Swedes wear tactics on their sleeves
It is raining so much in Gothenburg that the whole town a couple of years ago decided to just admit defeat and start shaping itself to receive the elements.
To draw attention to the city’s 400th anniversary in 2021, a project called ‘Rain Gothenburg’ was launched.
Playgrounds stacked with lily pads and drainage pipes were built; poems were engraved into manhole covers; and in one of the city’s large squares, polar bear footprints were drawn with special paint so that they only appear when the sky opens up.
Swedes like to think outside the box.
Maybe that’s why they have taken the unusual step of laying out a plan for how to beat their excellent women’s soccer team on their new jersey, which will be worn at this summer’s European Championships.
Printed on the shirt itself are helpful gold nuggets such as: “Sweden is one of the fastest played teams in the world and also one of the very best on counterattacks – do everything you can to regain the ball once you drop it, try to force the Swedes down the players on the sidelines and shut them down aggressively. “
Refreshing transparency, shameless marketing or misguided arrogance?
“I think everyone knows these things,” Sweden President Peter Gerhardsson (above) said at a news conference on Monday.
“If they do not know, buy the shirt! All countries are well scouted on teams and players and stuff.”
Gerhardsson spoke about the humility of his players in other places in the world – “they are a very good group and they are very good people” – but he was sincere in his disapproval of the “underdog tag”. He wants his side to be favorites.
“I do not like to be underdog. I do not like to talk about … that you like to be underdog. You like to be a winner. When you win and you start something, it is more (down to) something you have done.
“If you’re a favorite or (have a) good ranking or something, that does not mean you win the next match, (but) it’s nicer. These players, I think they like to win and they like to be favorites.
“We know Ireland are a good team. They are well organized, and in every team you need key players. Ireland have some very good key players who can win the game. Now we know.”
The Swedes will really be favorites when they go in search of the points they need to qualify for the World Cup.
It is expected to be the best part of 15,000 participants at Gamla Ullevi Stadium – potentially an audience record for a Swedish women’s international match – and make no mistakes, they will go there and expect a home victory.
But Ireland has a history in Gothenburg. As early as 1995, Sonia O’Sullivan won 5,000 m gold at the World Athletics Championships at Ullevi Stadium – Gamla Ullevi’s big brother, an impressive multifunctional 45,000-seat.
At Gamla Ullevi in 2006, a rising coach named Stephen Kenny led Derry City to one of League of Ireland’s big European wins when they won 1-0 against IFK Gothenburg in the UEFA Cup.
Vera Pauw will certainly expect her players to stand up and at least make this difficult for their hosts, who made the last meeting between the countries 1-0 in Tallaght thanks to an own goal by Louise Quinn.
“It was a really tough match for us,” says Chelsea defender Magdalena Eriksson.
“I like playing against Katie McCabe. You can see that she is a very competitive person. She loves to win and she loves to play this type of match. She is also a great player.
“Ireland is a really structured team, really good defensively. I think it will be a tough match tomorrow but we will do everything we can to take three points.”
On average, it rains once every three days in Gothenburg. Twenty-four hours outside the kickoff, the sky was azure, with the sun shining through a chilly breeze. It sets the stage nicely for what is likely to be a carnival atmosphere.
Every Wednesday, Gothenburgers adopt the national custom Lillordag (‘little Saturday’) – a mini celebration in the middle of the week where people treat themselves to a drink, a meal, a gathering of friends.
It’s now over to Ireland to literally ruin the party.
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Watch Sweden vs. Ireland (Tuesday 12 April, 5.30 pm), live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, with a live blog on the RTÉ News app and RTE.ie/Sport