On the women’s side, it is 20 years since a team other than Sweden, Finland, Switzerland or the Czech Republic won a medal. Then Norway took a bronze medal.
On the men’s side, it was 25 years ago. Even then, it was Norway that took the bronze medal.
The gentlemen have since innebandy.se started keeping statistics in 1985 never lost to a team outside the top four.
The floorball world championship for women is currently underway in Uppsala and there is no indication that there will be a change in the near future. Sweden started their World Cup by beating Slovakia 22-3, then followed up by winning over Germany by 20-0 and ended the group stage by winning over Finland by 9-3.
Finland won both their matches against Slovakia and Germany in superior style while Switzerland and the Czech Republic had no difficulties against other teams in their group either.
– We beat Slovakia in much the same way as we did before, so they have probably not gotten much better, says Åsa Karlsson, national team captain for the Swedish women’s national team.
– They probably have not had so many collections and that is something that does not benefit the smaller nations. The preparations will be so much shorter.
Slovakia national team captain Michal Jedlicka confirms what Åsa Karlsson thinks.
– It has not competed in any sport in Slovakia in two years. We have not even been allowed to train in the last year due to the corona pandemic.
He says that there are more factors as to why Slovakia in particular cannot approach the other four. Worse conditions, fewer matches and the corona pandemic are just some of them.
– We are so incredibly far from the top four.
I had hoped that they would have come further.
Due to the closed league the Slovak national team has hardly played any floorball at all.
– We have five or six players out in the highest leagues who have been allowed to play. It has been a huge problem.
Even if Slovakia loses by big numbers, he still sees something positive in it.
– It is good for the girls to get a feel for what is required. They learn so much from seeing and feeling this level of floorball.
Åsa Karlsson wants to see the other countries approach Sweden.
– It would benefit everyone if there were more teams at the top. That would make the sport more exciting. Ideally, everyone can start giving us a match.
– Emelie Wibron scores in the group stage match against Germany – one of Sweden’s 20 goals.
Photo: Staffan Claesson / TT
Swedish national team veteran Emelie Wibron had hoped that countries that are currently in fifth to eighth place would take a step ahead of this championship. Something she does not feel they have done.
– Slovakia played a great quarterfinal against Finland two years ago (they lost 6-8) and then we beat them so convincingly in the group. I had hoped that they would have come further.
She thought the nations would have narrowed the gap already but still thinks it will.
– More foreign players in SSL (Swedish super league) have started to come from the other countries, something that will make them take bigger steps faster.
Both Åsa Karlsson and Emelie Wibron agrees that Sweden, as a leading floorball country, has a responsibility both to floorball as a sport and to the other countries.
Other sports play training tournaments in other countries to market themselves and Åsa Karlsson says that could be an alternative. In that case, she wants to see cooperation with the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Finland.
– It is something those who plan to watch because it would have been good to do.
– In case we can help and raise the level in the other countries, it is good, as long as we continue to win, says Emelie Wibron.
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