difficult to climb out of with just one game remaining. The goalie is the match’s greatest X-factor.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

Follow @TheRealDDaniels