We nearly saw the upset of the century, as 54th-ranked South Africa lost a heartbreaker to third-ranked Sweden on Sunday morning in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Banyana Banyana struck first in the match with a quick goal right out of the halftime break, and while Sweden looked sluggish following the score, it found life in the 65th minute thanks to an unconventional goal from Fridolina Rolfo. Then came the decider, a crafty header put away by Amanda Ilestedt in the 90th minute.
The Swedish squad flexed its clutch muscle when it needed to, earning three points in the victory despite an early scare. A loss, in fact, would’ve marked the largest World Cup upset ever. For the “World Cup NOW” crew — Jimmy Conrad, Leslie Osborne, Karina LeBlanc and Alexi Lalas — although things looked bleak at one point for Sweden, it has no reason to hang its heads.
Osborne: “This is what Sweden does. They’re so good in set pieces, [Kosovare] Asllani just a served a great ball in, they’re using their height advantage. … Sweden just looked — they were missing that final piece, that execution. They weren’t able to have that executing piece in that final third the whole game.”
LeBlanc: “If this stands, the one takeaway Sweden walks away with is they’re confident, and they found a way. And it’s the first game of the World Cup, we know it’s not always the prettiest game of the World Cup for most teams. You can find a lot, and if anything, they’ve got that heart, that desire. They made their way through it, they were down … and I think they just found a lot of character in this game.”
Lalas: “I’m really happy for Sweden.”
Osborne: “If I’m Sweden right now, I’m so happy to get that win. I don’t care what y’all say about, ‘It’s just Game 1.’ If they would’ve just walked away with a tie, to get those three points, and like you said [Kristina]to find a way to come out with those three points, I think is massive how you start a World Cup.”
Lalas: “Well [someone on Twitter] said ‘This is heartbreaking, man. Sweden has really stolen a victory.’ What the hell are you talking about? Sweden didn’t steal anything. They were the better team, and in the 90-plus minutes, they did what they needed to do. This wasn’t a smash-and-grab.”
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