"I’m optimistic that Smilla can play tomorrow’s match. We have a medical and physio team, and Smilla has been extremely professional over the past three days in doing everything she can to be fit to play. So we hope she can play tomorrow, but we won’t know until then," Tony Gustavsson said at a press conference in Kaunas on Thursday.
If Holmberg, who played in all six of Sweden’s World Cup qualifying matches this spring, is fit to play, it would not be a wild guess to say she could also start the first leg of the World Cup playoff.
Since she is otherwise completely healthy - it’s not a muscle injury, but a taped foot and a sprain. So she can play. It’s not about how many minutes she can play, but whether “the foot will hold up or not?” And there I trust my staff and Smilla, Gustavsson said.
We have a plan for her to play, and if she doesn’t, the players know who will replace her if she can’t play.
Gustavsson also announced that both Filippa Angeldahl and Nathalie Björn are available to play after their respective injury problems.
Everyone is available, the national team coach said.
Kick-off in Kaunas is at 18:05.
What: Lithuania–Sweden, the first leg of the first round of the World Cup playoffs.
Where: Darius and Girėnas Stadium in Kaunas.
When: Kick-off at 18:05 on Friday evening.
TV/Radio: SVT/Radiosporten
This is how Sweden qualifies for the World Cup:
The winner of the two-legged tie against Lithuania will face the Czech Republic or Scotland in a decisive playoff in November/December for a place at the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.
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