Sweden may even miss the World Cup qualifiers

Sweden starts with a historic failure right at the World Cup premiere in Riga.

First ever loss against Denmark in a World Cup final.

And worst of all – the Danes deservedly won.

Now I am very concerned about this Swedish team.

They may even miss the playoffs.

Yes, what a start and what a dirty match by the Swedes.

A miserable failure.

Without in any way diminishing the achievements of the Danes.

They made the perfect match.

The same Denmark that scored their first historic win over Sweden late on April 29, when they won 3-2 in the Nordic Cup in Malmö – after twenty consecutive losses.

I would have preferred to see it as a guarantee that it would not happen again.

Sweden, who have 11 consecutive World Cup wins against Denmark, are 58-17 in goal and have never been close to losing points when it really matters.

Now I feel empty as if I sat in the stands during the Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002 and just saw Trey Kronor lose the Olympic quarter-final against what was then Belarus in 2002.

Damage can be repaired

The same 4-3, the same clock that was ticking at really bad speed when the Swedes pressed to equalize at the end.

Of course, this loss was not bitter. Then Sweden was wiped out, and now they still had a chance to repair the damage.

And now they are waiting for the same Belarusians who are now called Belarusians.

Yes, already tomorrow Sunday.

This is in a situation where Sweden cannot lose a single point.

There should be three points each against Belarus, Slovakia and the United Kingdom, which is the real group berry.

In this case, I do not even dare to hope for points against Russia or the Czech Republic.

Yes, not even Switzerland which has a strong squad in Riga as it was when they played the World Cup final against Sweden in 2013 and 2018.

There is an obvious danger

No, there is a clear risk that Sweden will miss the qualifiers and history will be written in that case.

Now the Swedes must hope that Denmark does not continue to bark, because they have three points up front and a mutual encounter that could put them ahead of Sweden at an equal final table.

Yes, it is easy to see the future in the dark on a day like this.

I find it difficult to highlight one Swede afterwards.

Hill would be Nils Lundqvist in this case, or Karl Klingberg who still scored two goals and his streak of goals with Oscar Lindbergh and Bar Lindholm. They are still creating in the future.

But the biggest player in the match was the Danish Niklas Jensen, who scored three goals and played until the fourth goal.

He was the star and he lacked the captain of the Swedish army.

Yes, Sweden was on the bridge from the start, when the Danes dominated and won shots in the first half with a 7-3 score.

Then Nikolai Mayer offered Sweden 1-0, when he released Karl Klingberg in his area.

He must have had a stroke, when he served the Swede with a perfect pass.

Klingberg was clinical at the end when he lifted the ball into Sebastian Dehm’s left cross.

Then I sat and waited for the effect of Swedish ketchup, especially that the captain of the Danish national team is called Heinz.

But it was old lecturer Heinz Eilers who cheered, as Niklas Jensen led 1-1 with a pike into the club and set up Victor Fast.

But when Henrik Tomerens shot 2-1 out of the blue, in their second dash cross, the pulse dropped again.

Now it will probably run out anyway.

Be the king of bananas

No, the same Jensen who made 1-1 had to stand completely clean in front of the Swedish goal and raise 2-2 with a backhand and straight kick into Fast’s left cross.

Even more perfect, a point cannot be placed in the form of a cross.

Then after 36 seconds the same Jensen.

Now he found Emil Christensen with an excellent pass in the castle and he shot directly Christensen.

The score was 3-2 against Denmark before the end of the first half.

And both goals came in four games against four, when I thought the Swedes would be the ones to dominate and dominate.

The 28-year-old, who held a Danish and Canadian passport, was the king of the course.

I remember Niklas Jensen from his season at AIK and SHL 2012-13.

I have registered until then.

He did not finish in this match.

When Denmark gained a numerical advantage about midway through the third inning, Jensen found a cross pass behind Fasth once again.

My bed is like at 2-2, but with a shot in the wrist this time. The score was 4-2 for the Danes.

The decisive goal of the match became like the historic goal of Denmark.

Read more about the 2021 Hockey World Cup:
Great guide with everything about Hockey World Cup: schedule and TV times
Here is the Tre Kronor World Cup Hockey Team
All news about the 2021 Hockey World Cup

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Published: May 22, 2021 at 13.46

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