It was a relatively inexperienced Swedish national team that gathered in Gothenburg on Wednesday, at least in terms of which players are missing compared with recent squads.
In addition to players who have retired, last week the news came about team captain Kosovare Asllani's serious knee injury.
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd is, however, present during the gathering, but trained on Wednesday on her own because of a calf injury that has also kept her out for Chelsea.
Double internationals
The information I have received is that right now it is day to day, says Tony Gustavsson.
When we get closer to the match and there is a decision, the medical team will inform me. Then we will have to make a decision whether we have to replace her in the squad or if she can sit on the bench.
The national team will face Denmark in Gothenburg on Tuesday and Serbia in Stockholm next Saturday, two important matches in the qualifiers for next year's World Cup in Brazil.
With Kosovare Asllani's injury, the team loses the routine of her 203 international matches. Add to that the fact that veterans Linda Sembrant (160 A-international matches) and Magdalena Eriksson (123) retired last autumn and that Jonna Andersson (112) retired in February this year.
"You can't deny that we already had quite large holes to fill when it came to leadership," says Tony Gustavsson.
Add to that, for example, that Nathalie Björn is injured, and it is clear that we have holes to fill.
Created leadership group
At the same time, the national team has regained goalkeeper Zecira Musovic, who had a baby last fall, and center back Amanda Ilestedt, who had been injured.
"There is a lot of experience that has disappeared in a very short time, players who were the backbone of the team," notes Amanda Ilestedt.
Not least "Kosse" recently; she has been the backbone of this national team. It will certainly be noticed, but it's up to the rest of us to step up there.
Who will be the team captain against Denmark and Serbia has been decided - but it is not yet official, according to Tony Gustavsson.
What I'm glad we did is that last fall we introduced something we called team captains, he says.
Instead of putting all the responsibility on someone to step in and become "Kosse", we distribute the leadership responsibility among several people, so that it becomes a leadership group.
Facts: Sweden's World Cup qualifiers
Sweden plays in Group A1 in the European qualifiers for the 2027 Women's World Cup.
Sweden started March with a 1-0 away draw against Italy, but a few days later only managed a 0-0 away draw against Serbia.
The group winner qualifies directly for the World Cup in Brazil, while the teams finishing second, third and fourth will face playoff games this fall.
Remaining Swedish qualifying matches:
April 14: Denmark (home).
April 18: Serbia (home).
June 5: Denmark (away).
June 9: Italy (home).
