Sweden met Poland on Thursday and won clearly with 33–25. Just over a day later, Romania awaits, a team that Sweden should beat. That Romania also gets 2.5 hours less rest between Thursday's match (against France) and Friday's match against Sweden is not a disadvantage, according to Tomas Axnér.
It benefits us to get a few hours more rest than Romania and we should, with a good night's sleep and plenty of food, be ready for battle, he says.
It's clear that it's tough to play two matches within a day. At the same time, I feel that we should be prepared for it, I know that my players are extremely well-trained. No one is on the edge and has minus energy, so I'm not worried.
Axnér played quite hard with his starting lineup in the match against Poland, instead of substituting in the second lineup earlier in the match to let players rest.
It depended on Poland's defense, we played with those who are most used to playing against a 5–1 defense.
The players would, of course, have preferred a rest day between the matches.
But it's just a matter of accepting the situation. But it's positive that we played an early match today, because it's always hard to fall asleep after late matches. Now we can wind down, eat, and get treatment, and have a tactical meeting already this evening, so it'll be calmer tomorrow, says Nathalie Hagman.
Jamina Roberts says it's not optimal to play two days in a row.
So it's lucky that everyone does it. We consider ourselves to be well-trained and good at recovering, hopefully we can show it tomorrow, says the team captain.
The match against Romania is scheduled for 15.30 on Friday.
