Jill Ellis has insisted her United States team will take nothing for granted as they attempt to defend their World Cup title.
A 2-0 win over Sweden in Le Havre completed a maximum nine-point haul heading into the last 16, kick-started by their memorable 13-0 rout of Thailand, but Ellis is determined to keep her side focused.
She said at her post-match press conference: “This team is firmly rooted on the ground. There’s a humility – these players have played this game long enough to know that you have to earn every result.
“But when you have a group of players that have self-belief, nines times out of 10... Players can be very talented in terms of making a roster, but they have to have that quality and for a team to have that at a World Cup is pivotal.”
Victory came courtesy of Lindsey Horan’s third-minute strike and a VAR-assisted second five minutes after the restart, when defender Jonna Andersson deflected Tobin Heath’s shot into her own net with Carli Lloyd clearly in an offside position during the build-up.
The Americans will now face Spain in Reims on Monday while the Swedes head for Paris and a showdown with Canada later the same day.
Sweden boss Peter Gerhardsson, who fielded four World Cup debutants in his starting line-up, revealed he had one eye on the last 16 when he made a selection he described as his “most difficult”.
He said: “We know we have a knockout match on Monday and that’s the most important game. When we looked at the game plan, we didn’t think in advance that it was important to end up first or second.
“We knew there wouldn’t be a lot of time between the matches. Monday is the most important match, so that was my number one priority when I picked my line-up.”
PA
