Sweden heads to Women’s World Cup looking to end run of near misses at big tournaments

Peter Gerhardsson took a moment, then laughed to himself as he pondered the question many in women’s soccer are asking.

Just what will it take for Sweden to end its long wait for a major international trophy?

“The next step,” the Sweden coach told The Associated Press, “is to score the penalty shot.”

Such are the fine margins the Swedes have been treading at the big tournaments over the past decade or so.

A penalty-shootout loss to Canada in the final of the Olympic tournament in 2021. An extra-time loss to the Netherlands in the 2019 World Cup semifinals. A loss to Germany in the 2016 Olympic final. Exits at the semifinals of the European Championships in 2013 and last year.

It’s a tale of woe that would floor many people closely associated with the team.

Not Gerhardsson.

He simply puts it down to “one of those things” and prefers to take the positives. Essentially, if Sweden’s players keep putting themselves in these good positions, one day they will hit what he calls the “winning formula.”

Maybe that time will come at the upcoming Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

“I don’t believe in being a ‘winner’ or anything like that,” Gerhardsson said in a phone call. “We are competing in a sport where many different things can happen in a game.

“You look at the Olympics (in 2021) where Caroline Seger missed a penalty. I don’t think you can say that if she’d have put it in, we have a better team than in the Euros last year or this World Cup coming now. I don’t believe in that kind of thing.”