Sweden has dominated the airspace on the Women’s World Cup with its nook kicks, changing them into two victories and a spot within the knockout spherical of the match.
The Swedes have scored 4 of their seven objectives off corners and on almost the identical play each time. A ball curls contained in the six-yard field finds the pinnacle or foot of a Swedish participant in the course of the motion and growth – identical to that – the Blue and Yellow have one other purpose.
At the centre of all of it, has been Amanda Ilestedt, the 5-foot-10 defender who has scored three of the objectives.
Ilestedt, who performs for Arsenal, has leapt excessive over defenders, glancing headers into the web and giving Sweden the game-winner in a 2-1 comeback over South Africa. Ilestedt scored two extra objectives in a 5-0 rout of Italy on Saturday.
Corner kicks are a degree of emphasis for the Swedes. Although the nook kick is probably not as aesthetically pleasing as a purpose after an awesome run down the sphere, all objectives depend the identical.
“We’ve been good at set pieces for a long time. Regardless of what you might think of Sweden’s type of play, you can always look at the details in the game, look at how you can fine-tune,” mentioned Swedish coach Peter Gerhardsson.
Set items are “a structural component where you can do a great deal. Serving the ball up is very important. But you can have different varieties,” he added.
Jonna Andersson, who had three assists on her corners towards Italy, mentioned it’s a talent she has labored arduous at perfecting.
Also Read: Women’s World Cup 2023: Don’t underestimate us, warns Nigeria World Cup coach
“I’ve been putting (in) a lot of time to do corners. I’ve been training hard to have good deliveries,” she mentioned. “Of course, I know that we have a lot of good players in the box, so I need to deliver them.”
And that she does, mentioned Ilestedt, whose three objectives had her tied for the match lead amongst all scorers headed into Sunday night time’s video games.
“We are good at set pieces,” Ilestedt mentioned. “We have good shooters and we know we are good headers so it feels good the balls are coming where they should.”
Sweden will win the group with something however a loss to Argentina on Wednesday. The Swedes know they’ve given all future opponents a facet of their recreation to fret about.
Said Gerhardsson: “It’s an excellent weapon as we move forward.”
