Who or what is Sven Avli?

[Sandon Mibut]

Who is this guy? As if July 14, he was third in the PDL in scoring with 14 goals and 3 helpers in 13 games.

The stats aren't updated to include last weekend's games so I don't how he finished the regular season, but Friday night against the Texas Spurs in the first round of the playoffs he scored FOUR goals to lead his Tampa Bay Hawks to a 4-2 win.

And yet, I can find nothing on him. The Hawks don't have a website (there's a shock) and a google search revealed nothing.

Does anyone know anything about this guy? How old is he? Where is he from? (I want to guess somewhere in Snandanavia but you never know for sure.) Did he play college soccer? If so, where? Professionally somewhere, either here or in Europe?

Just curious as I'd like to know if this is a prospect worth following or just a big fish in a small pond. (Or both.)

Anyone?

[Steve Spencer]

Sven is a German citizen, no Green Card. He's 22, and a big boy, about 6-2, 200 pounds.

He's very good with his feet and is an accurate finisher. The Mutiny gave him a look last year. I don't think he has the speed to play in MLS. He is in his second season with the Hawks. He still lives in Germany, and just comes in for the PDL season.

[fanmaster]

I spoke in depth with Sven Friday night after the game in Memphis, Spencer seems to have it right on the nose. Very nice guy. He told me they were breaking up the team after this year. The guy impressed me by his attitude. It was hard to believe, in looking at him on the field, that he was a goal scorer. This was his second visit to Memphis this year, he only scored one the first game, and of his 4 this time, 3 were in the first half and one was just after the half and then they took him out.