Shit, this game could have been a sensation, Sweden were doing great. Fighting for every ball and winning them, scoring an early goal, then they concede on a long shot on a counter after a quickly taken freekick.
Sweden were doing better at first, then North Korea took over after the goal. It's all about attitude.
That was a great goal. Great pass and for once Schelin shows how good she can be. Shit Sweden misses an open goal. Wtf.
so sweden still need one or two goals? i will see the game later (because Eurosport broadcast it after the other game usa/nigeria) ...
oh, its ok, i am interested in seeing both games ... the order is not so important ... it was only an explanation why i dont know what happens between sweden and north korea ...
Well Sweden took a pretty good shot at this. It was close. The finishing and decisive passes and first touches in the penalty area sucked though.
Not all was lost for Sweden today, the win kept their Olympic hopes alive (now Denmark has to get a draw against Brazil). They really lost this cup on Matchday 1. And if the Swedes ever make a calendar like Australia did in 2000, please let us know. Holy Moly...
If Sweden could play a full 90 minutes like they did for the first 20 minutes of each half of this game, they could give any team in the world a real fight. Unfortunately... they didn't. So I've heard differing opinions about the Olympics: if Brazil beats Denmark, then Sweden should go to the Olympics automatically, right, with a 1-1-1 record, while Denmark would be 1-2-0?
According to Wikipedia, the top three European teams at the WWC advance (not counting England), so that sounds right. Germany is in, Norway is in unless they lose to Ghana (not likely), so that leaves Sweden or Denmark.
Sweden played well, not superbly, but very well, and it was an exciting match. They were more fun to watch than NK, so it's too bad they will not continue. Schelin was fantastic. Westberg seemed an improvement in the back line, and she should have started all the matches. I recall Svensson being faster in other games and tournaments, not sure if she is injured? NK appeared very fast, but I also thought they very artfully (I don't mean that in a positive way) pushed and body tackled and also took many dives. They are smaller, so sheer physics (against Nilla Fischer, for example) is going to mean that they are on the ground more often from perfectly clean collisions or legit defensive tackles. The ref was also excessive with her yellow cards.
Why Westberg didn't start the other games is a complete mystery to me, and the one obvious bad coaching decision I would pin on Coach Dennerby (who is a good coach with not a lot of extra talent to work with, unfortunately). Svensson ran hard, but perhaps has slowed down since last WWC (she still gets points for sheer determination and willingness to fight for everything). And Schelin? Yes, a great game. Why didn't she do that earlier in the tournament? They played so beautifully aggressively at first, knocking Koreans about, getting to every ball, taking chances, just lovely. I really thought they might pull it off. Sigh. I know, it's all whinging at this point. But Sweden fans should be allowed to whine a little right now, just for a couple more hours or so until the pain lessens...