shout. The players themselves say that Sweden’s matches have not been completely affected so far.
However, the belief in the gold of the European Championship and captain of the national team Peter Gerhardsson remained.
Sometimes we questioned things internally and they gave us good explanations of why they wanted to do things their way, says Hedvig Lindahl.
After World Cup bronze in 2019 and Olympic silver in 2021, the Swedish national team has put a lot of pressure on its shoulders ahead of this summer’s European Championships.
The goal, to get the first gold since 1984, was not celebrated.
The match in a 1-1 encounter with the Netherlands and even more in a 2-1 win over Switzerland was, in performance terms, a far cry from the effort against the mighty USA in the opening match in Tokyo last year.
But Sweden does not regret the favorite character.
– I don’t believe in that. I know, and we know, what we can do, and the results of the previous tournaments show that we should be able to fight for the gold medal, says left-back Jonah Anderson.
I never think we can regret something like that, but we just play the game we want and know we can go a long way in tournaments.
“No wonder talking about gold”
Linda Sembrandt gets along with her teammate.
– We feel like a strong national team and we can go far, but we know it takes a lot. The midfielder says if we talked about gold it wasn’t anything strange based on the accomplishments we’ve had, and adds:
At the same time, we are humble that nothing is easy. This is where we are. But we don’t regret anything at all.
Hedvig Lindahl says confidence in national team captain Peter Gerhardsson and his assistant Magnus Wakeman remains high.
According to the goalkeeper, this is mainly due to the “clear leadership” from the duo.
Gerhardsson and Magnus were very confident in their idea. Sometimes we questioned things internally and they gave us good explanations for why they wanted to do things their way and we bought their idea and struggled for so many years,” says Lindahl.
quick: “create foil”
Lena Hurtig, who, among other things, started from a position above on the right in the attack against Switzerland, says that she will always accept to play where the captain of the national team puts her.
When it feels like the first half, do you feel like you trust Magnus and Peter? To keep your cool?
In general, sure. And then it turns out that a little frustration builds up the longer it lasts. But they’re very adept at giving us little tactical tips so you can look them up and stay cool, says Hurtig.
So far, Hedvig Lindahl has not felt nervous ahead of the last group match against Portugal. Although the loss means that the search for gold is over.
– now no. There will definitely be some tension and emotions that she wants to make herself known. But we’ll see how you feel, says Lindall.