Striker Lotta Schelin is the most dangerous player in the Swedish women's soccer team and could pose a potential threat to any team, China's coach Shang Rihua said?in Tianjin?on Monday.
China will play against Sweden in its opening match at the Olympics on August 6 before it meets Canada on August 9 and faces Argentina on August 12 in group stage.
Looking ahead to the opening match, Shang told Xinhua: "Schelin has fast pace and excellent technique, and few defenders could keep up with her."
"We will pay more attention to the defense on Schelin and give her no space to play," Shang said.
Schelin, 1.78m tall, was Swedish Player of the Year for 2006 and was often compared to Swedish men's national team's counterpart Zlatan Ibrahimovic in terms of height, technique, creativity and goal sense.
The leggy girl scored the opening goal in Sweden's 2-0 win over Norway in an Olympic warm-up game on July 20. In last year's FIFA World Cup, she netted twice in the group match against DPR Korea, but her team failed to survive the group.
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2008)