Team Sweden

Ah, but you've forgotten about Sweden's Secret Weapon.

Here, besides the short report at the federation that Smulan cited on the previous page, there was this quite short announcement at damfotboll (shorter than, say, the match report for the Vasalund-Sirius game). No biggie. It's cool. She's coming home, and all is as it should be.

(this is me trying not to wriggle with excitement)

 

My goodness, this news about Sundhage is seen as so important that Sweden's radio service is reporting it in English on their international site!

I find it interesting that her demands to the USSF were more money and not having to sit in coach; her demands to SvFF [Swedish] were to have good fellow workers who know Swedish football well, people who she thinks can help her to grow and develop. Playing into stereotypes, that is.

Low expectations. Must have low, low expectations. It's still Team Sweden after all and that leopard can't change its spots.

 

In Thomas Dennerby's last game as coach, Team Sweden triumphed yesterday in yesterday's friendly against the mighty mighty Netherlands, by a score of 2-1. Here's a short bit from SVT showing Kosovare Asllani's game-winning goal (a good 'un) and Dennerby getting a rib-crushing hug from Lotta Schelin at the end. The site says the clip isn't geoblocked, but if it doesn't work for you, here's another story from the same source with some unmoving pictures.

Dennerby himself seems to have been quite moved, though, by a picture show on the large screen showing bits of his career. He reports that, at times, "one [was] almost moved to tears."

must let the poor man have just this one last post without any snark... must be good... must... not... give... in...

More about the game then. Holland's Anouk Hoogendijk opened the scoring in the first half, then Caroline Seger was knocked down in the box ('not entirely clear that it was a penalty' reports svenskfotboll, 'a cheaply-bought penalty' said SVT) and Schelin scored the equalizer from the penalty spot in the 52nd. Asllani's goal in the 66th came from a really nice forward ball from Seger, curving behind the defender but just into Asllani's run. Asllani then did well to get past Dutch defender Daphne Koster (the poor woman's Sarah Walsh, if you like), and beat the keeper with a sliding shot to the keeper's left.

 

Some fun videos having to do with Sweden's recent 3-0 friendly-crushing of Switzerland, in Pia Sundhage's first game as coach:

First, a short ad for the game itself. See Caroline Seger learn from Lisa Dahlkvist how to pronounce the word 'Schweiz' (instead of the word 'Växjö', which one might more reasonably expect to be an issue).

Second, a slightly longer ad that Seger and Dahlkvist giggle their way through (Dahlkvist starts off by forgetting Seger's name) and they also brag about Sundhage's presence.

Third, an even longer ad (about 2.5 minutes) in which they poke fun at the field on which they will play the game (Ant Lake House Arena), as Seger gives Dahlkvist a rebus. "Say, why does your drawing of an insect have eight legs like an arachnid?" demands Dala 'Darwin' Dahlkvist. (freely translated and also put through the jocasta-jargon-jenerator)

Fourth, as long as they were there, they did an ad for the final Euro 2013 draw. Here's the blooper reel, which starts fantastically with "Don't miss... ... umm..." because who could possibly remember something complicated like that?

Happy Halloween to all...

 

A bit of moving-picture footage from the team's first training meeting of 2013, in which Sunhage's first implementation of the 'jojo' test is featured. Wow, look how fast they're running...

Lotta Schelin is in good shape, as you might expect, and seems to have even enjoyed the test. Which I view as one more piece of evidence that all forwards/strikers, regardless of national origin, are crazy.

 

The yo-yo test seems to have achieved a sort of mythical status in the US, and players routinely name it as their most feared/despised fitness exercise. One runs a certain distance at a slow pace, then again and again at an ever increasing pace. The test is clearly biased to favor the peculiar tastes of forwards.

Being a fan of the Swedish national team is, on the other hand, more like an 'oj-oj' test. As in, when you watch them, you end up clutching your head and saying "Oj oj oj!" a lot.

 

I thought the introduction gripping, but then the narrative structure never materialized and I was further disappointed by the unbelievable ending, in which the the main character didn't even look winded. Given the soundtrack, perhaps if the protagonist was doing this test on a warm dark night in Ibiza, holding a glowstick in each hand, some measure of realism could be restored.

There are also some versions of the test that rely on the pacing to be set by the team as a whole, at least at first. This test also gives these putative teammates a valuable and unforgettable familiarity with the prisoner's dilemma. One never forgets the first time one hears an otherwise friendly voice from behind you — say, that of a trusted defender – mutter something like "Slow down or we are going to beat the crap out of you." Seriously, it's amazing, the choreographed sandbagging that some teams can manage...

 

It's true that I have occasionally tried to mislead people (mostly by trying to direct their attention away from my favorites teams/players weaknesses), but on this occasion, no misdirect was intended. It was merely a comment on the fact that in every interview I've seen, in which a member of the USWNT is asked about training, they specifically mention that they hate the yo-yo test (or beep test, depending). I thought maybe folks would like to see that Sundhage is treating everyone equally...

And speaking of 'passing the Jo-jo test', here's an interview with Johanna Almgren, in which she mentions among other things how inspirational Sundhage is women's football in Sweden in general and to this team in particular. Among the reasons Almgren cites are that Sundhage is encouraging them to not worry so much about screwing up on the field; Almgren, who (rightly) considers herself a creative type, thinks that's fantastic. It all reads to me like they're quite fired up and feeling frisky, as a team. Which is good, because...

In my humble opinion, it is not that they need better conditioning. What they need is some grit. Though being in good condition helps of course.

Here you can see some footage of the team's recent 0-3 loss against a AIK's U-17 boys team, and their 1-0 win against BKV Norrtälje's U-19 team. Almgren in the print interview above gives training against boys a big thumbs-up, because they are so much faster and one must plan ahead more. And to my mind, they also stand to get their grit-training a-going. See how all these 'boys' are a head taller? See how the women go flying or get pancaked every time a boy bumps into them (starting at about the 40s mark)? And they bounce right back up smiling, don't they? Now, if they could only be trained to play against French women like they do against Swedish boys...

Sundhage, interviewed in this video, says it's a good challenge for the defense especially, and cites one particular case where the defense worked well the the penalty area to ward off an attack. She also cites another thing that didn't go so well, but we won't talk about that.

And, to end this on a more frivolous note, here's the team's new Adidas jerseys. Looking... much like they always do.

Edit: Caroline Seger is also interviewed in the video, and they play some video of her during the game while she talks. Her strategy for defending against "quicker, stronger" male players appears amusingly straightforward: trip the ********ers.

 

Happy International Women's Day to all!

Our own working class hero and saint-in-waiting Pia Sundhage has been named Woman of the Year in Sweden. Here's a very recent interview with her, and the salient points are transcribed, so even if you don't understand Swedish, you can translate it.

I beg – no, plead – that you do so. I raised my fist and say Right on Sister! at several points. (Although I also had to shake my head at several points and think Not quite on, Sister.) I suspect that the GiggleTranslate version will be far more hilarious than anything I could conjure up.

It's worth watching the video though – it's short, she sings twice (once even a short call to solidarity among the sisterhood), and she's wearing something other than the black Sweden2013 t-shirt! (It's not an improvement, in my humble unfashionable opinion.)

Here's a list of the other women in the top 10, including neurologists, the winner of last year's Eurovision, and the crown princess.

 

Tee-hee. From discussions Upstairs it seems like a small amount of consternation on the part of USWNT fans r.e. the Algarve Cup has been the actions of one Nilla Fischer. Most ticklesome.

Here's a story on how she's adjusting to her new position as center back – just fine, thank you very much, she think's it's fun. And in my humble opinion she made a pretty promising start. A few rough edges here and there, sure, but that's why we have practice tournaments. (Honestly, has she never been tried there before? No junior coach ever looked at her, hulking above her teammates, and thought, "Hey, maybe she could play center back"?)

And here's the radio's report on the Sweden-US game as a whole, including an amusing picture of goal-scorer Dahlkvist rewarding herself with a handful of ... no, no, don't go there, jocasta... you've sworn off that cheap-shot crap, remember?