Stina Blackstenius: She's always scored the goals

After scoring the goal that won us the UEFA Women’s Champions League, Stina Blackstenius marked her return to international football with a hat-trick for Sweden. With Stina heading to Switzerland’s UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 in the form of her life, we’ve gone back to the start by speaking to Micael Westerberg, who coached Stina at Vadstena GIF, where her career began from 2002 to 2012, as well as football journalist Frida Fagerlund, who has been covering the Sweden national team since 2017.

“I remember a lot,” Micael said, thinking back to where it all began. “I was her coach for seven years, so yeah, it was a great time. I think she was nine years old when I met her for the first time as a coach. She was really a good player all the time, always scoring goals. Of course, she was a striker, like today.

“I was a coach for 11 years, so the first seven years with her, and then I continued without her. Of course, my coaching wasn't about her, it was about all the others. My daughter was in the team for the first eight years as well. In the beginning, it was the speed that stood out about Stina, of course.

“I don't know how many years it took to realise the speed that she had with the ball. I don't think we met any defender who couldn't run as fast without a ball, and that's a lot. When you're young, of course, speed is an important thing to have. It's tough to defend against someone who's really that quick and fast like she was.

“She needed coaching as well, of course. She was nine years old, so of course. But the speed and the instinct to score goals, that she had from the beginning. You never had to learn that. If there was a game in which she scored five goals, there was no problem to make it six or seven or eight. She was always focused to score goals.

“I remember one thing, I think when she was 15. We were sitting in a car when we were going to a tournament, an indoor tournament in the winter. I know that I said to her, ‘I can promise you that you will play in the Swedish national team someday’, because she was unique in my point of view.

“I didn't see anyone with the same speed and focus to score goals. She always wanted to win.

“Stina grew up in Vadstena. It's a really small, we say town, but you'd probably say village. Around 7,000 or 8,000 people live here, so it's a really small town.”

“I studied not far from Vadstena,” Frida continued. “It's a very small place. They've got a peculiar accent, a very cute accent, which Stina obviously has as well, but it's very idyllic. I would say in the summers it's really nice to go to Vadstena, so I would highly recommend anyone to go there right now because in the winters it's not the same, it's not as pleasant!”

After leaving Vadstena in 2012, Stina went on to feature for Linkoping, Montpellier, Linkoping again and then BK Hacken before her 2022 move to Arsenal.

“She’s obviously done very well over a pretty long period of time,” Frida said. She went to Montpellier in France in 2017. I think everyone thought that she was going to do really well but then she returned to Sweden quite quickly and it's been clear from what she's said herself that maybe that was a bit early for her, and she probably felt, I would say more, maybe safe is the right word, but I feel like Stina is a person who probably needs that safety net around her to feel comfortable and to be at her best.

“She turned back to Sweden and then eventually when she finally decided to move to Arsenal she felt ready enough to make that move.”

“I said to her, ‘I can promise you that you will play in the Swedish national team someday.’”

Asked about her importance to the Sweden national team, who are now hoping to win the Euros for the first time since 1984, Micael added: “She's really important. In the beginning, I think most people saw her just to score goals, but today she's really important in the defence as well. She's the one who's starting everything, putting pressure on the defenders in the other team.

“That is really important for the Swedish national team. When you're young, mostly you're playing forward as you score the goals. But today, when you're a professional, for a forward or a goalscorer, you have to be good as a target player as well. That is something that she has been doing better and better during the years. That's why I think she has learned a lot in Arsenal.”

“She’s been a regular on the Sweden team for a long time now,” Frida said. “She's always been number one in the striker position under Peter Gerhardsson, and there's never really been any doubt about her keeping that place regardless of whether she's been scoring a lot of goals or not. She's seen as a really good striker in Sweden even though I think she still has some things to prove. I think some people still want to see more from her, but hopefully that will come this summer at the Euros.

“To me, I think people who criticise Stina don't realise what she's actually really good at. I think in terms of her movement on the pitch, she's absolutely brilliant. I think she's absolutely world class in terms of her runs and she opens up so much space for her teammates. I think that as soon as she feels comfortable, she's going to score a lot of goals.

“I remember at the World Cup in 2019, that was one of those tournaments where Stina was so important, because she scored a lot of important goals, especially against Canada in the last 16. Then she scored against Germany in the quarter-finals to reach the semi-finals. As soon as she scores that first goal, I think that her confidence just peaks and she's able to score easy goals, difficult goals and whatever. But if she stops believing in herself, I think that's when she struggles.

“Sometimes that's what people see, but in terms of her movement, like I said, I think she's a brilliant player, and maybe underrated also, because usually those details, if you don't watch football every week, you might not see that, but that's definitely what stands out about her in my opinion.”

It should come as no surprise to learn that, like many former coaches, Micael has kept tabs on Stina’s progress throughout her career, and recently found himself in England to enjoy watching our impactful forward as well as exploring the countryside!

“I was at the game in the quarter-finals against Real Madrid,” he said. “We got a ticket through Stina. Otherwise, my wife and I stayed in a bar to watch the games! For three months we rented an apartment. I was working 50% towards Sweden in my normal job and in the other 50% we were exploring the Cotswolds, Bath, Bristol, travelling and walking a lot. The weather was amazing in March and April, so we had a good time.

“My daughter is studying in London as well, so we went to visit her a couple of times and, with the quarter-finals against Real Madrid, I met Stina and her boyfriend, actually. It was much, much better weather in England than in Sweden. A lot of people asked where we were. Were we in Spain or something? No, we were in England!

“Stina was born in 1996 and my youngest daughter was born in 1999. My eldest daughter was born in 1997. The team we had Stina in was the girls born in 1996 and 1997 because it's a small town, so we had to mix them. Otherwise, we can't have a team.”

Stina is no stranger to big moments in big games, scoring the winner in 2024’s FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup final as well as in this year’s UEFA Women’s Champions League final.

“I'm so pleased for her,” Frida said. “I was so happy to see her score that winner for Arsenal because I think that this is exactly what she needs as a person to actually start believing in herself more. I've always felt that she really needs to be more confident. She needs to believe in herself and her abilities.

“I think scoring that goal and then scoring the hat-trick against Denmark, I don't think that's a coincidence. I think something's happened, like a switch in her brain perhaps. Hopefully, that confidence will be shown at the Euros as well.

“I think if it is, she can definitely prove to everyone that she is a top striker, a world-class striker.”

So how do Micael and Frida think Sweden could fare at the Euros this summer?

“I think they have a good chance, but it's getting tougher for every Euro,” Micael said. “It's really tight. A lot of teams are coming. There are many teams that can win. I think of course England can win, France can win, Germany, Spain of course. A lot of teams. But I think Sweden is an outsider. You can beat every team, but you have to win the right matches. I think that's the most important thing. They have a chance.

“I think it’s important that Stina can play. There's a lot of people playing in Sweden. It's getting better and they are at the right age. They have a lot of experience from other tournaments like the Euros, the World Cup and the Olympics. I think they have a chance. They're not favourites, but I think they have a chance.

“I'm going to Switzerland to watch the games. I think since 2017 when the Euros was in the Netherlands, not every game, but when it's in Europe, I've been to every tournament. I was in England the last time on two occasions.

“It's also fun to see how the women’s game is growing. When we were in the Netherlands in 2017, there were not so many people at the games. It's a big difference. I think the Euros in England has helped a lot because of the great interest they created.”

“I think it's a tough one this summer,” Frida agreed. “To me, there isn't one nation that stands out. Obviously, we have Spain who won the World Cup two years ago, but I still do think that they have some weaknesses. The same goes for Germany, they’ve got some weaknesses in the defence. I think in terms of Sweden always being very reliable and always being one of these teams that have a togetherness, I think every time I ask Sweden players what is so special about Sweden, they always say the togetherness. The fact that they always know what it takes to progress very far in a tournament, I do think that they might as well win this tournament.

“They could also get a really tough opponent in the quarter-finals and just head out after that one. So I think it's a hit or miss. But they can definitely, on a good day, beat anyone.”