Sweden took the lead already after thirty seconds when the World Cup debutant Clara Lerby scored her first championship goal.
Uzbekistan was cheerful and hung on for a long time in the first half.
Sweden only had the lead with 11-8 after fifteen minutes. Then the national team captain Tomas Axnér felt that it was time for a timeout.
Through the TV box we could hear the words “they are not made of glass” from Axnér.
Sweden let the Uzbek team come to far too easy chances. Despite its physical inferiority, average length 167 centimeters, it was compensated with a huge run in the legs and a good nine-meter shooting.
The half ended 22-11, which meant that after Tomas Axnér’s “hair dryer”, Sweden conceded only three goals in the remaining fifteen minutes.
The Swedish defense was a bit shocked by Uzbekistan and goalkeeper Jessica Ryde had to make a lot of saves. After twenty-five minutes, she had a save percentage of an impressive 57 percent.
In the second half, there was no longer any talk about who was the better team.
After 45 minutes, Sweden had taken a 32-14 lead.
Unlike the eight goals Sweden conceded in the first quarter of the match, they had only conceded three after a quarter of the second.
– We have to be more compact and slam on and we show that we can in the second half, said best scorer Clara Lerby after the match.
About the Swedish defense game gave a lot to wish for in the first half, they sharpened in the second with only four goals conceded.
Sweden scored 20 counterattacks and eventually won 46-15.
All outfielders in the Swedish team scored at least one goal in the match.
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