Sweden advances to the IFAF European semi-finals after defeating Switzerland in the qualifying round
Photo: Sergio Brunetti
By Aidan Wohl
The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) European the semi-finals will again feature Swedish national team after Team Sweden defeated Switzerland 31-6 in the qualifying round last weekend.
It was overall dominance too Sweden who played a solid game on both sides of the ball against an underdog Swiss team that hadn’t played a moment since the loss against Team Russia 36-9 a year ago.
The game showed unpredictability in the beginning which Switzerland jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after Swiss defensive back Jonathan Falk ran back a pick-six on his first defensive snap. In all cases, Sweden was not flustered and remained focused for the rest of the contest. The momentum clearly shifted Swedish sideline, however, after Anton Jallai’s 67-yard touchdown reception that tied the game at six apiece.
As Sweden’s coaching staff had planned, young quarterback Ture Nilsson checked in for Philip Juhlin as signal caller and once Sweden had the game seemingly in hand, Juhlin told the coaches to let Nilsson finish the game. This decision helped in the end Sweden’s efforts. The Swedes kept their foot on the pedal and scored drive after drive on the ground and in the air. Running back Oliver Lundberg assisted the offense and capped a 75-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown on the team’s next drive.
Sweden wasn’t done there though, getting the ball back with 33 seconds before halftime. Nilsson then marched his team down the field and connected with receiver Kevin Börzsei on the left side of the endzone for another six points, giving Scandinavian the team a convincing lead of 19-6 at halftime
The Swedish defensive unit stepped up in the second half, not allowing Swiss a chance to get back in the game.
Anton Jallai wasn’t done after his first half touchdown, he hauled in another touchdown to put them up 25-6.
Cornerback Ben Praspopsin provided a huge spark defensively and put the nail in the coffin for Switzerland after catching a pass to give Sweden the ball with excellent field position and eventually scored another touchdown, giving them a 31-6 victory.
Head coach BD Kennedy and Sweden will look to take on their next opponent in that one IFAF EC semi-final round in 2023.