A 3-goal blitz simply earlier than halftime helped Sweden to a dominant 5-0 win over Italy in Wellington on Saturday as they booked their spot within the Girls’s World Cup knockout stage with a match to spare.
Amanda Ilestedt scored the primary of her two targets within the thirty ninth minute when she obtained up properly to move residence Jonna Andersson’s nook and additional efforts from Fridolina Rolfo and Stina Blackstenius inside seven minutes ended the match as a contest.
Centre half Ilestedt discovered the web as soon as once more shortly after halftime — her third of the event — and substitute Rebecka Blomqvist accomplished the rout in stoppage time.
Italy dominated possession early on however couldn’t take care of the Swedish aerial menace at corners and the 2003 runners-up handed them their worst defeat in a World Cup match.
The Italians had all of the early strain and Sweden goalkeeper Zecira Musovic was pressured into motion to avoid wasting ahead Sofia Cantore’s shot within the first minute and one other from the Juventus ahead within the seventeenth.
Sweden step by step labored their approach into the sport and Ilestedt’s first aim flung open the floodgates.
Rolfo obtained her second aim of the marketing campaign 5 minutes later with a flick off her knee from shut vary because the Italian defence struggled to take care of one other nook.
The third aim got here from open play in first half stoppage time when Johanna Kaneryd broke down the appropriate flank and crossed the ball to Blackstenius within the center for the striker to complete.
Ilestedt’s second aim within the fiftieth minute was a carbon copy of the primary, because the Arsenal defender headed one other into the web off a nook from Andersson.
Cantore missed probabilities within the sixtieth and sixty fifth minutes and Valentina Giacinti spurned an ideal alternative to tug one again for Italy within the 87th as she despatched a shot from the center of the field hovering over the bar.
The final Sweden aim got here on the finish of the match when Blomqvist raced away from the Italian defenders and buried the ball within the backside left nook of the web.
Though a hammer blow to Italy’s confidence, they’ll nonetheless advance to the final 16 by avoiding defeat of their remaining Group G fixture towards South Africa on Wednesday.