The fact that the national team keeps Sweden awake around midnight and is playing a World Cup knockout match is an achievement in itself.
It's not just hockey that moves fast.
For those who may have forgotten: In October, the national team was in ruins, mentally flattened, mocked and condemned under John Dahl Tomasson's leadership.
Graham Potter hit the reset button when he took over in November, mixing his ideas with a realistic adaptation to the players he had at his disposal.
Overcoming adversity
From clarity, a clear focus and commitment, a playoff-winning team emerged, with the ability to quickly overcome adversity, something that was evident against Japan in Dallas after the blowout against the Netherlands in Houston.
But France is something else entirely. “Les Bleus” have, during Didier Deschamps’ final weeks as national team captain (he has been in charge since 2012), looked like a near-perfect version of a football team. So far, the expectations of one of the biggest gold favorites have been met.
Potter will arrive for kick-off at 11:00 PM with an eleven in development, although he believes it is steadily making strides, which should be able to challenge for titles in the future, preferably in the European Championship playoffs in two years.
There is no shame, nothing strange at all, if the World Cup is over for Sweden around 1 am on Wednesday. In that case, it is completely in line with the strength of the teams, collectively and player for player.
But as Yasin Ayari, the clever midfielder, pointed out pithily and with a mischievous smile before leaving Dallas:
The ball is round, anything can happen.
City of Opportunities
New York isn't called the city of opportunity for nothing. A short trip west from the city that never sleeps, Potter does his utmost to convince the players that there is a chance for a super-shock.
It's small, but it's there, as it always is.
Could Paraguay, can Sweden? Belarus knocked out the Tre Kronor in the Olympics, Greece won the European Championship final in football against the home nation Portugal. Miracles happen, sensations occur and grasping at straws is allowed.
"Physically, emotionally, mentally, we have to play our best game yet, we have to be as close to perfect as we can be. Everyone has to help," Potter said.
This is a game you might only get once in a lifetime. We don't know when we'll get to play a knockout match in a World Cup again. We're facing a world team, in a World Cup in this stadium in New Jersey - and we're looking forward to it.
