Asllani all out for Norway scalp

A little over two weeks after Norway inflicted Sweden's first defeat of the year, Kosovare Asllani is eager to exact her revenge when the teams meet in Helsinki in the quarter-finals of UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™.

Maiden goal
The 20-year-old featured for 74 minutes of the friendly encounter in Enkoping on 19 August as Bjarne Berntsen's side came away with a 1-0 victory courtesy of Isabell Herlovsen's strike just before the hour. The Linköpings FC forward, who struck her first international goal in the 2-0 defeat of Italy in the group stage, is not reading too much into what was both teams' last match before the finals. That said, she would dearly love to return the favour after experiencing defeat for the first time since making her international debut last year.

Norway loss
"I don't care about the last match because it was our final game before we came here and everybody already had their minds on Finland," Asllani told uefa.com. "It doesn't tell us anything, but we do want to get our revenge."

Youth experience
Asllani was part of the squad which reached the last four of the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship in July last year and two months later graduated to the senior setup, making her bow in the penultimate qualifier against Romania in late September. Reaching the last eight of her first senor tournament has been a "big thing" for Sweden's No10, whose confidence is such that she was always certain of reaching the latter stages.

Belief
"It's a dream to be here so soon after making my debut but I knew we had a really good team and we have a good opportunity to go far," Asllani, who would miss the semi-final if she is cautioned against Norway, added. "I know we have all the ingredients needed to make it to the final. I believe in us."