or, jocasta snaps, a full week after the opening round No Damallsvenskan thread yet?! Ack! I can't stand it any more! General info about Damallsvenskan can be found at svenskfotboll.se. However, the links listed there to individual teams often go to pages that aren't quite right, so links to all teams are listed below. Any sort of appearance of a ranking or order is purely coincidental, I assure you. (Except for KIF Örebro in 5th, because they always come in fifth.) Tyresö FF http://www.tyresoff.se/Damer LdB FC Malmö http://www.itsawomensworld.se/ Linköpings FC http://www.linkopingfc.com/ Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC http://www.goteborgfc.se/Fotboll/kgfc.nsf/Permanent/$First?Open KIF Örebro http://www.kiforebro.se/ Umeå IK http://www.umeaik.se/ Piteå IF http://www.piteaif.se/dam/ Jitex BK http://www.sportnik.com/group/14410/ Kristianstads DFF http://www.kdff.nu/ Vittsjö GIK (do not confuse them with 3rd division's Vittsjö DFK, with whom they share a website) http://www.svenskalag.se/start.asp?teamID=1656 Djurgårdens IF http://www.difdam.nu/ AIK http://www.aikfotboll.se/Damer.aspx Several amusing things have already happened in the league this year and who knows, maybe eventually there will be time to talk about them. The 'et alia' bit refers to the fact two teams of interest are playing in first-division Norrettan this year, relegated-in-2012 Hammarby DFF, and promoted-in-2012 IK Sirius FK. In order to avoid ruffling any southern feathers about cultural/political boundaries in reference to the Stockholm Bloodbath of 1520, any talk about first-division Söderettan is also welcome.
Not for me But then I like that Uppsala is finally getting Sirius (pronouced serious) about retaking Bällinges spot in the Damallsvenska.
Inte jag heller. And of course we're all looking forward to lots and lots of serious jokes. So, what's on for scuttlebutt fun this year? For starters let's take this interview with Piteå's Sofie Persson; readers may remember that some of us were concerned with her fate last year and now we know what happened: "One could say that Piteå saved me" reads the headline. She was with Tyresö last year but they dropped her, despite promises that she could stay. Feeling rejected, disappointed, and sad, she considered dropping football entirely at the age of 24. Then came the offer from Piteå, which she took with the condition that they find her a job with architects (which they did), and she is now captain of the team to boot. Most of the article is a blast against Tyresö, and people who value money/star players/a gold medal over promises, and stuff like that. She makes quite a convincing impression that she truly would rather be with Piteå, no matter what, rather than win the gold with Tyresö. All this is just to say that let's hope for broadcast of at least one of the Piteå-Tyresö fixtures.
Other places to get news on the league, all in Swedish: The rumors of damfotboll.com's death have been greatly exaggerated, or, at least the resuscitation has worked, for now. Check for general info on results from Damallsvenskan and Swedish national team. A few more sites were put up in the immediate aftermath of damfotboll.com's coma... Dandal has a site that connects to official media reports, blogs, etc; get your daily dose of news at Dagens Damallsvenskan. Then there's this blog, simply called Damallsvenskan – The World's Best, which includes short game previews. Another fan blog, Spelare12, has match summaries, previews, and things like a weekly best-11-players-by-position round up.
Here's something I never ever thought I would hear a Swede say, and mean it seriously: 'Bra gjort av Anya Mittag.' Meanwhile LdB's Ali Riley is being directly blamed for Tyresö's second goal.
It's shaping up to be a potentially exciting year. Only four games in at this point, for most teams, and only Umeå and Linköping are unbeaten. Umeå plays LdB on May Day. That Linköping would manage a 1-0 result against Tyresö last round was not really too surprising (and was possibly good for Tyresö, to demonstrate to them that they are not invulnerable). That Linköping would go on to tie Umeå 1-1 was merely interesting. But that Linköping then tied with lowly AIK at 0-0?? Weird. True they have not lost, but three draws is not the way to the top either. Other surprises: Kopparbergs/Göteborg loses to newcomers Vittsjö 1-2, in part perhaps because the coach got bit by a dog. No, seriously. And neither Stockholm team (Djurgården, AIK) has won a game yet. All this is just to say that the table is wacky at the moment. Best Name Game of the day: QBIK vs. Tölö (3-1) (Söderettan) (I get a mental picture of a drawing of bunch of football-playing Qbert creatures, done in the style of Toulouse-Lautrec, which is completely inappropriate, really)
I'll be the first to say it this year... Umeå got creamed today, away at LdB FC. Final score, 7-1, with Anya Mittag scoring four and adding two assists. Yikes! Heaven help all the other teams if LdB ever figures out how to put Ramona Bachmann to good use. (Or maybe she is being put to use, as a decoy for Mittag. Oddly, I don't see her as being temperamentally suited to that roll.) The table after Round 4: Code: [U]Lag S V O F GM-IM D P[/U] LdB FC Malmö 4 3 0 1 16-6 10 9 Tyresö FF 4 3 0 1 12-2 10 9 K/Göteborg FC 4 3 0 1 12-3 9 9 Vittsjö GIK 4 3 0 1 8-7 1 9 Umeå IK FF 4 2 1 1 8-9 -1 7 Piteå IF 4 2 0 2 8-6 2 6 Linköpings FC 4 1 3 0 3-2 1 6 Jitex BK 4 2 0 2 7-8 -1 6 Kristianstads 4 1 1 2 5-9 -4 4 KIF Örebro DFF 4 1 0 3 2-15 -13 3 AIK FF 4 0 1 3 1-8 -7 1 Djurgården 4 0 0 4 1-8 -7 0 Note Vittsjö hangin' with the Big Girls, with three wins and one loss. Fantastic!
What on earth are they feeding those girls at Vittsjö? They have just beat Linköping 3-0! Linköping, remember them? With Nilla Fischer, and Lollo Fors, and Sofia Lundgren, and Lisa deVanna, and Jessica Samuelsson, and Manon Melis for heaven's sake! (who only went in in the last few minutes, true. still.)
Isn't this interesting? I've just realised that the reason that not much seems to be happening in the Damallsvenskan thread is that the latest software update obscures anything of potential interest to you. "Uh, today I think I'll scroll down past the Argentinian league to see if anybody's started a new thread that I haven't subscribed to"... No, change is not always progress. Anyway, while I'm here, I can mention a few unsettling things. One is that Anja Mittag is tearing around scoring a ridiculous amount of goals, another is that Tyresö are performing rather erratically, almost drawing with AIK. Tyresö managed to get the 3 points in the end thanks to an own goal. A candidate for comment of the year must be the bitter reaction of AIK (formerly Hammarby) player, Nazanin Vaseghpanah. Famous for her bitching to refs and general histrionics, she claimed after the match that "(Tyresö) complain a lot and fall over too easily. Then they talk back and bitch a lot. Get up and play instead", she says... apparently with no sense of irony whatsoever.
Another unsettling thing is Charlotte Rohlin's ACL injury. Looks like Anja Mittag has been able to reinvent herself though! Good for her. (In the new BS, you can "watch threads" so as not to miss anything of interest. I think you do that by sitting in front of your computer screen and hitting F5 occasionally.)
That reminds me, in Norrettan news, IK Sirius defeated Hammarby yesterday 2-0. I feel as if there's some greater meaning or message here — something about springtime and renewal and all that — or about the inevitability of change and death — but I can't quite figure it out. Meanwhile Sirius will welcome Tyresö on Wednesday evening for a Cup match. Tyresö may be erratic at the moment but I don't think quite erratic enough to lose to Sirius. That, however, cheers me right up. Haha! That's hilarious. She can shoot laser beams out of her eyes, you know. All those opposing floppers better watch themselves.
Kristianstad wouldn't mind taking Vidarsdottir back if Potsdam get exasperated with her injury record. Potsdam admit that they're looking for a new striker and that Sofia Jakobsson is on their wish list. Their medical staff haven't been able to deal with Vidarsdottir's injury the way they had hoped.
Here's a rather curious blog entry (in English) from K/Göteborg's American Christen Press, she of the 'looking forward to helping my team build a better product' interview (which offered a hint that she might good for further notable quotes/notions in the future). She was offered a chance at the US's upcoming training camp, but the club won't allow it? She's trying to put a brave face on being Fate's Bitch. http://wsoccernews.com/fullStory.php?id=3525&utm_source=wSoccerNews
In other news, Sirius did lose to Tyresö 1-3 in Cup play the other night, in front of 1500 fans. More-or-less impartial observers say that it looked like Tyresö was playing at about 70%, but all comments in the newspaper have been that Sirius favorably impressed everyone. The right back had tweeted, the day before, something to the effect of "I'm going to look like the world's stupidest football player against Marta tomorrow...", a feeling she apparently got over at some point. Marta did play, coming off after 75', and is estimated to haved signed a few hundred programs after the game.
From your perspective, do you think it would have been a good move for to go to training camp? What's the likely hood of Pia pickin her for the Olympic team? Or would she just be there at the camp as a practice squad member?
Likelihood: .01%. But a fringe player wouldn't be going for this upcoming tournament. Going to a camp is more like investment for the future (assuming someone wants to be on the USWNT eventually).
But the next coach will probably start building more or less new after the Olympics, so unless she makes the squad (as mentioned highly unlikely) or the next WNT coach is one of the currwnt assiting coaches I can't see how being in camp now would help her.
It depends on what she wants. If her highest ambition in life was to merely go to one US training camp, before a big tournament, then yes, I could understand her disappointment. If however she would like to actually be on the national team, then she might do better to wait. I agree with the others: probability of her being chosen this year = practically nil. She's quite young, she's had a good season with K/Göteborg so far but not in a lighting-up-the-field-every-time-she-touches-the-ball way. And to take JanBalk's theory one step further, who knows, it even might be better for her to not be tainted by the old guard if a new coach comes in after the Olympics.
... And Press's follow-up, in the wake of K/G's inexplicable 3-1 loss to Kristianstad. (And this time with a link to her actual blog.) Nope, all is not sunshine and ice cream In Göteborg. I'm intrigued by the notion that, as a way to meditation, one can 'get one's Ohm on' (a truly shocking idea, and not one I associate with a feeling of peace). To show solidarity with all who Resist I will change my Science Merit badge. Cheer up, lil' pup, summer's coming. www.socceramerica.com/article/46747/reign-cross-that-out-rain-over-me.html
Today's Damallsvenskan results are so shocking that they have apparently broken the website; it's just sitting and spinning in confusion. Details to follow, as soon as someone figures out how to fix the apparent Java validation error in the space-time continuum.
In the final game of Round 7, K/Göteborg demolishes Linköping 6-0. Lisa Ek scored the first, then Press, Press, Lindén, Press, Liljegärd (or I might have those last ones backwards, so sue me). Press gets interviewed after the game. On the one hand, she says the usual: teamwork, finding each other, yada yada and still sounds a little like she's hawking some sort of durable good (but at least she did not repeat the infamous 'help my team build a better product' thing). On the plus side, when TV guy asks her point-blank if she thinks she'll be on the national team, she gives a cheerful but evasively 'we'll see' and gives no visible hint of the feelings she expressed in her blog. Funniest moment, however, was this. TV guy: Is six goals too many goals? Press: (looks at him as if he has just told her that he is Santa Claus) TV guy: Six goals, is it too much? Press: No, is there such a thing? (then she recovers and gives the usual about how one has to take the chances one creates etc.) My first thought was 'ok, seriously, you're gong to ask someone who just scored a hat trick if there were too many goals scored?' My second thought was 'wait a minute... this is some kind of advanced-level American baiting, isn't it?'
Here in America after 3 goal lead, your not support to run up the score(score anymore goals unless the other team cuts the lead down to 2 or half). Your suppose to keep possesion and work on Plan B or C, if one score goals based on that than its fine. But, looking to score just to score, after the game is already won is looked down upon here in America. That's why the reporter asked the question. Will she make the national team? Who knows.
But Press & company proved that a 3 goal lead don't mean that the game is won when they recovered from 0-3 to 3-3 in the last 14 minutes against Jitex. And Swedish teams have time after otehr proved that falling back and try to defend the lead to early in soccer is the best way to lose it.
For youth soccer. I've rarely ever seen professionals / whatever the higher tier is now pull back on goals and even then, it's much higher (I'd say up around 8 goal lead).