England Captain Williamson Believes ‘relentless’ Sweden Are Threat At Euro 2025

The England captain, Leah Williamson, has said Sweden merit much respect and that their beardown grounds astatine awesome tournaments should beryllium spoken astir much frequently, arsenic nan 2 sides hole to meet successful Thursday’s Euro 2025 quarter-final.

Sweden person reached nan knockout stages of each Women’s European Championship since 1995 and person been successful nan semi-finals astatine 3 of nan past 5 Euros. They person besides vanished 3rd successful nan past 2 World Cups and claimed metallic medals astatine some nan Rio and Tokyo Olympics.

Williamson, however, feels Peter Gerhardsson’s broadside spell nether nan radar and are often underestimated. “Sweden are a awesome team, they’re relentless successful nan measurement they spell astir their game,” nan Lionesses centre-back said. “I deliberation they benignant of debar nan anticipation of each tournament, and cipher really talks astir them, [which is] somewhat disrespectful, I think, because they ever show up and they ever look to airs a threat to astir teams, and usually travel retired pinch a badge aliases [be] a semi-final team, truthful they’re a beardown team. We’re looking guardant to nan fixture.”

England person scored 10 goals successful their past 2 games to suffice for nan quarter-finals successful style contempt losing their opening lucifer against France, and Williamson admitted it had been an “emotional group stage, [with] tons of ups and downs” for nan defending champions, but added: “It’s been a awesome show of our attacking shot [against Wales] and evidently that’s really you triumph games.”

Sarina Wiegman’s broadside had six different goalscorers against Wales, including Williamson’s Arsenal teammate Beth Mead, who said England had watched Sweden’s triumph complete Germany connected Saturday. She said: “They [Sweden] airs a very different threat and it’s a squad we person played a batch successful nan past and hopefully we tin nullify what they’re very bully astatine and bring our strengths into nan game.”

Before their upcoming gathering successful Zurich, England and Sweden shared 2 draws successful 2024, but their astir caller gathering successful a awesome tourney ended successful a 4-0 triumph for England astatine Bramall Lane successful their Euro 2022 semi-final.

“We’ve sewage a batch of acquisition against them,” added nan England midfielder Georgia Stanway, whose punishment opened nan floodgates against Wales connected Sunday. “Obviously they’re tough, they’re physical, they’re much direct. I’m not judge we’ve faced that truthful acold successful our group.”

Asked if she felt England had nan precocious manus against nan Swedes, nan Bayern Munich midfielder Stanway replied: “Not necessarily. It’s tourney football. Anything tin hap successful 90 minutes. I deliberation we conscionable request to proceed wherever we’ve been. If we person nan strength that we had against nan Netherlands, if we property nan measurement that we pressed, if we triumph nan shot backmost arsenic overmuch arsenic we did … we tin only power what we tin do.

“Today we attraction connected what nan consequence that we’ve conscionable had and really proud we are to get retired of nan group. There’s been galore days successful this tourney wherever we could person really been going home. So to beryllium successful this business to beryllium staying a fewer much days is thing that we tin proud of.”