Seger spells out victory intent

It was only fitting that Caroline Seger should be the player to seal Sweden's opening win at UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™. After all, her surname means 'victory' in Swedish.

Power drive
The Linköpings FC midfielder looked equally comfortable robbing opponents of the ball as she did launching Sweden's attacks. One of those was finished off by Seger herself, smacking a powerful right-footer from outside the area and into the back of the Russian net to underline their dominance in a 3-0 victory.

Shooting practice
"I've worked hard on my shooting all year," the 24-year-old told uefa.com ahead of Sweden's second Group C match against Italy in Turku on Friday. "I have to thank my club coach [Magnus Wikman] who has made sure that I devote time to shooting practice."

Possession game
As those who watched her in action against Russia will confirm, the extra work is paying off. Seger had another attempt from long range that forced the Russian goalkeeper Elena Kochneva to go full stretch. It's also a result of a change of emphasis in Thomas Dennerby's team, with the coach imploring his players to retain possession as much as possible.

On the ball
"Our attacks are much longer than they used to be in previous years," Seger continued. "For a central midfielder like me, I'm on the ball more, which is fun. I also get into shooting positions a lot more than before and I hope that means I will get to score more goals."

Tuttino tops
Interestingly enough, if there has been one long-range goal to rival Seger's so far in the tournament, it was that scored by Alessia Tuttino to give Italy a 2-1 win against England. "It was beautiful," said Seger about Tuttino's strike, "more beautiful than mine, because it was scored from further out as well." There is no danger, however, that tomorrow's game will develop into a shoot-out duel between the rival players. "She's probably only ever seen one shot of mine, and I've only seen one of hers," Seger pointed out.

'Tough match'
They may have run out easy winners against Russia but the Scandinavians are under no illusions that a much more problematic 90 minutes awaits them against the Azzurre. "It'll be a tough match," said Seger. "They will probably retreat and not give us much space at the back. I don't think they enjoy a physical game, so we need to play as tough as we can."