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Gerhardsson's side will face Spain on Tuesday
with a place in the final at stake after handing 2011 winners
Japan a 2-1 defeat in Auckland on Friday.
Their progress comes after seeing off the United States, the
defending champions, in a penalty shoot-out in the last 16 five
days earlier and has left Gerhardsson looking for even more from
his squad.
"For me as a coach and the players, you are never finished, you
have to prove things all the time," said Gerhardsson.
"It's our performance out there. That's the show.
"Football is difficult for me. It's difficult, technical, and
everything like that. So that's why everybody's interested. You,
me, players, audience, everybody. It's exciting."
Sweden's success has come despite the team receiving little of
the fanfare afforded to the tournament's more fancied nations
prior to kick-off last month.
Of those remaining in the competition, Sweden, winners of the
silver medal at the Olympics in Japan in 2021, possess the best
historical record, having appeared in the semi-finals on four
previous occasions.
The Swedes have only converted one of those appearances into a
place in the final, however, when they defeated Canada before
losing to Germany in the 2003 decider.
While the outside world has paid his team minimal attention,
Gerhardsson believes his players possess the on-field confidence
more often associated with a club team.
"I have had such incredibly skilled players, not only on the
pitch," he said. "They're very meticulous, they're interested
and always give 100 percent whatever it concerns and I think
that's a very important aspect.
"During tournaments like this we become more of a club team. If
you've played in a club team for many years there can be some
tension between certain players, but we manage this time we have
together very well.
"When I was a player I enjoyed making my own decisions on the
pitch within a certain framework. They do that. They're nice,
they're cocky when they're on the pitch and that makes me calm.
Whether that matters for them, I don't know."
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Miral Fahmy)
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