Svensson sure Sweden can make mark

Sweden's fortunes have dipped a little since reaching the 2001 UEFA European Women's Championship and 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup finals but that could change at UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ where a youthful-looking squad will go into the tournament in Finland on the back of some great results, beating Germany and the United States to win the prestigious Algarve Cup and defeating Brazil 3-1 in April.

Svensson experience
But lifting the Algarve Cup was someone with 13 years' international experience and a Swedish-record 159 caps, attacker Victoria Svensson. While fellow veterans of the 2001 and 2003 runs like Frida Östberg and Hanna Ljungberg have bowed out, Svensson remains to captain the squad. And she is in confident mood as Sweden prepare to open their finals campaign against Russia on 25 August. "We have a good combination of younger and older players and I think we have a lot of fun on and off the pitch," Svensson told uefa.com. "It's going to be hard. We are in one of the best groups, I think. But first we have to get through it and then we'll see."

New guard
Things looked tougher for Sweden at the end of last year when Östberg and Ljungberg retired from international football, to be joined by goalkeeper Caroline Jönsson after she opted to play in the United States. "We played together for over ten years, so of course we miss them, but new young players are coming that are very good," said Svensson, who tips 19-year-old forward Kosovare Asllani as one to watch in the finals.

England test
Along with Russia, Sweden will take on Italy – who they beat twice in qualifying – and England in Group C in Turku, a short ferry ride from Stockholm. Sweden edged past 2005 hosts England 1-0 four years ago to reach the semi-finals but Svensson is expecting an even tougher examination against a fast-improving force in women's football. "I think England were already good in 2005, and we know that England are doing a lot for women's soccer now, and are going to do more, and they train very hard," the Djurgårdens IF striker said. "So I think that game maybe is going to be the hardest."

Memories
It will be the 32-year-old's fourth European finals, and Svensson has experienced a variety of emotions in her previous three. "My first European Championship [in 1997] was in Sweden," she said. "So it was big for me. My family was watching me, it was my first championship ever, so it was big. The second, 2001, was the most fun, because we went a long way. We lost against Germany in the final, but we got the silver, so of course that's OK. But 2005 wasn't so good. We went out against Norway and I got injured at the beginning of the second half, so it was really sad."

To read Hanna Ljungberg's memories of the 2001 finals click here.

Tickets for the finals in Finland are on sale now, for details click here.