Each player has huge respect for the other, but both are in confident mood ahead of the semi-final’s first leg which Svensson’s Djurgården/Älvsjö, the Swedish champions, will host in Stockholm on Thursday evening.

Central defender White was missing through injury when the two teams met last September, also in Stockholm, during the first round tournament of what is Europe’s biggest women’s football competition.

The Gunners won 1-0 to finish top of the four-team group, but Djurgården were runners-up so also went through to the second round. Now a place in the final is at stake – and Svensson is determined to extract revenge for that September defeat.

“That was a bad game for us,” recalled Svensson, rated one of the world’s top strikers. “It was not our full team who played that day, but we could have won the match anyway and it was our own fault that we did not do so.

“Arsenal were the best team at the tournament though, and we know we will have to work very hard to beat them. But I am confident we can beat them, especially because of the way things have been going during our build-up to the new season.”

The Swedish club campaign gets underway on April 20th, but while in the meantime snow has engulfed the Djurgården stadium the players have been training in Cyprus then returned to beat Helsinki 4-0 in a friendly fixture last Saturday.

Arsenal have meanwhile been in the heat of competitive action, their 5-1 win at Bristol Rovers last Sunday putting them within three points of the FA Nationwide Women’s League title and with it, qualification for next season’s UEFA Cup.

Their run of tough League and Cup matches, reckons White, should work to the Gunners’ advantage when on Thursday they come up against a team whose preparations have been training and friendly games.

The central defender said: “We’ve been in the thick of things and it’s important, when you go into a match like this, that you’re battle hardened and playing with the sort of confidence we’ve gained in the last couple of weeks.

“We were gutted to lose our FA Cup semi-final to Everton last month, and we knew we’d under-performed that day. But we were determined to prove to everybody that we’re still a top team, and I think we’ve done that with our last few League displays.

“Now we’ve got a really hard European game against a side that includes five players from the Swedish team and a couple of internationals from other countries, and without doubt it will be a tougher task than when we played them in the first round.

“I couldn’t play that day, but I watched the game and I think they simply underestimated us. It was a tight game and a good result for us, but they’ll go into the semi-final with a different attitude and we are certainly expecting a harder time.”

With Arsenal, like Djurgården, having five players in their national team’s squad the UEFA Cup tie could be viewed as a mini-prequel to June 11th’s England-Sweden Group A clash at the Women’s Euro 2005.

The contest between central defender White and striker Svensson could be a key element in both fixtures, and each of the protagonists is looking forward to pitting her wits against the other.

“Faye White is a very good player,” said Svensson, “but Arsenal have other defenders who play for England so it will not just be about me and her. It will be a good test to play against her though, and hopefully I will be on the winning side.

“We will certainly play better than we did against them last September, and I think we can beat them over the two legs. If we can do that then win the final, it would be a big boost for Sweden before the Women’s Euro 2005.

“I am looking forward to playing in England, although I feel we are in a tough group and we will have difficult games including the one against England. We are determined to reach the final again though, and hopefully this time to win it.” 

Sweden lost to Germany in the 2001 Euro final and subsequently lost to the Germans in the 2003 World Cup final. The two nations will be favourites to once again meet each other in the Women’s Euro 2005 final, as White readily admits.

“There’s no doubt about it,” said the 27 year-old defender. “The Swedes will certainly be favourites to win our group, but we play Finland and Denmark before them and good results against those two will stand us in good stead for the Sweden game.

“For me it’s fantastic to have all these matches coming up, and the prospect of testing yourself against world class players like Victoria Svensson always gives you a lift and gets the adrenalin going.

“She did nothing great against us last September, our defenders coped with her well. It’ll be a different scenario in the semi-final and she’ll be up for it – but so will we, and we’ll be aiming to come back from Stockholm with another good result.”