Next summer, the soccer World Cup will be decided in Australia and New Zealand, and right now the Swedish national team is in Melbourne to face Australia in a training international match on Saturday.
Gerhardsson believes that the long journey for a single match is worth a lot.
Next year's rep important
He mentions that there is a lack of an international window, and therefore opportunities to play training matches, at the beginning of next summer.
This means that the retraining after arriving in New Zealand, where the team later plays the World Cup premiere against South Korea, becomes extra important, he says.
- That match will be our only match after April.
It is not at all the same arrangement as it was before the Olympics and World Cup 2019. This trip allows us to keep a close eye on when the match can be played, says Gerhardsson and continues:
- We know that we will land on the 12th of July at some point and the 23rd is our first WC match.
It will be very important when we play this match.
"Respect for the opponent"
Gerhardsson also believes that it is important to face non-European teams and that they cannot only host teams at home.
Australia is one of the teams Sweden has faced at home.
- We have to go somewhere and play against these countries.
We can't just count on everyone coming and visiting us.
One thing is, of course, respect for the opponent, we have to invite back.
Australia to us.
The World Cup is here and they wanted a home game.
This is actually the best opportunity to meet them.