Sweden goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl believes the investment and improvement in the English game in recent years means her nation's good record against their Women's European Championship semi-final opponents will mean very little.
The Swedes needed a late Linda Sembrant goal against Belgium in their quarter-final to advance to play tournament hosts England, who edged past Spain 2-1 in the last eight thanks to an extra-time thunderbolt from Georgia Stanway.
The two teams will face off on Tuesday at Bramall Lane, Sheffield for a place in the final.
England have won just three of their 26 meetings with Sweden in all competitions (D8 L15), while they have only lost more often against Germany (21) than they have against the Swedes.
However, when asked if this impressive record gives them an advantage during the team's media day on Sunday, former Chelsea stopper Lindahl said: "No, because we all know the development that's been in the English league, and the investment that's gone into English football in the last seven years.
"I know it first hand because I came to Chelsea in 2015 and I've seen the game take off in England. Obviously that will have an effect on the national team, because the league has grown and people have to grow with it. So you can't really rely on history.
"But what I do take with me is that we know these are players we've beaten. We've managed to beat them before and we can do it again."
The 39-year-old has made eight saves across her team's four games so far, conceding just two goals, and is looking forward to returning to Sheffield, where Sweden played their first two games against the Netherlands and Switzerland.
"I had imagined coming into this tournament that we would face England at some point. I wasn't aware of when we were able to see each other," she said. "I thought it was going to be at Wembley, but now it's in Sheffield, and I think that's a good thing for us because we played a few games there. It's kind of like our home pitch, and so I look forward to it."
Lindahl is well aware of the dangers England pose, with tournament top scorer Beth Mead in the form of her life, scoring five goals in the Euros and having had a hand in 31 goals in all competitions under Sarina Wiegman so far (19 goals, 12 assists) in 18 games.
"I think we've all seen how much success they've had with their wingers, especially Beth Mead," Lindahl added.
"They have quality players in every position and two of them in every position. So I think we're gonna face a collective, well-organised team under the leadership of their new coach. So it's going to be a tough one."
Disgraced Rubiales 'not worthy' of representing Spain, says Sevilla's vice president
The disgraced former president of the Spanish Football Federation [RFEF] Luis Rubiales was not worthy of representing his country, according to Sevilla vice president Jose Maria del Nido.
Rubiales was widely condemned for his behaviour as Spain celebrated their victory over England in last month's Women's World Cup final, having grabbed forward Jenni Hermoso before kissing her on the lips.
Hermoso repeatedly stated the kiss was not consensual and has since filed a criminal complaint against Rubiales, accusing him of sexual assault.
Though Rubiales initially refused to resign, the pressure eventually told as he announced his departure ahead of an interview with Piers Morgan, which aired last week.
Sevilla became one of the first clubs to demand Rubiales' resignation on August 25, and Del Nido believes the events have left a stain on the reputation of Spanish football.
Speaking at the Thinking Football Summit, Del Nido told Stats Perform: "Instead of everyone talking about the success of being world champions, being the best in your sport at a global level, it's a complete failure that we should be talking about events that are totally unacceptable, of a person who should not represent the Spanish Football Federation.
"Instead of paying attention to the damage that the attitude of the president of the federation has done, I would stay with the attitude that the Spanish people have had.
"I think it is true that this hurts the reputation of Spain, but Spain is not Luis Rubiales.
"Spain is everything we have manifested against the behaviour of Rubiales, everything we have done to support Jenni.
"This type of conduct cannot be accepted under any concept, and even less if it is a person who occupies a status or a position of that magnitude.
"He is not worthy of representing the Spanish Football Federation. Spain has spoken out against this event in a very good way.
"I will finish as I started. What we have to do is congratulate the Spanish women's team for becoming World Cup champions, which is the only thing that should be discussed."
Despite the exits of Rubiales and World Cup-winning coach Jorge Vilda – who was sacked earlier this month having been the subject of player revolts – the storm surrounding the RFEF is far from over.
A group of 81 Spanish players announced their intention to boycott international duty and 39 said they would continue to strike for further changes on Friday, with Hermoso claiming "nothing has changed" at the governing body on social media.
However, six of the players who agreed to strike reported at Spain's training camp on Tuesday, with goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez telling reporters she was not glad to join up with the squad as she arrived.
With the relationship between women's rights and Spanish football under the microscope, Getafe completed the controversial loan signing of Manchester United's Mason Greenwood this month.
Greenwood was arrested and charged with attempted rape, assault and controlling and coercive behaviour last year, with the charges dropped in February after the withdrawal of key witnesses.
While Del Nido was not prepared to comment on Getafe's decision to sign Greenwood, he said Sevilla never considered a move for the forward.
"I read about it in the press and it was never among the options that the sporting director of Sevilla [Victor Orta] managed," Del Nido asserted.
"With it not being within the options of the sporting director of Sevilla, I don't dare to speak about a signing for another club, Getafe, for whom we have a lot of respect.
"They have made some signings but we have never valued the option of that footballer at a sporting level, so I have nothing to say about that."
Greenwood made his Getafe debut as a substitute on Sunday as they beat Osasuna 3-2 in LaLiga.
'Why not?' – Former Spain captain Boquete tips Wiegman to succeed Southgate
Sarina Wiegman is an outstanding coach and could succeed Gareth Southgate as manager of the England men's national team, says former Spain captain Veronica Boquete.
With reports suggesting Southgate may depart after he leads the Three Lions to his fourth major tournament at Euro 2024, various coaches have been touted as potential successors.
Manchester City's Pep Guardiola is a reported target for the Football Association, but Wiegman's name has also been mentioned after she led the Lionesses to Euro 2022 glory last year.
Wiegman was denied another trophy as England were beaten by Spain in last month's Women's World Cup final, but Boquete remains convinced by her work with the Lionesses.
The 36-year-old midfielder – who captained her country at the 2015 World Cup – feels Wiegman's name should be in the conversation.
"I think this is going to arrive, there is going to be a moment where a woman will be coaching a high-level [men's] team or national team," Boquete told Stats Perform. "She has already showed that she is a fantastic coach, that she has the knowledge, that she is a leader. So why not?
"What are they going to say? 'Oh, no, she cannot be the coach of the men's national team' – Why not? She has already proved that she is great.
"For me, it's about capacities and knowledge and if the players want to be coached by the best. If she is the best, they should give her the chance.
"Everyone would be supporting her because it would be something fantastic for football but also for society."
Spain's first Women's World Cup win was overshadowed by the behaviour of Spanish Football Federation [RFEF] president Luis Rubiales, who has been provisionally suspended by FIFA after grabbing Jennifer Hermoso and kissing the forward on the lips.
A group of 81 players have refused to represent La Roja if Rubiales remains in post, while head coach Jorge Vilda – who was the subject of a player revolt previously – was sacked a little over two weeks after lifting the World Cup.
Wiegman was praised for speaking out in support of Spain's players upon receiving the UEFA Women's Coach of the Year award in Monaco last week, and her comments further convinced Boquete of her leadership skills.
"I think her speech was fantastic and it gave hope to so many people to really believe in change," she added.
"It's crazy that the coach of the team that loses the final offered her moment to those players that are in this crazy situation, to defend something in such a strong way. I already had so much respect for her on the sporting side, but obviously now also on the personal side.
"I consider her a leader, globally, and her words were just fantastic. I think we need to say thanks so many times because it was her moment and we kind of stole it, so we really appreciate it."
Asked about the controversy engulfing women's football in Spain, Boquete claimed her nation had enough talent to win previous World Cups, only to be held back by the RFEF's poor leadership.
"It is not easy to explain to other countries all the things that are going on behind the scenes," she said. "Everyone will say 'yeah, but you're winning, how is that possible?'
"I say, yeah, we win because we have a lot of talent. Normally with their clubs, they have better conditioning so they develop and that's great, but can you imagine if everyone was working in the right way a long time ago? We could have been world champions 10 years ago.
"We were missing a lot of chances. We just want change so that it doesn't happen again and Spain can always be at the top.
"We already had the talent before, we had amazing players that didn't win anything because the people in charge didn't help them develop. So we just want the [right] people on top, so everyone can just be focused on being the best."
Heather Knight defends team selection after heavy defeat for England Women
Heather Knight admitted Sri Lanka served up some “humble pie” for England after a crushing defeat at Chelmsford, but has no regrets over their approach to this series.
England lost by eight wickets after they were skittled for 104 with Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu smacking 55 in quick time to secure victory for the tourists’ with 40 balls to spare.
It levels the three-match T20 series ahead of Wednesday’s decider in Derby and resulted in Knight facing questions over the decision with head coach Jon Lewis to experiment against the eighth best country in Twenty20 cricket.
Sophia Dunkley and Nat Sciver-Brunt were rested while England selected five players aged 22 or younger in Saturday’s XI, but captain Knight defended their right to rotate with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh only a year away.
Knight said: “We want to expose people to international cricket and we were pretty clear that was the goal at the start of this series.
“No one was saying anything at Hove when we smashed 180 off 17 overs so no, I wouldn’t change a thing.
“In a busy summer, we knew there was a slight opportunity to try a few new players. You don’t get a huge amount of opportunities to do that because we haven’t got too many games before that World Cup in Bangladesh.
“It wasn’t about underestimating Sri Lanka at all. It was about what is best for us as a side moving forward and we needed to get some caps into young players to see where they are at.
“We’ve had a bad day, we’ve lost a game of cricket but there will be no big enquiry into it.
“Sri Lanka have played very well and they have given us some humble pie to be honest, but it is a good lesson for youngsters that if you are not quite on it and not able to execute your skills how you want, then you can get punished.”
After posting 186 for four in Sussex on Thursday, this batting display could not have been more chalk and cheese with England reduced to 21 for three inside the powerplay.
Knight and Amy Jones briefly rebuilt before the excellent Inoka Ranaweera accounted for them on her way to figures of two for 25.
When England were faltering on 66 for eight, an unwanted record looked on the cards but Charlie Dean hit 34 to help the hosts beyond their previous lowest T20 total of 87 – posted against Australia in 2015.
Sri Lanka seamer Udeshika Prabodhani ended Dean’s 33-run partnership with Issy Wong and yorked Dean soon after to dismiss England for 104.
Wong would go on to struggle with the ball, producing an array of no-balls in a 10-delivery opening over.
Athapaththu never blinked in the chase though, smashing Kate Cross for 21 before she added another maximum in a scintillating 26-ball fifty that helped the tourists clinch a first T20 win over England at the 10th time of asking.
“We all had a bad day at the same time unfortunately,” Knight reflected.
“I thought they bowled really well, their spinners were impressive and the lengths they bowled. Credit to them but yeah sometimes this happens in cricket.
“We’ve obviously got a very inexperienced side and a lot of people who are learning their trade, so it identifies areas where we need to get better at.
“Even before this game we identified spin as an area where we can keep getting better and with the World Cup in Bangladesh that will be something potentially on the radar out there.
“Look, quite a humbling day but it is now an opportunity for us to hone in on what we can do better moving forward.”
Sri Lanka captain Athapaththu added: “Today was really good for us, we executed the right plans and especially the spinners were really good.
“The wicket was helpful, so finally we won, that’s really good for us. For myself and my team, this is a huge moment for women’s cricket in Sri Lanka.”
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