Australia beats Sweden 4-0 in women’s soccer friendly

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Arsenal forward Caitlin Foord scored two goals Saturday to lead Australia to a 4-0 win over Sweden in an international women’s soccer friendly.

Foord has five goals in her past three internationals. Skipper Sam Kerr’s 37th-minute toe-poke, her first international goal since playing New Zealand in April, gave Australia the lead in front of 22,065 fans at AAMI Park in Melbourne.

Foord doubled Australia’s lead on 51 minutes and also netted in the 78th, five minutes after Mary Fowler’s deflected strike.

Foord said the team’s strategy has greatly developed over the past 12 months to better balance the team’s tactics.

“I feel like we’ve finally come together, found that sweet spot,” Foord said. “We want to be an attacking team, want to be aggressive, and we play our best when we’re like that.”

It was the fourth meeting between the teams in less than two years. Sweden edged Australia 1-0 in the Tokyo Olympics semifinal, won a group stage match 4-2 and drew 0-0 in a pre-tournament friendly.

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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup