Swedish midfielder Hanna Bennison’s rapid rise to European Championship 2022
Six years ago, Hanna Bennison was one of many young soccer-loving Swedish girls who sat in front of the television and watched wide-eyed as her role models in the national team danced their way to the 2016 Olympic final in Rio de Janeiro.
“I loved watching them play and dreamed that one day I would be here too,” Bennison, who was just 13 at the time, told UEFA.com. “I didn’t think it would happen in a few years, but it was my goal to make the national team.”
Six years later, the 19-year-old is not only realizing his dream of playing for Sweden in a major tournament, but doing so alongside his heroes: Eleven of the 2016 squad are still in the team today. “It’s incredible,” she beams. “I looked up to a lot of these players, so to see them play and play with them means a lot. It’s huge for me.”
At the age of 11, Bennison decided to devote all his energies to football and moved to Malmö to play for FC Rosengård, making his first-team debut as a 15-year-old. Just over 12 months later, she received her first call-up to the Swedish national team. “It all happened in a very short time,” she admits.
Bennison suddenly found himself playing alongside Caroline Seger – who made her international debut when Bennison was only two – both at Rosengård and in the national team. “She was someone I looked up to a lot when I was growing up,” says the midfielder, who is sitting next to Seger in Sweden’s dressing room. “She’s such a great player and person. I’ve learned so much from her and, more than anything, she’s always very supportive and encouraging.”
Sharing a locker room with several of her childhood heroes isn’t something Bennison daunts, though: “There’s a lot to learn from them, but you don’t think too much about the fact that they’ve been your role models once. You’re out there on the field. “
That attitude served Bennison well when Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson decided to bring her off the bench against Switzerland in their second group stage game with the teams locked at 1-1. The teenager had only been on the pitch for 12 minutes when the ball landed at her feet. “I guess I thought ‘shoot,’ and then I saw an opening and just went for it,” she says.
The result was one of the tournament’s best so far. “It was magical to score a goal like that – especially at the EURO – and it was my first goal for the national team,” she reflects. “I just felt pure happiness. Many people wrote to me, and my family stood in the stands with tears in their eyes. It was a special moment.”
Now England await in the semi-finals – opponents Bennison, who joined English Women’s Super League side Everton a year ago, knows all too well.
“We have a lot of players who have experienced English football and a lot of the English players play in the league here as well, so it means you’ve already met most of them,” she explains. “I think that could be an advantage for us.”
However, Bennison has his sights set beyond Tuesday’s final four matchdown. “We dream of going all the way and winning it,” she says. “It’s going to be tough, but I think we can do it.”