The UEFA Euro Women’s football championship is already in full swing. As the great football legend Pele once said, “Football is a beautiful game” and the performances from this year’s tournament have already demonstrated what Pele meant. The 16 teams taking part in this year’s football extravaganza started showing what they can deliver and one of the promising candidates according to Betsafe, is none other than Sweden.
Betting Favourites
As the UEFA Euro Women’s championship gathers momentum, we look at picking out our favourites to support and bet on. The current champions and the most successful team in the history of the tournament, is Germany, which comes as no surprise. Sweden, on the other hand, are gunning to come out tops in the semi final and move one step higher up the ladder to the finals. Sweden, in this tournament, has a larger percentage of Finnish-Swedish players that adds an interesting mix to it all. Further to this, England has shown their attacking prowess in their first game by humiliating Scotland by six goals to none. Additionally, Spain and Russia may have a chance of progressing to the latter stages of the tournament with stellar performances in their first games. Spain won 2 – 0 against Portugal, while Russia won 2 – 1 against Italy.
Top Performances so far
It’s still early days, but we have already witnessed some great matches. The stand out match in this year’s tournament thus far, is arguably the Germany and Sweden match where Sweden was out to revenge their loss to the Germans in the Olympic Gold match in 2016. This match was a clash of the heavy weights, where two teams faced each other on two big occasions: the Olympic final and the FIFA Women’s World Cup final. Sweden lost both those matches, but put in a stellar performance to put the mighty Germany attack at bay until the 90th minute. Sweden proved to be a threat all night with quick counter attacks. Though the match ended in a stalemate, it was an exciting battle between two of Europe’s best. The England versus Scotland match was definitely a sad event for Scottish supporters, but obviously not so much for English spectators. England was way too much to handle for the Scots who were outclassed by England’s fast, strong and quick play coupled with technically astute players.
Sweden’s Chances
Having stumbled at the semi final stage in the 2013 UEFA Euro Women’s championship in their own backyard, Sweden will certainly be geared up to better their previous results. The country had a commanding performance against Germany, where they were able to absorb the pressure for long periods and counter attacked at opportune moments with their quick strikers. The next match for Sweden is against Russia, who is coming off an amazing win against Italy. Having drawn against group favourite Germany, it seems highly likely that they are going to progress to the quarter final stage. With Germany, out of the picture during the quarter and semi final stages, Sweden has got a really good chance of progressing to the final.
Players to Watch
Lotta Schelin
Lotta is a strong and technically gifted player who loves to play just behind the striker. Regardless of her age (33) she continues to cause players all sorts of problems with her pace. Lotta has developed a knack for scoring important goals on big occasions and Sweden will be counting on her goals to leave an impression in the Netherlands.
Stina Blackstenius
Montpellier HSC’s, striker Stina Blackstenius, is another player who is likely to shine at this year’s championships. After grabbing the golden boot at the UEFA Euro under 19 championships, she will be equally determined to produce the same exploits and land Sweden her maiden UEFA Euro trophy. Stina is equally adept as a creative midfielder and winger. If Sweden can manage to use her versatility, they surely can unearth a gem in Stina.
Nilla Fischer
They say strikers win matches and defenders win trophies. If this adage is true then strong performances from defensive rock Fischer will be crucial for Sweden. Fisher has been a rock in Sweden’s defence for almost a decade and it will be a great occasion to see a wonderful player finally lift the one trophy which has eluded her in her career.
Next Matches
- August 3 Semi Final 1 and 2
- August 6 Final
