Sweden’s footballers have not yet fully lived up to the high expectations in their homeland. Although the Scandinavians have four points after two group games, the offensive performance of the Olympic bronze medalist can still be improved.
Both in the opening game against European runners-up Netherlands (1-1) and in the 2-1 win against Switzerland, the highly praised attacking forces around Fridolina Rolfö, Kosovare Asllani and Lina Hurtig did not come into their own as expected in the run-up to the European Championship . The Italy legionnaires Asllani (AC Milan) and Hurtig (Juventus Turin) are still waiting for their first goal of the tournament, the former Wolfsburg player Rolfö (FC Barcelona) at least scored 1-0 against Switzerland.
Midfielder Hanna Bennison and defender Jonna Andersson have scored the other two goals in England to date.
Sweden in the attacking game with air up
Magnus Wikman, assistant coach of the 1984 European champions, does not believe that the attackers have only played a supporting role in Sweden’s appearances. “We need to come up with more players when the opposition is deep. It’s our duty as coaches to make sure of that. And I hope we’ll be able to do that,” said the 51-year-old ahead of today’s clash ( 6 p.m. CEST) with Portugal.
The words, spoken by Peter Gerhardsson’s assistant, suggest that Sweden want to tackle the task boldly, although a draw is enough for the team to advance.
But experience has shown that playing for a draw is difficult. And in the event of a defeat, the northern Europeans would even be threatened with the end if the Netherlands did not lose in the parallel game against Switzerland. In this case, Portugal would advance to the last eight because of the direct comparison.
Portugal feels comfortable as an outsider
Despite their good performances against Switzerland (2:2) and the “Oranje” team, the Iberians will go into the match as underdogs. And they backed up this role themselves by praising their opponents to the skies. “They are very strong defensively and when they win the ball they switch very quickly,” said midfielder Andreia Norton.
For her teammate Jéssica Silva, the Scandinavians are among the absolute top favorites for the European Championship. “Sweden have six of the top ten players in the world in their team,” explained the attacker. The 27-year-old from Benfica Lisbon expects an open exchange of blows: “Both teams will play to win.”
Lindahl praises Swedish defensive performance
However, it should be difficult for Portugal, who have enjoyed a very carefree and technically fine attacking game to date, to create many chances to score. Because when working against the ball, the Swedes knew how to convince in their first two matches. “Our defensive play has been very good so far. We only allow very few chances to score. That will also be important against Portugal,” explained assistant coach Wikman. Goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl, who at 39 is still a world-class player, agrees: “A lot of people probably have respect for our defensive performance.”
“Juve” star Sembrant before tournament debut
This circumstance is all the more remarkable because in Linda Sembrant one of the defensive columns failed in the first two games. But against Portugal, the 35-year-old central defender from Juventus is about to make her tournament debut. “I don’t feel anything from the injury anymore,” said Sembrant “SVT Sport”. She had sprained her foot in preparation and then suffered from calf problems. “I really want to play now,” says Sembrant, looking forward to her first assignment.
However, it is questionable whether she will be allowed to play against Portugal from the start. Because unlike the attack, Sweden’s defense has been convincing so far.