Sweden savour progress made in Milan despite missing narrowly out on bronze

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sweden/bcZueL1Q/"]Sweden[/a] came up short ‌in the bronze medal game against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/switzerland/zJQ7juAs/"]Switzerland[/a] 2-1 ‌on Thursday, losing in heartbreaking fashion in overtime. But ‌while they missed the podium, there were plenty of ‌positives to take from their deepest Olympic run in 12 years.[/p][p][b]"Sometimes the journey is the goal,"[/b] said Lundberg. [b]"I am as ‌proud of the players as I would ⁠have been if we ‌had a bronze medal."[/b][/p][p]Once a major contender in the women's ​game, with a bronze in 2002 and a silver in 2006, Sweden failed to make it ​past the quarter-finals in 2018 and 2022, with a demoralising 11-0 defeat by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/canada/Aq5hyMur/"]Canada[/a] in the final eight ⁠in Beijing.[/p][p]They put ​the world on notice that the slump was over in Milan, where they burst through Group B undefeated before running into the favourites [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/usa/hhS4ztel/"]United States[/a] in the semi-final.[/p][embed guid="3470b5bf-e14a-4abb-a05a-252cf3cea31e" url="https://x.com/IIHFHockey/status/2024520003781898748" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"Obviously ‌empty now. At the same time I'm very proud of this team and what we accomplished,"[/b] said captain [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kjellbin-anna/WtDCAtO4/"]Anna Kjellbin[/a]. [b]"We won this quarter-final that we've been losing for so many years now. Played a pretty good semi-final as well."[/b][/p][p]Sweden's players boycotted their national team in 2019, citing a need for improvement in both pay and working conditions and Kjellbin said she hoped ‌their Milan campaign would spark the next generation.[/p][p][b]"I hope ​there's a lot of young girls sitting and watching ‌our game and if they're not already in the sport I hope they take the chance and start playing hockey,"[/b] said Kjellbin.[/p][p][b]"I think the future of women's hockey in Sweden is bright and ⁠I can't wait to ⁠experience that."[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/sweden-bcZueL1Q/switzerland-zJQ7juAs/?mid=t69TyyVI"]Review the women's bronze medal match on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]