11:57
The teams are out in Yokohama for the national anthems. Sweden top to toe in their change strip of Prussian blue, Australia all in highlighter pen yellow.
11:50
I feel like I’ve made it abundantly clear already that Sweden are the real deal, and deserve to start as strong favourites tonight, but in case it needs laying on even thicker: Australia have never beaten Sweden in a competitive match. And Sweden have already knocked the Matildas out at the quarter-final stage of the 2004 Olympics and the 2011 Women’s World Cup.
But… Matildas boss Tony Gustavsson is Swedish and will know his opponents tonight better than any coach who has faced the Swedes in these Games.
11:35
11:29
11:24
11:20
Sweden XI
Sweden are unchanged from their quarterfinal triumph over Japan.
1. Lindahl
4. Glas
6. Eriksson
9. Asllani
10. Jakobsson
11. Blackstenius
13. Ilestedt
14. Bjorn
16. Angeldal
17. Seger (c)
18. Rolfo
11:05
Preamble
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Australia v Sweden for a place in the final of the Olympic Games. Kick-off in Yokohama is 8pm local time (9pm AEST).
What a night in prospect. The biggest match in the history of the Matildas. 90 minutes away from a guaranteed gold or silver medal. Years of development and progression on the international stage coming to fruition, and the perfect springboard for 2023 when Australia will co-host the World Cup with New Zealand. This is their moment.
But it will take a supreme effort to accept the opportunity presented to them. Sweden will go in strong favourites after impressing throughout this tournament, a four-game winning streak that includes a 4-2 victory over the Matildas in the group phase just over a week ago.
And who knows how Australia will be feeling physically after surviving a gruelling 120-minute epic with Great Britain on Friday. That result, indebted as it was to goalkeeper Teagan Micah, took a lot of the group, and they will do well to back up so soon afterwards.
I shall return shortly with line-ups and the opinions of Guardian geniuses more knowledgeable than I. If you want to add your voice to the conversation, feel free to shoot me an email or tweet @JPHowcroft.
