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Part of Norways' team better rested, part struggling with cold and fever

Coach Hergeirsson rested some of his key players (Mork and Riegeluth Koren), while three players couldn't play with a cold as Norway took on Hungary in the previous game, but only Sanne Solberg, substitute left wing, remians questionable for this game

Norway secured a spot in European Championship semifinals and top spot in the group ahead of the last match, which gave coach Hergeirsson a chance to reshuffle his line-up.

He partly did it to rest some of his key players like Nora Mork and Koren, who spent around 15 minutes on the court, but was partly forced to because of the cold and fever his team came down with ahead of the match. Herrem and Solberg didn't even leave hotel to join the team, while first choice goal keeper Silje Solberg spent the whole match on the bench.

Hergeirsson had to improvise since the cold left him with no options for the left wing position, forcing him to put pivot Loke in charge, which didn't seem all too bad in the beginning. But, as the game advanced, Hungary took initiative, controlling the score and the pace...They were the team that wanted more from this game as the win got them fighting for the final spot 5. Thorir saw how things were developing and decided to give all of his 13 players a chance till the end. Loke finished with team-best 6 goals (8 attempts), Bjornadalen took advantage of the chance she was given to add 5 goals from the right back position.

Norway might be better rested than Sweden ahead of this game and that could make a difference. Sweden struggled a lot more to get through to semifinals and had to wait for the France-Netherlands game to decide it in the end. Those few players with the cold got to Budapest separately as to avoid infecting the others and judging by the info provided by the medical team, things are much better than they were on Wednesday. Camila Herren and Silje Solberg will be fit and ready, while Sanna Solberg remains questionable. 

- I'm much better today. I feel like I can be part of the semi final match - left wing Herrem said.

Top Norwegian player at this championship says she is more tired from all questions she's been getting about her health than from the actual fatigue:

- I'm really tired now, but from all the questions I've been asked about the fever and the cold that's been running on the team ahead of the meeting with Sweden. They have good defense and good offense and we need to prepare very well, regardless of the cold - Loke said half-jokingly. 

Sweden missed on the nearly ideal chance to avoid the Scandinavian semifinal. Lazovic's early send-off and horrible Montenegrin defense got them five point up by half time, but what happen next on the Swedish team is really hard to explain.

- Of course we're disappointed after playing excellent 30 minutes. We had the chance to settle the game, and instead went on to struggle with scoring. Not only that, we also struggled to even make attempts. Without the good-quality offense, it was much more difficult to play a tough team like Montenegro - coach Sivertsson said.

The whole game in the end was settled by one referees' decision. With only 2-3 seconds on the clock, the Swedish pivot was passed the ball, but the referee decided it should go back on the 9-meter line. All of their team were angry with that decision, but no one bothered to note that Barjaktarovic saved that shot by the Swedish pivot and that Sweden would not have scored either way to get the point that would see them avoid Norway today.

- A lot of it was on us. We conceded too many easy goals, while not doing good when it came to counter attacking. I think the pressure we were under played an important role here - the Swedish coach said.

His colleague Thomsen had a much tougher time accepting this defeat, especially since she and Adzic (coach at Montenegro) aren't the best of friends. Sweden now face a team whose few players they now very well, especially Ida Alstad. Interestingly, after coming to Budapest, Alstad asked Thomsen for a longer Christmas break, but Thomsen refused to grant her wish. Helle decided to talk only about the game after that:

- Norway are the favorite, which I don't think is bad in these kind of games. But, I don't think that will make it any easy for us to play them.

Her team might play better than in the Montenegro game, when her players burst under pressure in the second half. Out of all the elements that might decide the game, Thomsen singled out one:

- We need to find the right distance between out offense and their defense. We can't get too close because that will end badly, but if we stay too far back, we won't be able to score.

Torstensson was very good at deciding what is the proper distance in the Montenegro game. She is no longer a player that is tough only in defense. She is now a great help in attacking too, which is probably influenced by her joining Bucurest and more time in the game she spends there. Her performances got better since that and not even the injury she got early in this championship could do anything to distract her.

Sweden played Norway's B last summer to have a shameful first performance, allowing the opponents to win by 9 goals. Things soon changed and they won the second match by 8 goals. But, this Norway is much better, while Sweden have only Torstensson and substitute pivot Blohm as an improvement from those summer games. And that is not making them very optimistic ahead of this Scandinavian clash.

Loke is a player with the best effect, the most minutes spend in game, a player who is going in both ways. Is that due to the fact that this could be her last big tournament we will see after the European Championship, but the numbers are on her side. An average of almost five goals per match, 4.83, 78% shot efficiency, physically very fit. Loke sees no reason for the team to save her for the finals, and matches against Poland (four goals) and Hungary (six goals) speak to her favor. The Swedes allowed to be outplayed last time by Montenegrian Jovanka Radicevic (Lazovic was suspended), so they will have to be careful with such mistakes. We can still find a margin for one goal less (3.5) which is worth one unit more.

Mork is definitely another player who deserves full attention on this championship. With 29 goals scored, together with Loke she shares the position of the best scorer with Norway after si matches, but her chances to pass the margin in tonight's match are maybe even bigger, considering she plays only the offense, and on average she has 8.3 shots at goal per match. The second important thing is that today they are playing against Swedes who are among the leading national teams with the number of penalty shots made, on average 4.5. In the last match against Montenegro there were eight of them Mork is one of the standard options for Norway's penalty shots, she was always the first option.