England v Sweden preview
The England women’s football team faces a real challenge this Sunday when they take on Sweden. A side that reached the semi finals of last year’s European championships, are ranked 5th in the latest FIFA World rankings and have a 100% record in their world cup qualifies so far. They are coached by one of the most knowledgeable and respected managers in the game, Pia Sundhage who lead the USA to the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics.
So far this year however Sweden have had some mixed results. The year began with a 3-0 lose to France in which was there heaviest lose of the year so far. The highlight for them so far in 2014 was in this year’s Algarve cup when the defeated the United States 1-0 however they followed this up with a 1-2 defeat to Japan and a shock 1-2 to Iceland. They have however won their last four matches all of which have been world cup qualifiers. They beat Northern Ireland 3-0 and 4-0 and their most recent victory was a 5-0 demolition of the Faroe Islands. There most impressive and important win however came in Scotland when they defeated the hosts 3-1 in a game that could very well have a huge say in who wins European qualifying group 4 for next year’s women’s world cup. Scotland and Sweden both have 21 points however Sweden have a game in hand.
Sweden have a number of great players they can call on but one name to watch is that of their captain Lotta Schelin who plays her club football for Lyon in France. Currently she has 135 appearances for Sweden and has scored an impressive 67 goals.
England bring decent form into the game and have only suffered one defeat so far this year with that being a 2-0 lose to France in the final of the Cyprus Cup. It has to be said that apart from a tough away game in Ukraine (Which saw England win 2-1) England’s world cup qualifiers this year haven’t been to taxing making it hard to judge the progress of the side. The Lionesses have however gained results against top ten opponents with Canada being beaten 2-0 in Cyprus and a 1-1 draw with Norway in La Manga in January.
This game is exactly what England need. Sweden will be a real test and England will have to be at their best to beat them with the defence in for a real workout. It’s going to be a fantastic game and Sports International will be there to bring you all the coverage you need. Kick off is at 2.00pm Sunday the 3rd of April.