Sweden will not be haunted by past semi-final heartbreaks when they face Spain for a place in the Women’s World Cup final, says Jonas Eidevall.
The Swedes lost 1-0 to the Netherlands in the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup, before suffering a 4-0 defeat by England in the last four at Euro 2022.
They face Spain in Auckland on Tuesday looking to reach the World Cup final for the first time since 2003.
“They’ll believe anything is possible,” said Arsenal’s Swedish boss Eidevall.
Despite reaching several finals, Sweden have not won a major trophy since winning the first Uefa European Championship in 1984 when only four teams took part.
In addition to reaching back-to-back World Cup semi-finals and the last four of Euro 2022, they lost both finals at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
Meanwhile, Tuesday’s game is Sweden’s fifth semi-final appearance at the Fifa Women’s World Cup – but they are yet to lift the trophy.
But Eidevall dismissed suggestions that those near misses will be on the minds of Sweden’s players when they meet Spain.
“I’m a big believer that the more you play these decisive games, the more you are going to end up being on the winning side,” he told BBC Sport.
“I know a lot of the players and no way will they be thinking about the past. They will believe in themselves and they will have a positive mindset.
“They are here again [in the semi-finals] and they will look forward to a lot of experiences from the games before. That is always valuable when it comes to these occasions.
“A lot of matches at this World Cup have been decided by small margins. Maybe this time they will get the margins in their favour.”
Sweden are playing in their fifth Fifa Women’s World Cup semi-final, reaching the final in 2003 but losing in 1991, 2011 and 2019.
