By Philip O’Connor
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden defender Hanna Lundkvist is out of the Women’s World Cup after suffering an ankle injury in her side’s final friendly against the Philippines on Monday, the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) has announced.
The 21-year-old picked up the knock in a 5-1 win over the Philippines in a game that took place behind closed doors, and despite the best efforts of Sweden’s medical team, she will not be fit in time to take part.
“Further examination that we did in the evening unfortunately showed that Hanna won’t be able to take part in the World Cup. The nature of the injury means that we have assessed that the time available during the tournament is not enough to get Hanna back,” team doctor Houman Ebrahimi said in a statement on Tuesday.
Lundkvist will be replaced by Linkoping FC’s Stina Lennartsson, who will travel to join the team ahead of their opening game against South Africa in Wellington on Sunday.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
