Sweden’s corner kicks causing trouble for opponents at Women’s World Cup

Sweden has dominated the airspace at the Women’s World Cup with its corner kicks, converting them into two victories and a spot in the knockout round of the tournament.

The Swedes have scored four of their seven goals off corners, and on nearly the same play every time. A ball curls inside the six-yard box, finds the head or foot of a Swedish player in the middle of the action and boom – just like that – the Blue and Yellow have another goal.

At the center of it all has been Amanda Ilestedt, the 5-foot-10 defender who has scored three of the goals. Ilestedt, who plays for Arsenal, has leapt high over defenders, glancing headers into the net and giving Sweden the game winner in a 2-1 comeback over South Africa. Ilestedt scored two more goals in a 5-0 rout of Italy on Saturday.

Corner kicks are a point of emphasis for the Swedes. Although the corner kick may not be as aesthetically pleasing as a goal after a great run down the field, all goals count the same.

“We’ve been good at set pieces for a long time. Regardless of what you might think of Sweden’s type of play, you can always look at the details in the game, look at how you can fine tune,” said Swedish coach Peter Gerhardsson.

Set pieces are “a structural component where you can do a great deal. Serving the ball up is very important. But you can have different varieties,” he added. Jonna Andersson, who had three assists on her corners against Italy, said it’s a skill she has worked hard at perfecting.

“I’ve been putting (in) a lot of time to do corners. I’ve been training hard to have good deliveries,” she said. “Of course, I know that we have a lot of good players in the box, so I need to deliver them.”

And that she does, said Ilestedt, whose three goals had her tied for the tournament lead among all scorers headed into Sunday night’s games.

“We are good at set pieces,” Ilestedt said. “We have good shooters and we know we are good headers so it feels good the balls are coming where they should.”

Sweden will win the group with anything but a loss to Argentina on Wednesday. The Swedes know they’ve given all future opponents an aspect of their game to worry about.

Said Gerhardsson: “It’s an excellent weapon as we move forward.”