Warm Winnipeg welcome surprises Team Sweden

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This article was published 03/06/2015 (4100 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Sweden women’s national soccer team arrived in Winnipeg Wednesday afternoon to a fury of fans both young and old.

Together, the crowd raised signs and flags donning the country’s colours of blue and yellow, cheering at the top of their lungs as the women made their way down the escalator at  Richardson International Airport, the noise only getting louder as the women inched closer.

For Swedish defender Emma Berglund, having such an audience is new in itself. But the experience was made even more incredible by the fact the support was coming from the local fan base, from strangers who live thousands of kilometers away from her home.

“No, no we didn’t,” she said with a smile when asked if they expected such a welcoming. “We asked where they got (the flags) from and they wouldn’t say.”

The crowd maxed out at close to a 100 people, many of whom were young girls from the Bonivital Soccer Club here in the city. Members of Team Sweden soaked up the local love, smiling and posing for pictures as well as signing autographs.

But for some, the experience meant more than getting a quick signature.

Mari Clobechok was born in Sweden but has lived in Winnipeg for the past 29 years. To say the chance to meet some of the players from her homeland was exciting would be a gross understatement.

“We’re so excited to have the Swedish team come here,” she said, noting her family, like many others back home, grew up worshiping the game.

And she made no bones about where she sees her team finishing.

“We’re going to be in the finals for sure.”

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But before that they’ll first have to make it through the group stage, which begins with a game against Nigeria June 8 at Winnipeg Stadium, followed by matches against the United States June 12 and Australia June 16, with the game against the Aussies being played in Edmonton.

The fact Sweden will have their first two matches is Winnipeg is a dream come true for Thor Anderson. Anderson, who moved to Winnipeg from Sweden in 1978, says it’s more than just a game for him. The fact he’ll be able to watch his home country compete on soccer’s biggest stage is something he admits pulls on the heartstrings.

“It’s sentimental for me,” he said. “It’s touching and I just feel really good about it.”

He added: “I think they have a good chance to take it all.”

Sweden will look to build on their Bronze medal finish at the 2011 FIFA World Cup in Germany. They’re currently ranked sixth in the world behind Japan, France, the U.S. and top-ranked Germany.

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton joined the Free Press newsroom in 2015, reporting on the sports and investigative beats until he left the Free Press in July 2026.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produced was reviewed by an editing team before it was posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.