Sweden Needs to play well (Post Courier 14/11/16)

Team Sweden during the FIFA U20 Womens World Cup in PNG
picture by Mark Talia Post Courier Photographer 

By FIDELIS SUKINA

Sweden will need to play well in their next FIFA U20 Womens World Cup game to keep their chances alive to remain after the group stage.

Their performance was good against Korea DPR but will certainly improve in their next match after their 2-0 loss to Korea DPR, when they take on host nation Papua New Guinea in their group A match on Wednesday 7pm at the Sir John Guise Stadium.

Papua New Guinea, who lost in a record 9-0 at the hands of Brazil, will be looking for improvement but the Swedish women will be out to take advantage of PNGs lack of experience.

Sweden coach Calle Barrling said they were the European Champions in their division and they were not out of form as yet, they played against a tough team in Korea DPR but they coped better in their second half than their first.

“We stopped the dominance of Korea DPR in the second half, but they were too skilled and we got stressed in attacking and lost the ball on occasion.

“We could not make use of the ball higher up in their goal area, shows we were not that skillful, but they were good, and played like the favorites Japan hope we get to improve again if we meet them,”.

He said the weather was not that hot but it was the humidity that was a big concern for the Swedish women.

“It was not that hot but it was certainly humid, we would have coped with the heat it wasn’t that high, but it was a highly competitive physical battle that saw the best team win,” Barrling said.

Papua New Guinea will again have a tough game, as Lisa Cole and the Papua New Guinean women look to dig deeper than just a game to build experience.

Cole said in a post match interview yesterday after their 9-0 loss that she was proud of the team, even though the shoreline was harsh on them; she added that they were first timers and would gain much experience as they could.