Sweden impress against Canada
Saturday, March 31, 2012
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UEFA Women's EURO 2013 hosts Sweden returned to form with a 3-1 friendly win against Canada in Malmo thanks to goals by Caroline Seger, Lotta Schelin and Kosovare Asllani.
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UEFA Women's EURO 2013 hosts Sweden bounced back from their disappointing finish to the Algarve Cup with a useful 3-1 friendly win against Canada in Malmo.
Having lost 4-0 against both Germany and the United States to come fourth in Portugal earlier this month, Sweden dominated on their return to home soil. Caroline Seger opened the scoring in the seventh minute before Lotta Schelin and Kosovare Asllani added to the lead in the second half prior to Sophie Schmidt's late consolation strike.
Sweden were on top from the start against the Cyprus Women's Cup finalists and within 20 seconds Seger had fired wide. She soon made amends, stealing the ball inside the Canada half and lobbing in from 35 metres.
Thomas Dennerby's side continued to run the game, and Schelin showed with flashes of pace and technique that she had every intention of joining Seger on the scoresheet. Sofia Jakobsson in particular combined well with Schelin, but it was still 1-0 at the interval.
The visitors' best chance before the break came through Schmidt, a close-range effort after Sweden's Charlotte Rohlin had failed to clear the ball. However, Hedvig Lindahl in goal stood firm and six minutes into the second half the lead doubled, Schelin starting and finishing the move, involving Jakobsson in a one-two before slotting in from a tight angle.
Asllani was one of many second-half substitutes, and she made the most of her comeback after more than a year out of the team. She collected a long ball from Seger, brushed aside two defenders and got off a quick shot that beat Erin McLeod in goal. With three minutes to go Canada's Christina Julien crossed from the left and Chelsea Buckland headed the ball into the path of an unmarked Schmidt who made no mistake.
"The problem when we lost in Algarve was not the system, but the individual performances within it," said Dennerby, whose next game is in Scotland on 26 May as they continue their Olympic preparations. "Today we used our skill, and that gave us the win. Seger was brilliant, but she had good back-up."
