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Rosengård will win championship, say experts – and Tyresö?

Players from all twelve clubs of Damallsvenskan in Stockholm on Tuesday
Players from all twelve clubs of Damallsvenskan in Stockholm on Tuesday

A lot has happened in Sweden during the first months of the new year. Five days before a new season of the Damallsvenskan is about to begin, it is time to summarize. On a Tuesday before a new season the Swedish Soccer Federation (SvFF) invited media, coaches and players to come to Stockholm for the annual kick-off avspark. Much, if not most of the talk in pre-season, had to do with Tyresö FF, the champions of 2012 and team of USWNT players Christen Press, Meghan Klingenberg and Whitney Engen. When the last season ended in October 2013, Ashlyn Harris and Alexandra Krieger were also members of the team that had beaten French side Paris St. Germains in the Champions League and kept the Swedes in the competition. Not only Harris and Krieger left Tyresö, but even Spanish international Jennifer Hermoso Fuentes, Norwegian super talent Caroline Graham Hansen. Defender Johanna Frisk was forced to end her career due to a knee injury.

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Linda Sällström: Comeback after Second ACL Injury

Linda Sällström (Photo: Rainer Fussgänger)
Linda Sällström (Photo: Rainer Fussgänger)

With only four games left to play, LdB FC Malmö has established a gap of four points to Tyresö FF. The Stockholm based team with American internationals Ashlyn Harris, Meghan Klingenberg, Ali Krieger and Christen Press played only 2-2 away at Umeå last week. Umeå took the lead twice after individual mistakes by first Harris and then Krieger – both times it was youngster Lina Hurtig who scored for the home side. Since Malmö took another three points winning 2-0 against Jitex with both Anja Mittag and Ramona Bachmann scoring, Malmö’s now got it in their own hands to win the Swedish championship. Read more

Pernille Harder – Player of the Week

Pernille Harder during the EURO 2013 (Photo: Mirko Kappes)
Pernille Harder during the EURO 2013 (Photo: Mirko Kappes)

With five matches to go LdB FC Malmö still leads the Damallsvenskan in Sweden, two points ahead of Tyresö FF. Both teams face strong opposition in the UEFA Women’s Champions League in October with Malmö meeting the Norwegian champions LSK Kvinner and unseeded Tyresö facing Paris with USWNT player Tobin Heath and European champion Annike Krahn of Germany among other stars. Read more

Damallsvenskan Update and Interview with Ali Krieger

Ali Krieger in her new jersey
Ali Krieger in her new jersey

After a European Championship in Sweden this summer that saw Germany enhance its winning streak to six consecutive gold medals in Europe, the Swedish league Damallsvenskan is back. The two leading teams, defending champions Tyresö FF and LdB FC Malmö met just thirteen days after the final between Germany and Norway.

Despite a 2-1 lead for Tyresö and despite Malmö shortened to 10 players after defender Amanda Ilestedt had been sent off, Malmö managed to turn the game and score the decisive goal. Swiss international Ramona Bachmann decided the match after a perfect cross from Germany’s Anja Mittag. Malmö followed up their important away victory with a convincing 5-0 away win against cup winners Göteborg, while Tyresö left another two points after a draw, 1-1 at Örebro last Thursday. In that game, Nigerian international Sarah Michael scored one of this year’s most impressive goals, a tremendous shot from 20 yards out that gave Tyresö’s new goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris not the slightest chance. Read more

17-year-old Marija Banusic chosen by Pia Sundhage for game against Brazil

Marija Banusic
Marija Banusic

The EURO 2013 is just one summer’s month away and tension is rising in Sweden. The national team will meet later this week and prepare for their friendly against Brazil next Wednesday in Stockholm. Six days after that, team manager Pia Sundhage will announce her roster for the championships. Since Sundhage started working for the Swedish soccer federation, she has surprised experts and fans by nominating a vast amount of different players who sometimes seemed to get closer to becoming a part of the team, only to not get called again next time. Read more

Danish dynamite from Tyresö – Line Røddik Hansen

Line1
Line Røddik Hansen

In case you do not know the song: When the Danish men’s national team had their best days yet in the 1980′s they had a cheering song that went “We are red – we are white: We are Danish dynamite”.

That should explain the headline of this post about Tyresö FFs left and center back, 25-year-old Line Røddik Hansen  Line was born and raised in the Danish capital Copenhagen and is currently playing her fourth season in Sweden. She is a regular member of the Danish national team, has 80 caps until today and will most likely have an important role when Denmark takes on hosts Sweden, Finland and Italy in group A of the EURO 2013 that will start on the 10th of July. Read more

Damallsvenskan: Round 5 – Faith Ikidi feels at home in Piteå

Christen Press (left) and Faith Ikidi in Wednesday's match at Tyresö
Christen Press (left) and Faith Ikidi in Wednesday’s match at Tyresö

Nigerian international Faith Ikidi is currently playing her ninth season in the Damallsvenskan. She started out for QBIK in 2005, won the Swedish championship title with Linköping in 2009 and has now made the little northern town of Piteå her home since 2011. After Piteå lost 1-2 to champions Tyresö on Wednesday evening, I had the opportunity to talk to Faith. A couple of minutes before the match ended, she was lying on the pitch in pain and signalled to the bench that she had to be changed – then, after a short treatment she would carry on. Read more