Fridolina Rolfo: The Barcelona-bound Swede who battled a ‘war’ of injuries to be the star of the Olympics

At Yokohama Stadium on Friday, football showed its ability to be incredibly beautiful and incredibly cruel, all at the same time.

After Canada and Sweden could not be separated after 120 minutes of football, the final of the Olympic Games' women's football tournament went to a penalty shootout.

After 12 spot-kicks, despite them being huge underdogs before kick-off, the big prize was Canada's.

While Christine Sinclair, the greatest international goalscorer of all time, picked up a gold medal at the age of 38, there were fairy tales among the opposition that did not have the same happy ending.

Be it Hedvig Lindahl enduring “such a bad ending”, as she confirmed she will not play at another major tournament, or Caroline Seger, the iconic 36-year-old midfielder, blazing her penalty over the bar when it could have won gold instead.

Among those distraught on that pitch after the final penalty of the shootout had been scored was Fridolina Rolfo.

Her story may not be over, or quite as heart-breaking as some of her team-mates, but the absolute star of the Games was inconsolable all the same.

It is always sad to see a player who has shone brighter than any other not end the tournament as a winner. But if anyone knows how to bounce back from such disappointment, it is Rolfo.

 

 

 

 

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After all, this a player who has seen her career plagued by injuries, so much so that she has described her battle to recover from them all as a “war”.

Be it the fractured metatarsal that cut her 2016 Olympics short, or the many fitness issues that meant she started just 10 league games in what proved to be her final season at Wolfsburg in 2020-21, Rolfo has hardly had the best of luck in recent years.

Because of that limited game time, the 27-year-old did not come into this tournament at the top of everyone’s ‘players to watch’ lists.

But there has never been any doubt around Rolfo's ability when she is fully fit, which is exactly why the newly-crowned European champions Barcelona have snapped her up this summer.

They will be glad they did so before the Olympics got under way, because they would have certainly had more competition for her signature off the back of her performances in Japan.

The winger’s two-goal showing against Australia in the second game announced her to the tournament, a sweeping right-footed finish in the box showing off her goalscoring instincts before a left-footed rocket in the second half demonstrated her class.

In the quarter-final match-up against Japan, she contributed in a different way. A well-flighted cross set up the first goal, headed home by Magdalena Eriksson, and a sensational reverse pass played in Stina Blackstenius for the second.

In the semi-finals, an acrobatic, improvised finish secured her country's place in the final with a 1-0 win over Australia.

“I feel happy with the work I’ve put into this tournament,” she said after that game. Only Blackstenius, with five goals and one assist, was involved in more goals for Sweden this summer.

But it has not just been the goals and the assists. It has been Rolfo’s general play that has made her stand-out in an attack where every player complements each other so well.

Her vision and ability to find the right pass have been superb, qualities that no doubt attracted a team with the ideology of Barcelona.

Meanwhile, her quick feet, skilful touch and confidence to run at full-backs is everything that the Catalans ask from their wingers. There is no doubt that her style fits the club to a tee.

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Before she can look ahead to that next chapter, there is the task of coming to terms with another heartbreak though. "It just hurts," were Rolfo's simple, poignant words after collecting her silver medal.

But unlike some of her team-mates, Rolfo still has plenty of time to get her crowning moment in her country’s colours. Her world-class ability will be massive for Sweden going forward as they look to continue the development they have shown since the 2016 Games.

If they continue this ascendancy, there is no reason why that moment cannot come next summer at the European Championship, or at the World Cup in 2023, as the team look to improve on a third-placed finish in 2019.

But those are both a long way away yet. Next up is that flight to Barcelona and taking to the field with the European champions, combining with some of the best players in the world.

After her performances this summer, there will be plenty as excited as she is for that journey to begin.