Sweden show why they dominate women’s floorball as they hammer Czech Republic 6-1

SINGAPORE – Sweden flexed their muscles in a masterclass performance as they came from behind to beat world No. 4 Czech Republic 6-1 in the Women’s World Floorball Championship on Dec 4.

The top-ranked Swedes had begun their title defence with a 20-3 thrashing of Slovakia, no slouches themselves at world No. 6, in their first Group B game on Dec 2.

Sweden assistant coach Joel Rauswall believes their dominance – the 10-time champions have won the last eight editions – is down to having a stronger squad depth than the other teams.

He said: “We have a lot of good players, and more good players than the others. The other top four nations have really good players but not as many as (us). When we play a game of 60 minutes, we often come out on top because we have the physicality to win.”

Rauswall believes there is “some pressure” coming into the competition as reigning champions, but his players have “managed it good and we want to chase a new gold not just defend the old one”.

Even when things did not go their way initially, captain Ida Sundberg and her teammates did not panic.

She said: “It was a really tough game from the beginning. We knew they are a good team, we have played some really tough games against them in the past half a year.

“But we did some talking after the first period. We talked about trusting the process, we know that we’re gonna score more goals.”

Both sides looked evenly matched in the first period. The Czechs broke the deadlock through 16-year-old debutante Karolina Klubalova, who scored in the 14th minute.

However, their advantage lasted just 90 seconds as Cajsa Elm got the equaliser, converting from Player of the Match Wilma Johansson’s sharp cross.

Karolina later said taking the lead had been a confidence boost but they were eventually overwhelmed by their opponents, adding: “When we conceded the goals we felt a bit more pressure.”

The Swedes would raise their level in the next 20 minutes, scoring early in the second period through Amanda Johansson.

Two quick-fire goals, courtesy of Emelie Wibron and Moa Gustafsson in the 36th and 38th minutes, made it 4-1 to effectively end the contest.

The final period saw Sweden extend their advantage as Ellen Backstedt’s deflected shot in the 52nd minute wrong-footed Jana Christianova in goal, before Gustafsson got her second in the closing seconds.

With the victory, Sweden are guaranteed a top-two finish and are in the quarter-finals. They next face winless Poland on Dec 5 while the Czechs take on Slovakia with the victors progressing.

Czech head coach Lukas Prochazka said: “We were prepared and defended well, especially in the first half... but after that... our defence came under pressure and we just couldn’t hold this situation.”

In Group A, Finland and Switzerland also advanced to the quarter-finals after a 6-3 win over Norway and a 22-1 thrashing of Latvia respectively.