Sweden six minutes from cracking the US giant suite

– Sour, of course, that they equalize so late. It still shows strength with us, but we wanted to win this match, says goal scorer Lina Hurtig to SVT Sport.

With three minutes left of regular time, the United States was penalized after Sofia Jakobsson sent off Kelley O’Hara. However, Jakobsson appealed to the judge that the incident took place just outside the penalty area when she went too hard on O’Hara whose legs became entangled in the Swede’s, an incident that began at the penalty area line.

– I try to catch up with her and end up inside. I think I’m trying to break the ball but unfortunately it turned out to be a penalty. I had no idea but she was outside when I saw that she was blowing for punishment. I just tried to follow her and block the post and then she folds in behind me, it was hard to see. It’s super sour, says Jakobsson about the incident.

Nobody WAS on Friends

The incident was not reviewed by VAR.

– The contact she falls on is outside, says SVT’s Sports expert Markus Johannesson.

Megan Rapinoe stepped forward and put it hard and low to the left. Jennifer Falk threw herself into the right corner and was close to reaching the ball which, however, slipped in for 1-1.

At the end of the first sea game, Lina Hurtig nodded in 1-0 via the far post after a left corner. US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher came in between in the tight box.

Rolfö had double chances to make it 2-0

Shortly after, Fridolina Rolfö drove on goal and but Naeher took revenge by going out and cutting off the free Swede’s angle.

At the beginning of the second half, Rolfö again had a great opportunity to put 2-0 but did not get a hit on the ball which was played obliquely inwards back by Sofia Jakobsson after Hurtig’s fine pass in the deep. After just over an hour, Rolfö was replaced in favor of Filippa Angeldal.

Rapinoe was substituted in the second half

Superstar Megan Rapinoe was substituted in the 57th minute and in the end the USA had a hard pressure on Sweden. It could have been a winning goal after the late equalizer.

– It’s a bit mixed feelings because we were so close to beating them. But in terms of performance, we do it very well. We sometimes do it very well and create high-quality chances. We were not far from beating them even though they create their chances. We have to beat them next time, then in a larger context, says national team captain Peter Gerhardsson and adds that he is for VAR.

– And we get that at championships, he says.

The last time the USA did not win was against South Korea in October 2019 when the team played 1-1. Since then, the reigning world champions had taken 16 straight victories. The last loss for the USA was against France in January 2019. Since then, the team has now played 38 games without losing.

On Tuesday, Sweden will face Poland away. The Olympic draw will take place on 21 April.

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