It is an overuse injury that is bothering, more detailed than that Magdalena Eriksson does not want to be. The feeling came after she played the entire European Championship rehearsal against Norway for just over a week ago, and not until Sunday could she train fully at the women's football team's base in Cham.
It's going in the right direction. There has been a feeling that has been lingering a bit. But it's really going in the right direction, says Eriksson.
Dumb position
She admits that it is a disadvantage that she is a centre-back. It is a position that Sweden's national team coach Peter Gerhardsson does not want to waste his substitutions on. In Friday's premiere win against Denmark (1–0) Nathalie Björn and Linda Sembrant – the latter replaced Magdalena Eriksson – got to play the entire match while Eriksson was left on the bench.
That was the tough part on Friday. You should be a 90-minute player when you're a centre-back and above all be 110 percent ready to play European Championship matches, says Eriksson.
The European Championship premiere was not what she had hoped for. But the evening was no less nervous because she was stuck on the bench.
”Completely exhausted afterwards”
It was of course very disappointing. But I still felt the same thrill and adrenaline even though I wasn't involved on the pitch, says Eriksson.
How are you on the bench in such a match?
Yes, it was a bit interesting to feel. I was very engaged. I had a screen where I saw everything, so when they checked on VAR (a penalty situation after the ball hit Madelen Janogy's hand) I got very excited and felt that it was absolutely not a penalty, says Eriksson.
You "play" the match after all, just in a different way. It becomes that you play the match mentally even though you're just sitting there. So afterwards I was completely exhausted.
