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France, Sweden hope to end WWC on positive note

Jul 15, 2011 - 9:46 PM Sinsheim, Germany (Sports Network) - France and Sweden both fell short of the Women's World Cup final, but Saturday's third-place game is hardly meaningless for the countries.

France advanced to the semifinals for the first time in its history, and after a 3-1 loss to the United States on Wednesday, manager Bruno Bini remained very positive.

"This is a wonderful day," Bini said, "because we've qualified for the third- place playoff."

Although both semifinal losers were guaranteed of a spot in the game at Rhein- Necker-Arena, Bini admitted it's "all about your philosophy of life, whether you're a glass half-full or glass half-empty person."

Sweden, the most notable country without a Cup title, lost to Japan 3-1 in the semifinals to end its four-game win streak in the tournament. The run included a 2-1 win over the U.S., which plays Japan in the final Sunday.

But Sweden's Charlotte Rohlin admitted it was still important to win the final match of the tournament - even if it's not the game she wanted to play.

"There are a lot of positives to take from this tournament and we want to go home as the side that finished third now," Rohlin said.

"We have one game [left] on Saturday and we are going to beat France."

Marie-Laure Delie and Gaetane Thiney lead France with two goals apiece, but five other players have at least one goal, and Sandrine Soubeyrand and Louisa Necib each have two assists in an overall balanced attack.

Sweden was shaping up as a challenger for the title, but after taking the lead against Japan on a goal from Josefine Oqvist in the 10th minute, it managed to take just one shot the rest of the match against the well-organized Japanese.

Japan responded with three goals - Sweden had allowed just two in the previous four matches - to advance. "We were beaten by the better side. Japan were just too good for us," Rohlin said.

Sweden will try to finish its event off well without captain Caroline Seger, who missed the semifinal with a calf injury as well. At least Nilla Fischer, who filled in for Seger against the U.S., will return from suspension after missing the Japan game.

"[Coach] Thomas [Dennerby] said that we could be disappointed, but wanted us to be proud of what we have achieved here and stressed that we have to come together for the game against France," Rohlin said.

"We want to be dancing again at the final whistle, knowing that we are the third-best team in the world. I want to win that game and every single member of the team wants to win.

"We are going to fight until the end."