It was a victory for the Swedish women's football team in the end, 3–2 after Fridolina Rolfö decided on a penalty in the final minute. But Sweden did not make it easy for themselves by conceding a goal just 20 seconds in.
It was an incredibly tough start, it's not how you want to start a match. It became an uphill battle right away, says Rolfö.
Poor start
What happened was that Sweden tried to start the match with a variant directly on kickoff. A pass back to Nathalie Björn was supposed to be followed by a long ball in depth from the Chelsea back. But ...
It was a technical mistake. Usually, such mistakes don't result in goals, but this time it did, says Sweden's national team coach Peter Gerhardsson.
Björn didn't get enough length on the pass, and instead, Italy managed to win the ball and counter to 1–0.
There's a reason we conceded the goal. We had kickoff and were supposed to put the ball very deep into their half. That made us move forward with a lot of people, but then the pass was a few meters too short, and it became a counterattack instead, says Gerhardsson.
"Can't give them anything"
Against Wales on Tuesday, the sharpness will be better from the start, promise the Swedish players.
We just need to be on our toes from the start. That's what we're talking about and are aware of, but we need to remind ourselves of it all the time. When you meet nations with players who are this skilled, you can't give them anything, says central defender Magdalena Eriksson.
You won't concede a goal after 20 seconds on Tuesday?
We'll do everything we can to not do that. I can at least promise that, says Eriksson.
