Olympics 2020: How Sweden managed to keep a clean sheet in their victory over Australia – tactical analysis

Australia faced Sweden in the semi-final of the 2020’s Olympics and the Swedish won 0-1, a result that takes them to the final to face Canada who kicked the USWNT out of the tournament. The result was certainly disappointing for the Matildas and what made it even more painful is the numerous chances they created and missed, including a disallowed Sam Kerr goal which could have turned things upside down. Australia must now recover from this result and battle for a third-place spot which will earn them a bronze medal against the USWNT.

In this tactical analysis article, we will explore both teams’ tactics  why did Sweden concede a lot of chances, how they managed to maintain a clean sheet, and why were the Australians unable to equalise or win despite attacking so often.

Line-ups

Australia, coached by Tony Gustavsson, played in a 3-4-3 formation with Teagan Micah as a goalkeeper, Ellie Carpenter, Alanna Kennedy and Steph Catley in defence, Hayley Raso and Tameka Yallop as wing-backs, with Emily van Egmond and Chloe Logarzo as central midfielders. In attack, the team relied on Kyah Simon and Caitlin Foord as wingers supporting Chelsea’s striker, Sam Kerr.

Sweden’s head coach Peter Gerhardsson started the game with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Hedvig Lindahl as a goalkeeper, Magdalena Eriksson, Nathalie Björn, Amanda Ilestedt and Bayern Munich’s Hanna Glas in defence, Caroline Seger and Filippa Angeldahl as central midfielders with Fridolina Rolfö, who has recently joined Barcelona, and Sofia Jakobsson as wingers and Real Madrid’s Kosovare Asllani as an advanced playmaker behind Stina Blackstenius, the team’s striker.

Sweden’s attacking performance and Australia’s defensive plans

Both teams started this match with balance and a mixture between wanting to attack and remaining attentive to counter-attacks. Sweden were the team that had more possession at first and looked more in control of the game. Yet, Australia were the team that defended better. In fact, Australia’s 3-4-3 formation transformed into a 5-2-3 whenever the team was out of possession, and this helped them in securing the wings, and preventing any sort of penetration since they often had numerical superiority at the back, just like you can see below.

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