Stina Blackstenius and Amanda Ilestedt have made it their mission to lead Sweden to a World Cup victory. Blackstenius, Ilestedt, and Lina Hurtig’s triumph in Sweden’s World Cup campaign must have left Gooners pleased this weekend.
Against Italy on Saturday, Ilestedt seemed to have picked up where she left off after scoring an injury-time winner goal through a header in Sweden’s 2-1 World Cup opener against South Africa. Against the Italians, It took the Arsenal defender 39 minutes to give her country the lead through a header from a well-taken corner kick after they withstood the Italians’ pressure in the first half of the game.
After the Blagullt (the Swedish women’s team) went ahead, the Azurre (the Italians) appeared to be in disarray as they conceded a Rolfo Fridolina strike 5 minutes later, and then 2 minutes later, Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius also found the back of the net to leave the Italians 3-0 down at the half time whistle.
Nothing changed after the interval. In fact, Ilestedt completed her header brace five minutes after the resumption. The Italians then had 40 minutes to create a stunning comeback, but they failed to do so; they couldn’t even grab a consolation goal, instead conceding a fifth goal in injury time. After the game, Ilestedt spoke to the media, and she had this to say (as per rfi) about her three goals in this year’s World Cup: “It feels a bit unreal, but I’m very pleased.
“Maybe I didn’t expect three goals, but I know that’s one of my strengths, and it’s something we’re working on a lot at training.”
Truly, after a slow start, Sweden went through the gears and scored from everywhere to secure their spot in the knockout stages. They have arrived and will now be extra confident in their tilt at the World Crown.
Enjoy the highlights! (Thanks to FranceTVSport)
Michelle Maxwell
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Congrats to the Swedes! Welcome Amanda!!!