Finland wins the U19 WFC - but should they have?

Finland beat Sweden twice during the women's U19 WFC – the second time in an overtime victory in the final game, to be crowned the world champions.

Playing a final game of a world championship at the age of under 19, is of course a tall task for players that young. I have a lot of time for the courage it takes to do that.

During the last two years, this Swedish team has been criticized from the few media outlets that are actually covering the team. To me, the analysis is lacking in quality and the "journalism" mainly consists of subjective columns or thoughts, that get way to much air space in a thin media landscape. This disconnect between subjective opinion and journalism and analysis backed up by expertise and know-how, is tough for me to swallow. While columnists have the platform to voice their views, they frequently lack the deep know-how required to substantiate lots of click-bait claims, and the effects they create on the landscape become disproportionate.

I feel that the coverage of this Swedish U19 national team has most probably had an influence on how this game was played. To my eyes, it was a very unambitious game, with extremely little reward seeking (wich would have required living with the risks attached to it). Maybe this is what we get when putting heavy pressure on a staff and its young players?

Here is a look at why I felt the game was unambitious.