[ad_1]
KOLDING: Norway will not play Croatia yet, as expected. At midnight it became clear that the Netherlands will be the first opponent in the main round.
Big cheers in Japan last year when the Netherlands took the gold. Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB
Sweden and France rebel. They believe that the Danes have turned the fighting program in their favor. The organizer has changed the game schedule to favor his, are statements that are coming in Aftonbladet. The head of the Swedish national team, Tomas Axnér, is not polite.
The point is that Sweden should face Montenegro on Thursday and then Denmark on Friday and France on Tuesday. Now Sweden is left with the host country on Friday, Montenegro on Sunday and France on Saturday. The Swedes had prepared for what they thought was another opponent, another day.
I did not follow
– Nothing to scream. This is basically a setup that has been around the entire time, to ensure that a host country can sell tickets for their matches. This is not the case these days, but normally Norway and Denmark had to know when they could offer tickets. The two countries would initially organize together, with finals in Norway. That was before Norway withdrew.
That’s what TV2 expert commentator Bent Svele says. He believes that Swedes should read it in small print in the manual.
– They may well attack the system. I’m not saying that the mid-round game system is necessarily correct, but it is understandable that it should be.
It has been said all along that Norway, as an example, will play 10-12. and on December 15 in the intermediate round. The Danes have not changed this. Then there is a broader discussion about whether the system is fair or not.
The starting point for what many saw as a turnaround was that Denmark lost to France on Tuesday night and thus “only” came second in their group. France continues with a pot full of points, as does Norway.
Tess Wester in goal and Laura van der Heijden rejoice that the match is decided and the oranges have won the World Cup gold. Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB
Will be prepared
The coach of the national team, Thorir Hergeirsson, and his players know it and are not carried away by the stick. This means that the game against the Netherlands must be prepared first.
And that opponent is not just anyone. Holland won the last World Cup.
– They were saved by winning against Hungary on Tuesday night, but otherwise it is a team that Norway should beat. We are very strengthened by the championship in Japan last year. They are weakened, but of course we must have respect for the Netherlands.
Star player Estavana Polman is one of those out of the team. He destroyed the cruciate ligament in July.
– Why was it assumed that Norway would come out first against Croatia?
– For the first match of the intermediate round it has often been with the winner in another group. And that was Croatia. Now Norway is starting to win against all three, says Svele.
In a team meeting with the press Wednesday morning, assistant coach Tonje Larsen said:
– We must be the best in changes. We were first prepared to meet Croatia and we started watching videos with them. So at least we are on track with preparations for that match.
Larsen thinks the setup was ready before the start.
-There was a misunderstanding in the party setup who will meet whom, but we can’t spend as much energy on that. We can’t do anything about the fact that yesterday we thought it was Croatia.
Larsen believes that Norway finds itself with a fast-paced team. There are new profiles that have the opportunity. They have deluded themselves. We must take them seriously.
The match will take place on Thursday night at 8.30 pm on TV3 / Viasat
