National Team Friendly

National stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) In the 4th minute Doug Traoré shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Matthew Benjamin saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Gustaf Eklund showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Tony Pacheco in the 7th minute of the match. 11 minutes into the match, USA's goal looked a bit too open when Sebastian Käller came free, but Matthew Benjamin reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Sweden were awarded a corner in the 12th minute after USA's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Joacim Hansson took the corner. A nice corner shot did that Birger Spetz got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Matthew Benjamin quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. Sweden's Sebastian Käller got a good chance for a goal in the 16th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. 17 minutes into the match, Sweden's goalkeeper Gustaf Eklund had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Nathaniel Burnett. Gustaf Eklund showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Tony Pacheco, who was totally free with the ball in the 18th minute. 19 minutes into the match, Sweden's goal looked a bit too open when Tony Pacheco came free, but Gustaf Eklund reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Sweden's Gustaf Eklund played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Tony Pacheco in the 22nd minute of play. In the 26th minute Nathaniel Burnett shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Gustaf Eklund saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. An unexpectedly hard shot by Sebastian Käller in the 29th minute of play forced USA's goalkeeper Matthew Benjamin to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Matthew Benjamin showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Sebastian Käller, who was totally free with the ball in the 32nd minute. In the 34th minute the ball was on its way in behind USA's goalkeeper Matthew Benjamin, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. After taking down the ball on Sweden's corner Birger Spetz fired away a hard shot, but the defenders efficiently covered the most dangerous angles and Matthew Benjamin quite easily take care of the ball. In the 43rd minute of the match Sweden got a corner. USA's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Joacim Hansson ran over to the corner to take the kick.

William Kerns recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 51st minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by Tony Pacheco in the 53rd minute of play forced Sweden's goalkeeper Gustaf Eklund to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Miki Moco made in the 55th minute of the game a quick throw-in and Derek Henderson immediately put the ball in play. Sebastian Käller blasted a shot towards the goal in the 58th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Matthew Benjamin having to make a save. With a little luck, USA's Matthew Benjamin got control of the ball when Sebastian Käller tried to sneak it across the goal line. 60 minutes into the match, USA's goalkeeper Matthew Benjamin had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Sebastian Käller. 62 minutes had been played when some careless play by USA's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Joacim Hansson was slow to take the kick. During this time Sweden's players had a chance to rest. The corner went over the outstretched arms of USA's goalie and right to Doug Traoré. He fired away a shot at goal, but the shot had too much spin, and it went just outside the goal. USA's manager breathed a sigh of relief on the sidelines as his team had managed to escape an almost certain goal. Matthew Benjamin stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Sebastian Käller's shot from short distance in the 65th minute. Donald Caldwell hit a great freekick 69 minutes into the match. Sweden's Jan Höijer was substituted for Einar Hedström. In the 70th minute, Donald Caldwell hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Gustaf Eklund showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Kerry Sellers, who was totally free with the ball in the 84th minute. Sebastian Käller sent away a hard shot on goal in the 87th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Sweden's Lars Sundström was substituted for Sebastian Käller. Matthew Benjamin made an important save on a dangerous shot by Douglas Västberg in the 94th minute. 94 minutes into the match, Douglas Västberg had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Matthew Benjamin. USA's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Douglas Västberg was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-2. The USA supporters were disappointed that their team didn't take anything from the match, despite matching Sweden's performance. The match ended with a win for Sweden.