Since Sweden has already locked up its spot within the spherical of 16 on the Women’s World Cup, coach Peter Gerhardsson stated the collection of his squad for Wednesday’s closing group sport would possibly come right down to who’s well-rested and who might use some relaxation.
The third-ranked Swedes play No. 28 Argentina in Hamilton, New Zealand, on the again of a 2-1 win over South Africa and a 5-0 rout of Italy that cemented the highest spot in Group G.
“I’m not thinking of any obvious starting 11 when I’m talking to the medical team, if there is anything in terms of strains or something that we need to make sure, (since) we’re going to play on Sunday,” Gerhardsson stated.
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He was cagey about who is likely to be within the beginning 11 to captain his squad, saying it will likely be both Caroline Seger, Kosovare Asllani, Sweden’s main goal-scorer with 44, or Magdalena Eriksson.
“We’ve looked at the overall load on the team as a whole, we are at a fairly even keel in terms of the amount of metres run and the number of sprints, etc. It’s a fairly even load across the entire team,” Gerhardsson stated.
“No one is really lagging behind right now, which means that we’ve got a good starting point in terms of training and how the players have fared. There might be minor injuries, for example, which means we’re going to have to have a second look and see what kind of team will play on Sunday.”
Sweden will tackle both two-time defending champion United States, the Netherlands or Portugal within the spherical of 16 for the reason that battle for a top-two spot in Group E goes right down to the wire.
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“No preference whatsoever, three completely different teams,” Eriksson stated. “They’re going to challenge us each and every one of them in their own ways. I’m curious to see who we will be playing but I have no preference.”
Sweden has been one of many persistently good groups on the World Cup stage, capturing three bronze medals together with 4 years in the past in France. It was runners-up to the U.S. on the 2003 match.
Eriksson, who received 4 Women’s Super League titles for Chelsea earlier than leaving for Bayern Munich in May, stated the brand new depth seen on this World Cup is nice for the ladies’s sport.
“It’s so promising for women’s football, it feels like we’ve got interesting players popping up all over the place.”
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com