Sweden coach Thomas Dennerby says being the taller team in its semifinal clash with Japan on Wednesday is of little consequence.
Japan has only one player over5-foot-7. While Sweden has only five players under 5-7.
“The Swedish players are big and they have very long legs, especially in one-on-one situations, our legs can’t reach out sofar, so we have to be careful of those longs legs,” Japanese midfielder Aya Miyama said with a grin.
But Dennerby said, “When the ball is on the ground and it doesn’tmatter how tall your players are, it’s not basketball. Look at the great players like (Lionel) Messi or (Diego) Maradona, theyaren’t tall. It’s very hard to beat Germany in Germany, we know Japan are going to be one of the teams you can count on.