Sweden open

Profile

Sweden is composed mainly of players from Skogshyddan, the long-standing top-level club team in Sweden. They have a mixture of players, both old and experienced with young and talented players. "We are aiming for the gold," says a team representative.

Sweden has won Gold before, in 1992 Japan. But there was one country missing: arch-rivals USA. Sweden has rarely defeated the top American teams at Worlds, including the last Worlds Championships in Heilbronn 2000. There was a controversial foul call by a Boston player at 18-18 universe point in the Finals that eventually maintained possession for team USA. Sweden could not control their anger over what they saw as a bogus call and the game ended 19-18 in USA’s favour. There is no doubt that they would like to seek revenge for that game against USA this year.

But their success elsewhere is almost unparalleled. Sweden had won every European National Championships since 1981 except Millfield in 1997 when they lost to Finland and last year when they lost to Great Britain. They are a dominant team.

"The Swedes are a decent bunch of guys," says one European competitor. "But they have a couple of guys that if they have a bad day, everyone has a bad day. They've always won and the last couple of years they haven't won so much, so its been difficult."

But in particular they seemed to have developed a rivalry with Finland. "The Swedes just don't like to lose and they certainly do not like to lose to Finland."

You can expect this team to never give up and to play fiery Ultimate in their elusive quest for Worlds Gold.

Sweden on offence

Sweden will play with a vertical stack offence as well as a lot of variations on a horizontal stack offence. They are unpredictable and will vary their offensive sets.

Look for these players when Sweden has the disc:

Sebastian Sporrong #20 is only 18 years old. He is an exceptional player for his age. He is a left-handed handler, so watch out. He is also a great target player. Got the "player of the year award" last year in Sweden.

Martin Filipovski #18 originates from Enskede Frisbee Klubb,  he can handle the complexness of ultimate in a very good way and has a wide range of throws he can use. He makes incredible catches.  Watch out for his bounce passes.

Mikael Forsgren #10 is a fast veteran target player with excellent cuts and throws. Has been one of the best players since the beginning of the nineties.

Mikael Hanski #15 is an experienced handler. Very smart and can throws with any hand.

Joel Högberg, a young star, has ruptured an ACL and will not be playing at Worlds.

Sweden on defence

Sweden will play a hard man-to-man defence mostly and is known for gritty play. They are not afraid to make travel and pivot foul calls.

Look for these players when the opponent has the disc:

Rikard Kindgren #3 is one of our tall players. He is a great athlete and a very smart defender.

Pär Mattsson #11 is the fastest player we have. He also has excellent throws. He can make some incredible turnovers happen quicker than a confessional.

Fredrik Gustavsson #5 is like a backpack. You never get rid of him.

Peter Sandin #12 is an excellent athlete. He is not so tall but he jumps like a "kangaroo". We call him "Air Sandin".

Team Colors:
Yellow shirts, blue shorts and white socks.

Roster:
23 players 

Captain:
Martin Filipovski

Coach: Nami Younan

Website
http://www.nationscup.se/teams/sweden_open.jsp