Damallsvenskan Newsblog

Sweden - France 1-0 (0-0)
Sweden: Hedvig Lindahl Linköping FC - Frida Östberg Linköping FC, Hanna Marklund Sunnanå SK, Stina Segerström KIF Örebro, Maria Bergkvist Umeå IK - Linda Fagerström Djurgården/Älvsjö, Therese Sjögren Malmö FF, Malin Moström Umeå IK (62 Caroline Seger Linköping FC), Lotta Schelin Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC - Victoria Svensson Djurgården/Älvsjö (62 Salina Ohlsson Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC), Hanna Ljungberg Umeå IK (75 Anna Sjöström Umeå IK).
Goals: 1-0 Lotta Schelin (51)
"We're playing better and better for each match", commented Thomas Dennerby after the bronze match against France. The defense was efficient and disciplined and the midfield play showed a good passing play, which has been one of the weaknesses in the earlier matches. France had problems getting any real foothold at the Swedish part of the field and often had to relent to chasing the long ball. After Sweden took the lead in the second half - nicely executed by Lotta Schelin after a Malin Moström pass put her almost alone with the french goalie - the French side began to show an increasingly bad temper. Four of the five yellows in the match were for protesting against the referee.

Towards the end of the game Hanna Ljungberg was hurt badly in a collision with the French goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi. Ljungberg came running after a long ball towards the french goal and headed the ball, while Bouhaddi came in late and headed the Swedish striker in the face. The bleeding Ljungberg was taken off the field and to a nearby hospital while Bouhaddi recieved a red card for reckless play. Late news from the hospital says that Hanna Ljungberg did not suffer any broken bones, which had been a concern initially, and will probably be back on the field within short.

Västerbottenskuriren: Ljungberg förd till sjukhus
Aftonbladet: Ljungberg knockad – akut till sjukhus
Expressen: Ljungberg knockad blodig - förd till sjukhus
Dagens Nyheter: Ny undersökning av Ljungberg i morgon
SVT: Hanna Ljungberg till sjukhus

Other matches
Norway defeats China 1-0, finishing 5th in the tournament, with both Bente Nordby (Djurgården/Älvsjö) and Lise Klaveness (Umeå) playing the full 90. Finland defeat Mexico 4-3 in the 7th place match with four Damallsvenskan goals: Laura Kalmari (Djurgården/Älvsjö) scoring 2 and Anna-Kaisa Rantanen (Linköping) and Anne Mäkinen (Umeå) 1 each. So far unlucky Denmark had no problems with Ireland, winning 4-0, with Djurgården's Katrine Pedersen and Dorte Dalum Jensen playing the full match.