– It’s a completely indescribable feeling. We have fought for this for so many years and now we have finally managed to take this step. “In all my years in the national team we have not managed to do this and we have never been able to play in a medal match,” said Sweden’s best defender Maja Nylén Persson on TV4.
“I’m really proud of this group, the way we blocked shots and I have no words for Ebba (Svensson Träff) in the effort to score,” she continued.
Nylén Persson was, as always, one of the best on the ice and national team captain Ulf Lundberg wanted her on the ice as often as possible.
– When you’re picked up by the team, you don’t think about how much you play. “You just do everything you can to win,” said the 25-year-old, who played just over 30 minutes.
Nylén Persson and his teammates will play in the semi-finals on Monday.
– It hasn’t really sunk in yet, she says.
It has It’s been a difficult few years for Swedish women’s hockey.
After reaching the semi-finals in Sochi 2014 – when Sweden finished fourth – the Three Kronor women were nowhere near playing for Olympic medals. In 2018, they finished second to last among all teams, and four years later they got a big boost in the quarterfinals when Canada won 11-0.
Sweden also hasn’t had success at the World Cup for many years. They last won a medal in 2007 and last reached the semi-finals in 2009.
On Friday they had the opportunity to show that the future is here – and that it is bright. They took it.
Sweden had reached the quarterfinals by surviving the group stage in Milan undefeated. The quarter-final opponent, the Czech Republic, on the other hand, had only won one game on the way to the quarter-finals.
But then it must be pointed out that Sweden played in the group with the five lowest-ranked teams and the Czech Republic played in the group with the highest-ranked teams.
Now they were played off against each other. Two teams with big dreams. Sweden hasn’t won an Olympic medal in 20 years; back then it was silver. The Czech Republic has never done this.
When the quarterfinals were over, Sweden’s dream was still alive.
In and with Since the Czechs were playing in the highest-placed group in Milan, they were used to a faster pace before the quarter-finals. For Sweden, on the other hand, at the beginning of the game it was all about playing in a controlled manner in order to somehow get up to speed.
And after hardly having to think about defensive play in the group stage, it was clear that it was also a Swedish priority in the opening phase.
The first section ended goalless, but the Czech Republic was significantly better in terms of play.
The first goal of the game came in the fifth minute of the second period.
When Sweden got the opportunity to play with another player for the first time, they made sure to take advantage of the opportunity.
The 27-year-old national team veteran Hanna Olsson, who made her national team debut eleven years ago, scored the important 1-0 goal after a really good game by the Swedish team.
This goal gave Sweden courage and the Swedish players appeared on the ice more and more, but no further goals were scored during this period.
The Czechs The third third began at a rapid pace and completely dominated the opening.
It was clear that this was a team that was in the hunt and Ebba Svensson Träff – who played brilliantly at the Olympics – had to work really hard in the Swedish goal.
Midway through the game, Swedish goalkeeper Thea Johansson suffered an unnecessary sending off after obstructing the Czech goalkeeper. A golden chance for the Czech Republic to equalize, but to Johansson’s relief they missed the 1-1 goal in the penalty area.
However, the Czech Republic’s quest for an equalizer continued and although the Swedish players were heavily pushed back, every single player worked hard to secure the long-awaited semi-final.
Just over four minutes before the end of regular time, it was Thea Johansson who ended up in the penalty box again. But this time too, her teammates managed to put an end to a Czech goal.
Instead, Hilda Svensson could definitely decide the game when she scored 2-0 with an empty goal 25 seconds before the end of the game.
It is not clear which team Sweden will face in the semi-finals.
