If Sweden had only won that penalty shootout in Yokohama, in the Olympic Games final against Canada in 2021, Gerhardsson's legacy would have shone even stronger. And who knows how far it would have gone in Switzerland, if Thursday's penalty drama in the quarterfinals against England – in many ways a repeat of the one in the Olympic Games – had gone Sweden's way.
But all analyses now feel pretty meaningless. Right now, it's more emotions … you get a little melancholic. You feel a sense of sorrow, you're sorry that it ended like this, says Gerhardsson after the European Championship exit in Switzerland.
No one can, however, take away from the 65-year-old what he has achieved with the Swedish women's national football team.
Thåström tribute
Something you must have done right when a side filled with yellow-clad Swedish fans pays tribute to you. The blue and yellow supporters on site had arranged a banner with inspiration from one of music nerd Gerhardsson's favorite artists, Joakim Thåström:
"You are one of those who shines. Thanks a lot, Peter"
It was fantastic and then I got extra happy … they must know a little what kind of music I listen to because it was Thåström lines there. He's probably my biggest favorite, so they managed to put that together very well, says Gerhardsson.
It was emotional and beautiful from their side. Then I would have liked to stand there and win the match.
Replaced by Gustavsson
Remaining from before Gerhardsson's time is the hardworking Sweden, a team that runs more than their opponents, struggles and toils until the last drop of sweat. But the now departing national team manager has also given the players the belief that they can be ball-possessing, creative, and attack-oriented. Formations and tactics, however, play a lesser role if they don't yield results, and during the eight years with Gerhardsson at the helm, Sweden has taken Olympic Games silver, double World Championship bronze, and reached a European Championship semifinal.
This legacy is now up to Tony Gustavsson to manage. The 51-year-old takes over the national team manager job on August 1, with Johanna Almgren as assistant. The duo is quickly thrown into the deep end, already in the month of October–November, the final in the Nations League awaits, where Sweden will meet Spain in the semifinal.
What awaits Peter Gerhardsson is unclear. And he doesn't know when, or if, he will take a proper farewell from the Swedish national team.
One has worked very intensively during a period now, so one needs to come to terms with everything. And when one has done that ... we'll see. But I have no idea.
