Rampant Sweden pummel Thailand 5-1 to book last 16 spot

Rampant Sweden pummel Thailand 5-1 to book last 16 spot
Soccer Football - Women's World Cup - Group F - Sweden v Thailand - Stade de Nice, Nice, France - June 16, 2019 Sweden's Linda Sembrant celebrates scoring their first goal with team mates REUTERS/Eric Gaillard Copyright ERIC GAILLARD(Reuters)
By Reuters
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NICE, France (Reuters) - Sweden produced a breathtaking display of attacking football to thrash Thailand 5-1 in Nice on Sunday and book their place in the last 16 of the women's World Cup.

Thailand, coming off a record 13-0 loss to defending champions United States in their Group F opener, conceded twice in the opening 20 minutes as they struggled to win aerial battles against a much taller Swedish team.

Centre back Linda Sembrant broke the deadlock for Sweden with a thumping header off an Elin Rubensson free kick, before midfielder Kosovare Asllani pounced on a rebound to double their lead.

Fridolina Rolfo hammered in a third from outside the box as Sweden finished with three goals in the first half of a World Cup match for the first time since a third-place playoff win over Germany in 1991.

Forward Lina Hurtig and Rubensson scored in the second half to add gloss to the scoreline, while forward Kanjana Sung-ngoen pulled one back for Thailand in the closing stages.

It was a much improved display from Sweden, who peppered the Thailand goal with 34 attempts, after they laboured to a 2-0 victory over Chile in their opening match.

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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