Forsberg proud of Sweden's surprise World Cup run

A quarterfinal defeat to England did not dampen Emil Forsberg's assessment of Sweden's Russia 2018 campaign.

Sweden midfielder Emil Forsberg's strike against Switzerland put his team through to the quarterfinals of the World Cup.

Pride was the overriding feeling for Emil Forsberg despite Sweden's World Cup adventure coming to a halt at the hands of England on Saturday.

Janne Andersson's side went down 2-0 in Samara thanks to a headed goal in each half from Harry Maguire and Dele Alli.

It was a disappointing end to Sweden's run in Russia, but RB Leipzig midfielder Forsberg - whose strike saw off Switzerland in the round of 16 - was able to offer a sense of perspective when asked how his nation's tournament would be remembered.

"Positive, only positive," he said, after Sweden topped a group including defending champions Germany and Mexico en route to the knockout stages.

"No one believed in us from the beginning, we did it, we beat a lot of big teams and came to the quarter-finals and now we went out against a really good England.

"So, we're proud, we're happy with what we did and now we're sad but life goes on."

 

Forsberg also conceded he and his team-mates did not quite live up to the exceptional standards they had set previously in the finals as England secured a relatively serene passage to a last-four meeting with Croatia.

"I think we knew that we were going to run a lot and defend a lot, we were prepared for that and we did it," he said.

"Then sometimes with the ball we didn't do as good as we can, didn't keep it as well as we can and when you lose the ball easily you lose power, you have to run back even more so it was tough for us."