Following on from Sweden’s 2-0 win over Russia we spoke to Bayern Munich attacker, Fridolina Rolfö about the match and where she thinks she best fits in with the team.

A question of tempo

The dominant side in the game, Sweden, whilst bossing possession still struggled with some of the basics throughout, a goal in each half enough to see them scoop all three points against a defensively resolute Russia,

In the beginning of the game it was pretty low tempo, I think we fell into Russia’s tempo which wasn’t good because we can have a higher tempo with better passes and higher quality. In the second-half we had the higher tempo but with poor passes and we missed a lot of chances. But I’m really happy because the result was good, we won 2-0 and we scored goals which was the most important thing.

A regular starter of late, Rolfö was consigned to the bench for the start of the game giving former Linköping teammate, Stina Blackstenius a start after she had performed so well at the Olympics following Rolfö’s injury. The personnel change was slight and nowhere near as drastic as it could have been and although she would rather have started, Rolfö was more than happy to come on at the break and play alongside Blackstenius,

You’re sitting there on the bench preparing and looking at the opponents on the pitch and getting ready, of course I wanted to play from the start but it’s Pia [Sundhage] who choses who plays from the start but I thought I was as prepared as I could be when I came on.

The moment of the match easily could have been when Magda Eriksson lofted the ball over midfield for Rolfö, the rangy attacker able to bring the ball under control with a silky first touch before volleying at goal, her shot just too lively to dip under the bar soon enough. A fine touch and effort, the attacker was left frustrated that she couldn’t find the target, bluntly saying,

I was disappointed that my shot wasn’t good enough.

Numbers

With Sweden playing a 4-4-2 Rolfö routinely starts up top with Lotta Schelin, but with the likes of Blackstenius, Pauline Hammarlund and Mimmi Larsson on the bench it sometimes feels like coach, Pia Sundhage is forcing square pegs into round holes, a change of shape or personnel possibly a better approach. When asked where she thinks she plays best on the pitch, Rolfö took time to think about her response,

It’s hard to say, in this team the forwards play next to each other, elsewhere you play a #9 or a #10, you know? I think I’m more of a ten but right now we’re not playing like that so I think that this is the best position in this team for me, right now.

Much like Eriksson, Rolfo is hoping the team can stay the course and find themselves amongst the medals come the end of the tournament,

We hope to finish 1, 2, 3; to get a medal – that’s one thing you dream about all the time – so I really hope we can go the whole way but we if we get to the quarter-finals from the group then we’re happy and we go from there.

Unable to find a win in their opening game against Germany the team was in high spirits after a tough 90 minutes in Breda earlier in the week, with time to evaluate the Swedes remain happy with the result, anything other than a loss to Germany a plus,

We were happy we didn’t lose, it was many years since we won against Germany so you can’t be said for drawing especially when they had the ball most of the time so we were happy but still we had a really good chance and of course we wanted to win the game but it felt good and we still have one more important game before we can start thinking about anything else.”

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Sophie Lawson
Neutral football fan travelling around Europe, covering matches and bothering footballers for interviews