“We Will Knock Out the US” – Ahead of Facing Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, Rival Star From Sweden Issues a Strong Warning to the USWNT

Before the FIFA World Cup started, many expected the USWNT to steamroll their way to the finals. After all, they are the defending champions. However, the favorites for the tournament have massively underperformed so far. The Alex Morgan-led side managed to barely make out of the group stage thanks to the Portuguese finding the woodwork more than the back of the net.

All said and done, the USWNT has qualified for the knockout rounds where they will be having a stern test against Sweden who have already started playing mind games.

A Swedish defender makes a bold claim ahead of their knockout fixture

USWNT’s performance against the Portuguese clearly showed the world one thing – the Americans aren’t as sorted as they were hyped to be. After a streaky win, confidence won’t be the highest in the American camp which is why Sweden’s Nathalie Bjorn’s pre-match comments are a great way to start the psychological warfare.

Speaking to GOAL, the Swedish defender boldly expressed her confidence to knock out the US from the World Cup. “We will have full focus on Sunday. We will do everything we can as a team, as individuals, and then we’ll make sure that we will knock out the US,” said a confident Nathalie.

The defender further expressed her confidence by flexing Sweden’s knowledge of hurting the USWNT. But despite the confidence, she admitted that it will certainly be a tough task.

“We are confident, and I think we know how to hurt them, but it’s gonna be a challenging game and we have a lot of respect for them. It’s a really, really good team who won the last World Cup,” opined Bjorn.

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But are these just tall claims or does Sweden actually have a plan?

It looks like they really do. 

Nathalie Bjorn reveals Sweden’s gameplan to defeat the USWNT

Nathalie was then asked by the journalists to reveal the so-called plan which made her sound confident. Surprisingly, the Swedish player gave a gist of the approach her team will undertake against Megan Rapinoe & Co.

As per Bjorn, the Sweden NT will cut off the ball supply to Alex Morgan & Co. USWNT thrives when they have the possession as their dribbling skills and tempo controlling are a class apart. The Swedes will hence try to press higher up the pitch and retain the ball amongst themselves.

“When you play football, we want to have the ball and if the US has the ball too much, they are going to control the game. We don’t want them to control the game,” opined Bjorn. “We want to have the ball and create our own chances, we need to be very critical in our press and try to make them force mistakes,” she told ESPN.

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Do you see the Swedes succeeding against the USWNT with this plan of theirs? Let us know your thoughts below!