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At Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington: Sweden 5 (Amanda Ilestedt 39’, 50’ Fridolina Rolfo 44’, Stina Blackstenius 45+1’, Rebecka Blomqvist 90’) Italy 0 HT: 3-0
Group G points (Games played). Sweden 6 (2), Italy 3 (2), South Africa 1 (2) Argentina 1 (2).
Sweden are headed for the knockout stages of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Tokyo Olympic silver medallists annihilated Italy 5-0 at Wellington Regional Stadium on Saturday night on the back of a set-piece masterclass to move three points clear in group G, booking their place in the round of 16 with a game to spare.
Bruce Mackay/Stuff
Centre-back Amanda Illestedt scored two of Sweden’s five goals.
Sweden left it late to beat South Africa in their opening game. Their second match against Italy could not have been more comfortable or comprehensive. The contest was essentially over by halftime.
The 2019 bronze medallists and 2021 Tokyo Olympic silver medallists struck gold with their set-piece supremacy.
Three of Sweden’s four goals came from pinpoint corner-kicks delivered by Jonna Andersson.
Two of them were scored by centre-back Amanda Illestedt, who has surprisingly found herself as the joint leader in the golden boot race. Illestedt’s presence in the box also helped contribute to another.
The 1.78m-tall defender broke South Africa hearts with a late winner in their first game. She was on target in both halves against Italy, taking her tournament tally to three.
Sweden took complete control of the game after scoring three times during a devastating seven-minute period at the end of the first half.
The floodgates opened when Anderson aimed a corner at the near post and Illestedt rose highest to meet the ball, flicking it past Italy goalkeeper Francesca Durante.
Illestedt made a nuisance of herself on the second goal too.
Durante tried to claim for the ball but was outmuscled by the Sweden’s defender, allowing Fridolina Rolfo to fire the ball into an open goal.
Sweden scored again two minutes later, with a well-worked team goal which involved quick interplay from captain Kosovare Asllani and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd down the right.
After playing a one-two with Aslanni on the edge of the penalty area, Kaneryd played a pass across the face of goal, which ran across to Stina Blackstenius.
Sweden should have had a fourth before halftime when Lucia Di Guglielmo produced a tame pass back to her goalkeeper, which was intercepted by Blackstenius.
However, Durante raced out of her area and produced a last-ditch tackle to prevent further embarrassment.
Nothing was going to stop Sweden from scoring a fourth though.
Their aerial bombardment continued in the second half and Illestedt added her second from yet another corner, five minutes after halftime.
Even when Italy had a corner, Sweden scored.
Substitute Rebecka Blomqvist hammered the final nail in the coffin when she sprinted clear from a defensive corner to complete the rout in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Star forward Rolfo has been struggling with an ongoing knee injury but she managed to get through 60 minutes before being replaced, making this a near-perfect night for the Swedes.
While Sweden’s place in the round of 16 is already guaranteed ahead of their final match against Argentina in Hamilton on Wednesday, Italy will have to bounce back quickly from Saturday’s mauling.
They play South Africa back in Wellington on the same night needing a win or draw to salvage second.
South Africa and Argentina have just one point each and must-win their final matches to have any hope of progressing.
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