09:36 AM BST
When is kick off?
The game is due to get underway at 10am (BST).
09:30 AM BST
US Women’s World Cup hopes on the line
Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s coverage of today’s showdown between Sweden and the USA in the Women’s World Cup.
The US team’s World Cup hopes are on the line as the defending champions face a strong Sweden side in the last-16 in Melbourne.
Having topped their group at the last two World Cups, the Stars and Stripes find themselves in unfamiliar territory only scraping through Group E as runners-up.
The four-time champions avoided an early exit by the finest of margins when Portugal hit the post in stoppage time in their final group game, which ended a 0-0 draw.
Vlatko Andonovski’s side are under pressure after failing to win two World Cup group stage matches for the first time in their history, and face a Sweden side who eased into the last-16 with three wins out of three.
It has seemed at times that more attention has been paid to the US side’s political stance throughout the tournament, with many players refusing to sing the National Anthem, than has been paid to their football.
Despite the US’s lack-lustre performances, Andonovski said the criticism of the team was harsh, adding that the women’s soccer landscape has changed in recent years with teams closing the gap to the top.
“We want to (win) everything by five goals. Who doesn’t want to do that, right? But those results are gone,” he said.
For Sweden, the Americans are familiar foes but this marks the first time the two heavyweight sides, ranked number one and three in the world, face each other in the knockouts.
Last time these two sides met at a major tournament was in the Tokyo Olympics two years ago when Sweden defeated the USA 3-0 on their way to winning a silver medal.
However, coach Peter Gerhardsson said history would have no say on Sunday.
“You can talk about revenge or underdog mentality. For me, that’s not going to make the difference tomorrow. It’s the players who play,” Gerhardsson said.
Source link: https://sports.yahoo.com/sweden-vs-usa-live-latest-083328152.html?src=rss