Sweden subjected Poland to an all-out aerial attack, scoring three headed goals in a 3-0 win to reach the knockout stages of the women’s European Championship, with captain Kosovare Asllani playing the role of air traffic controller throughout.
The mercurial 35-year-old sent an early looping header bouncing off the woodwork before teeing up Stina Blackstenius to open the scoring.
She then netted a header herself after the break, with Lina Hurtig adding a third from a corner as the Swedes guaranteed a top-two spot in Group C and a place in the next round. They will face Germany in their final group game on Saturday to decide who finishes top.
“The plan was to attack through the flanks and through the wings, because we knew we would have a lot of space there, so we tried to attack, and got a lot of crosses in,” Asllani told Reuters.
“The first goal, I waited one second extra, waited for their defenders to move, for me to chip it in to Stina. So it’s three headers, three beautiful goals, the three points.”
The Swedes never relented, pushing down the wings throughout the game.
“We had seen clips where they are centred themselves a lot, so it felt natural for us to go wide and work from there. It worked for the whole game, so we just kept going at it,” midfielder Filippa Angeldahl told Reuters.
“We’ll go through Germany and we’ll take a lot of things with us from today. Obviously we’re strong in the box and we want to get in the box as much as possible.”
With Poland and Denmark now eliminated, it remains to be seen whether the Swedes will adopt the same tactics against Germany when the two sides battle it out in Zurich, and Asllani had a steely look when asked what the plan would be.
“We want to win the group. That’s clear,” she said.
(Reuters)
