The Spanish women's team has just reached the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time in history. In major tournaments, this team is always highly rated, controlling the ball well, but like the men's team, they have problems scoring goals.

The Spanish women's team often outperform their opponents in ball control. Photo: Getty

Consistency is something fans are not used to seeing in Spanish football, both men's and women's. At the 2023 Women's World Cup, coach Jorge Vilda's team started with two wins over Costa Rica 3-0 and Zambia 5-0, but surprisingly lost to Japan 0-4. Fortunately, Spain regained their form after that, winning consecutively against Switzerland 5-1 and the Netherlands 2-1.

Meanwhile, the Swedish women's team had a rather slow start at the 2023 Women's World Cup. They only barely beat South Africa 2-1 when they were behind. But then, Sweden returned to the image of an invincible machine. They "destroyed" Italy 5-0, defeated Argentina 2-0. In the round of 16, Sweden had to face the number 1 candidate for the championship, the United States. However, they excellently held the United States to a 0-0 draw in 120 minutes of play, before overcoming their opponents in the penalty shootout. In the quarterfinals, Sweden had to face a Japan team that had been playing well since the beginning of the tournament. But the European representative still played disciplined, tight, outperformed the Japanese in one-on-one battles and then defeated their opponents with a score of 2-1.

Spain lost to Japan 0-4, while Sweden beat Japan 2-1. Of course, there is no comparison in football, but in terms of stability, Sweden is rated higher than Spain. Remember, Swedish women's football has always had very stable achievements in recent years. They reached the semi-finals of EURO 2022, were runners-up at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won 3rd place at the 2019 World Cup. Meanwhile, before the 2023 Women's World Cup started, the best achievement of the Spanish women's team was runner-up at EURO 1997, and reached the round of 16 at the 2019 Women's World Cup.

The Swedish women's team impressed by eliminating the defending champions USA. Photo: Getty

However, in terms of Europe, Spanish women's football always has outstanding individuals. They currently own the reigning Golden Ball for women Alexia Putellas; 9/23 players of the Spanish national team are playing for Barcelona Club - the current champion of the UEFA Women's Champions League. Meanwhile, most of the Swedish players are playing in England with outstanding individuals such as: Filippa Angeldahl (Man City), Blackstenius (Arsenal), Amanda Ilestedt (Arsenal), Zecira Musovic (Chelsea)...

The strength of the Spanish women's team is the ability to control the ball and possess excellent individuals who can bring about high breakthroughs. The strength of Sweden is a solid playing style, reasonable team distances that help them attack and defend comprehensively. In addition, the courage and stability in the playing style help Sweden be rated higher than Spain by experts. It will be a match where Spain dominates the ball, but the courage of a veteran team will help Sweden overcome difficulties at the right time.

Expected lineup

Spain: Coll; Hernandez, Paredes, Codina, Battle; Bonmati, Abelleira, Hermoso; Redondo, Gonzalez, Paralluelo.

Sweden: Musovic; Bjorn, Iiestedt, Eriksson, Andersson; Jakobsson, Bennison, Rubensson, Hurtig; Rolfo, Blomqvist.

HOAI PHUONG

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