Sweden hurdles Poland In International Showdown
The Swedish men’s national team defeated Poland 28-21 in Zabki, Poland Saturday, just outside of Warsaw, at Mosir Zabki Stadium in a game that grew closer as it wore on.
Team Sweden, ranked as the number five team in Europe behind Germany, Austria, France and Finland, jumped out to a 14-0 lead at halftime on touchdowns by Jakob Dahre and André Holgård.
Poland kept inching closer in the second half though, seeming to gain confidence. Quarterback Bartosz Dziedzic began finding soft spots in Sweden’s secondary and capitalizing.
Swedish QB Anders Hermodsson Photo: Marcin Fijalkowski – Interception
Running back Jacek Wróblewski scored Poland’s first touchdown early in the third quarter from two yards out to close the gap to 14-7. But Sweden responded as quarterback Anders Hermodsson connected with wide receiver Marcus Johnsson who broke three tackles to score and extend the lead to 21-7
Then Poland’s defense rose up picking up a Swedish fumble and returning it to close the gap to 21-14.
Late in the fourth quarter, the 6’5″ 250 lb Hermodsson got outside and sped down the sideline to score giving Sweden a 14 point lead again, 28-14.
Poland was not finished though as with less than two minutes left and Sweden punting, the snap sailed over the punter’s head and in the ensuing scramble Poland recovered the ball on the Swedish 10 yard line. The Polish offense punched the ball in and suddenly with just over a minute remaining, Poland was threatening.
Polish RB Jacek Wróblewski. Photo: Piotr Piekut, Interception
However, the Swedes managed to recover the onside kick and went home victorious.
Team Sweden head coach Andreas Ehrenreich in his first game at the helm of the national team, got his first international victory against a Polish team that is definitely on the rise and had good fan support from the 1,000 strong crowd.
“The guys did a good job today. I’m impressed with how many of our young players took advantage of the big stage. We had a dozen players who made their international debut at the senior level, which at times was noticeable. The match was a good yardstick for us and I think we can take with us a lot of positives from it. We now aim to beat Finland on October 1.”
Sweden’s game MVP was defensive lineman Gustav Kieribinski.
