A little over a month ago, I wrote on this blog about my undying passion for Women’s Soccer. More specifically, I was discouraged by the challenges of watching the Olympic women’s soccer matches on TV in Sweden—especially when it wasn’t necessarily the Swedish team playing. I love watching the US women play and they did, in case you missed it, win 2012 Olympic gold.
Pia Sundhage
I also mentioned how wonderful the US Women’s National Team
(USWNT) coach, Pia Sundhage is. I admire her enthusiasm, her soccer knowledge,
her fun and calm attitude and of course, her winning record with the US team.
To quote Sports Illustrated, "In just under five years with the U.S., Sundhage compiled an
89-6-10 record, winning two Olympic gold medals and finishing second at the
2011 World Cup."
Pia Sundhage, as I mentioned in my last post, is Swedish.
And now…
She’s just announced that she is stepping down as coach of the USWNT and moving back to Sweden to become the head of the Swedish National
team.
Whahooo! This is great news. I am not the hugest fan of how
the Swedish national team currently plays and I think Pia will bring great
energy and new ways for the team to come together and play great soccer. (Note: Nice slide show of Pia on the Swedish page linked above. It's written in Swedish but just click the small blue box nearly half way down that says "Visa bildspel.")
Marta
Marta Vieira da Silva (known simply by her first name like
all the Brazilian greats), who many say is the best female player in the world, comes from Brazil. She played in the professional league in the US and I saw
her play many times for my home team, FC Gold Pride in the Bay Area. (now
defunct league…don’t ask…painful subject). Marta previously played
professionally for Umeå in northern Sweden. Why am I writing about Marta? Well
because Marta also decided to move back to Sweden a few months ago and she signed with
Tyresö FF here in Stockholm.
Awesome, Ted! (What? You never watched “Bill and Ted’s
Excellent Adventure”?)
Two last points...
* Please don’t fail to notice that I am a trailblazer…both these women made their decisions after I moved from the US to Sweden. (lol)
* Birthdays (I'm just saying...)
- Pia Sundhage: February 13
- Marta: February 19
- Kristin Lund: February 21
Well Kristin you're not passionate about Soccer at all are you?! ;o) LOL
ReplyDeleteThat is good news for the two women returning to Sweden to work/play soccer (I mean football)(what is it in Swedish?)!!!!:o)
Yes, unavoidably true, Monica, I am nuts for soccer. It's "fotboll" in Swedish and women's soccer is "damfotboll." Thanks for commenting. :)
DeleteThanks for information. :o)
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