The Swedish national female soccer team demolished Ukraine in the Female World Cup preliminary game on August 8 in Kyiv, Ukraine by scoring five goals to none.
The result of this game did not have any practical meaning for either team. According to tournament regulations, only the group leader advances to the finals. After two rounds the Swedish national team was 6 points ahead of Ukraine and led the group. Scandinavian athletes could go down in the table only if they lose their last two games, but considering that they did not waste a single point, no one would expect them to do so. At the same time there are two contenders for second place in the group: Ukraine and Iceland. Our team is leading by one point, but only the game on August 30 will define who will take second place in the group. Nobody expected our team to win against the bronze medalists of the recent European Cup, but the girls could definitely have played better. The score really did not reflect the real game. True, the guests dominated Ukrainian team, but their advantage was not as great as the score would indicate. It is just that they used every opportunity to score, while the Ukrainian team wasted theirs. Sweden's victory with more pleasant score would have been more just. Remember that in the home game the Swedes won by scoring only three goals against two.
In terms of sports criteria, the guests were obviously in better physical shape. They could easily outrace the Ukrainian girls and their dribbling skills were also better. They managed to watch what was happening on the field while they possessed the ball, while Ukrainian girls seemed to see nothing but the ball. Correspondingly they made many errors in passing.
Unfortunately, the game with the national team of Iceland may be the last opportunity to win for Ukrainian national team in the World Cup series. Consider that even if Ukraine wins second place in the group, in the following games we will face Germany, the European champion, or Norway, the World champion. Can we hope for success if we lose five to nothing when playing with the bronze medalists of the recent European Cup?
Photo by Volodymyr Rasner,The Day:
The guests' joy knew no bounds







