For the third time in three years, Sweden will face France in the semi-finals of a championship.
The Swedes won the semifinals in the WC 2021, but the national team captain Glenn Solberg still chose to downplay the expectations ahead of the meeting in the EC 2022.
- It is 70/30 to France.
We are underdogs, Solberg told SVT Sport at the time.
Even then it was a Swedish victory.
"Doesn't mean we should be favourites"
But according to Solberg, France are still clear favourites.
- It's maybe 65/35, Solberg laughs when he addresses his comment from last year.
- I still think France are favorites and I think that because they have a lot more experience in this type of game and have won a lot in the last 10, 15, 20 years with these players.
But you have two straight semi-final wins against them?
- It's true.
We believe in ourselves and that we can win the game.
But that doesn't mean we should be favorites against a team that has won the Olympics, World Cup and European Championships in 10-15 years.
Needs to stop the counter play
Solberg believes that the adjustment game will be an important key in the semi-final against France.
- We must rise to our absolute highest level in defense, continue to counter and at the same time prevent their counterattacks.
The semi-final between Sweden and France starts at 21:00 tonight. In the second semi-final, Denmark and Spain meet at 18:00.
CLIP: Gottfridsson on missing the rest of the WC: "Come some tears"
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Jim Gottfridsson's WC adventure is over after the injury.
Photo: Bildbyrån