It is a measure of Sweden’s growing confidence and form that England’s dramatic progress to the semi-finals of Euro 2022 should be regarded as an enticing rather than intimidating prospect. Their coach, Peter Gerhardsson, was bullish about the possibility of confronting the host nation at Bramall Lane on Tuesday.
“I decided to stay in my room to watch the game and I thought it was a really good game of football,” the Sweden coach said of the competition’s first quarter-final. “I wasn’t thinking about England, only the game, but I did think to myself: ‘I would like to play this team and I would prefer to play them here in England’. But I’ll have to revisit that after Belgium.”
Gerhardsson’s belief was not a sign of complacency before Sweden’s quarter-final against Belgium on Friday. Far from it. “We haven’t gone through so it’s nothing we are thinking about at the moment,” he said, when asked about England having two more days’ rest than their semi-final opponents. The expectation is that Sweden will join Sarina Wiegman’s side in Sheffield next week, however, and that brings its own complications.
As Everton’s Nathalie Björn said: “We have a lot of full-time professionals in our squad and we receive a lot of pressure because of that. But we have to respect Belgium because all the teams in the quarter-finals are good. Belgium’s attack impresses me and their result against France [a 2-1 defeat] was very impressive. We have had trouble in the past unlocking defences that sit deep but we have looked at a lot of clips and there are some things in their defence that we can try to exploit tomorrow.”
Belgium surprised many, perhaps even themselves, by reaching the quarter-finals for the first time when pipping Iceland to second place in Group D courtesy of Tine De Caigny’s winner against Italy. The Red Flames had never qualified for a European Championship until 2017 and Sweden’s experience towers in comparison. Inaugural winners on English soil in 1984, this is their 11th appearance at a European Championship. They have reached the quarter-finals or better on each occasion, are unbeaten since last year’s Olympic final and – in second place behind the USA - Gerhardsson’s team are the highest-ranked in the tournament.
England will no doubt join Belgium in hoping for an upset at Leigh Sports Village, although Sweden have won all four previous encounters between the two nations. Against Portugal on Sunday, when a 5-0 rout helped clinch top spot in Group C on goal difference from the Netherlands, it was the guile of stand-in skipper Kosovare Asllani and the powerful threat of Arsenal striker Stina Blackstenius that stood out for the Swedes.
Their aerial advantage over Portugal also underpinned a dominant display that improved as the contest wore on. But preparations for their return to Leigh have not run smoothly. Defenders Hanna Glas and Emma Kullberg both tested positive for Covid-19 this week while veteran captain Caroline Seger resumed training on Wednesday following injury.
“She looked well, so that’s a positive,” said Gerhardsson, who refused to provide an update on the Covid status of his two defenders. “It is a puzzle to fit in the pieces. I feel very sorry for the players who can’t play but we have to keep going. I’m quite creative in coming up with solutions.”
Ives Serneels, the Belgium coach, does not believe Sweden will be diminished by the puzzle facing his counterpart, although he has a clean bill of health by comparison. “When you see the quality of each Sweden player it doesn’t change much, so for me it seems it will be the same,” he said. “We are facing a fantastic European opponent. It won’t be easy, we are all aware of that, but it is a new phase of the competition. It is a one-off and tomorrow evening we will have a winner. That can be a positive for both teams.”
