You're welcome. Although now that I think about it, maybe I should have ordered a Germany shirt. Didn't they stop winning World Cups after I bought my Bresonik shirt? Welcome to NATO, btw. Besides, whoever's selling it wants $350 for it and I'm not feeling *that* damn sentimental about Bresonik. Solo? Rehab after the Walmart parking lot incident, IIRC. No clue what Wombat's up to. Yes, yes. I do remember the old, old (old?) guard. But in terms of this generation of players, she's definitely old guard. Are there any other players at the Euros close to her age?
Italy's Daniela Sabatino (top-scorer of last season in Serie A) just turned 37 (the same day Italy's roster was released).
Nice. I'll have to keep a look out for her and any others in that age range. Just for solidarity's sake. Different sport, same vibe: Kristine Lunde, Norwegian handball keeper, 43 years old, just won the world cup and champions league and is still one of the world's best keepers.
I was going to wonder if they had "NATO games", like the Commonwealth Games or something, but then I remembered that they kinda do, but they involve people dying in the Arctic in helicopter crashes and stuff like that, so never mind. Even a long-retired lawyer I know here (who I do not think is generally a sports guy) knew that story and asked me about it, which I did not expect. Giving my view of it, even a reduced and un-nuanced view, pretty much stretched my Swedish to the breaking point. Linda Sembrant is also back. The newspaper put up a picture of Seger and Domanski Lyfors at the 2005 Euros. "Proper" footballers (as Jensen called one of them) may be spotted in the background.
Hedvig is two years older and that just in the Swedish WNT. But that is in chronological age, if you meant age in WNT caps, no one is Europe is close. She has most senior caps of all European players men or women, only ten players have more and they are all American women (1 from Canada, 1 from Brazil and eight from USA) and most of those ten are no longer active. Closes active European is Netherlands Sherida Spitse a full 30 caps behind. Next three Europeans that is active is not in this Euros, Nilla Fischer, Sweden, declined due to personal reason Joanne Loves Scotland did not qualify Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal, is male Anyone other active European is more than 40 caps behind Seger
This was my brain fart. Somehow Lindahl is perpetually 35 in my head. But yes, Seger's caps are extremely impressive. I was looking at the list earlier this year and she should break the top 10 and maybe even climb to No. 9 during the Euros.
Also, my Seger shirt is stuck in Germany right now, so I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing for you. If it had arrived on time, I could've admired it and put in the closet (ironically enough) before the Euros.
I've always wondered if she's just a legitimate shit show or if it's something along the lines of CTE.
Speaking of Hope Solo updates: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hope-solo-guilty-dwi-jail_n_62df2919e4b06e213fc25a5c
R.e. WWC 2023, pure fashion comment: For commenting on today's final-round match v. Argentina, Johanna Frisk is wearing the outfit that she had on for her audition for the Wednesday Addams series. All black, ruffled high neck, sleeves that extend to the back of the hands, paired with black sneakers with bright pink soles. Seriously, she looks more ready for being someone's vampire date at Fotbollsgalan than for a morning kickoff. (Sneakers because she's still being brought onto the TV-studio pitch to demonstrate technique with Lisa Dahlkvist, herself clad in an electric blue dress with white sneakers.)
We haven't talked at all about jerseys yet. First, this year's fad fashion of piping on the back of both shirt and shorts will at least make it easy in the future to instantly identify pictures from this tournament. Second, there is no single element about Japan's Adidas pink-and-lavendar-and-white that I like – I don't generally like gradients (which this admittedly isn't quite exactly) on football jerseys, and I am opposed to pastels more or less on principal. This jersey is so pastel that it's nearly a political statement. And yet, and yet, for some reason, I do not at all dislike this jersey. Perhaps it has been carefully engineered so that it is filled with subconsciously-pleasing design elements? Third, the US white-with-spots jerseys are quite hideous.
In the upper boards, I have stated that it's my favourite secondary kit of the women's football, way before we won this match!
Adidas have some really pukey stuff out this tournament and their promo texts are deranged. Who knew Nike would be the (relatively) sensible alternative?! Hummel's Danish home shirt is interesting, if only because the blurb says that it "draws inspiration from pop art and celebrates the Danish women as superheroes". I'm not seeing that either. Comic book figures, perhaps, but it's a biiiiit of a jump to superheroes, especially when they were lucky to make it out of the group. First and foremost, though: WTF is going on with Sweden's away kit? How could I have missed this horror?! "Inspired by the majesty of Sweden's sparkling glaciers, this adidas away jersey fires a warning to the world that the time to act on climate change is now." Err, no, all I see is some splotches. The Japanese origami looks like origami. The Italian marbling looks like marbling. The Swedish "glaciers" look like splotches made by accidentally putting a bleach-soaked rag in with a colour wash. (Is it all Thunebro's fault?) [I particularly love the dodgy automatic translation which calls Thunebro a "materialist" and quotes her as saying "Sometimes I need to roar when I need to go to bed."]
Fashion report: Dahkvist and Frisk are looking more or less normal this morning. True, one could argue that Frisk, in her satin or silk pantsuit, might as well still have her luxury pyjamas on; one could also peer questioningly ar Dahlkvist's print blouse that appears to have blue and yellow sails (?) on it. But still, relatively normal, and at least they both have pants on rather than faux-denim sister-wife skirts. They also disagreed slightly (!) when it came to comparing Team Sweden's form vs Team USA's, with Dahlkvist giving Sweden a big edge, while Frisky dragged the slider bar back to close to the middle. Uh-oh.
The warm-up jerseys were black, white and red with hard-edged graphics, and occasional Adam West Batman-ish "POW!" explosions if I recall. Very pop-arty. Of course, Denmark will always win the logo war because of that great Art Nouveau font. I have finally dared to look at it and... wow, haha. Yes, much more like a tragic laundry accident! The copy describing it could have simply referred to that: "We strongly support responsible bleach use throughout the world, and the jersey is meant to raise awareness of this critical issue." Let us hope for Sweden in yellow and Japan in blue to meet our high aesthetic standards.
David Squires seems to like these jerseys too – they're "like a terrifying packet of love hearts." "Sweden's reward [will be] to a first-hand view of their own surgical dismantling at the hands of Japan's beautifully intricate passing." Shall we have an open list for "best metaphorical description of just how Sweden will lose" that we find in the media (or invent ourselves)?
Since they are out, I guess all further discussion of the US goes here in the Eurotrash bin Today's recommended reading from the Guardian ("'They have a really big mouth’: Dutch forward delights in US World Cup exit"). The first graf: "Netherlands forward Lineth Beerensteyn pulled no punches about the absent United States squad at the Women’s World Cup on Thursday, saying the two-times reigning champions should have done their talking on the pitch." This article is what finally drove me to go find the ad that everyone is complaining about. The meta-joke (from the days-later perspective) is that the ad doesn't bother to include flings against the country whose team actually eliminated them (@Smulan , take note that Germany is in it; @blissett , take note that the ad features both Japan and Italy). --------------- I've forgiven Rapinoe a tiny bit, having now actually seen the interview in which she says that missing her penalty was a "sick joke" and a "dark comedy" – at least her voice was quavering as she said those things with a lip-trembling smile. Sadly (for her), these non-verbal cues will not be as widely recorded for posterity as the words themselves.
I knew the ad and I had already taken note (just with myself, of course) of the irony behind the fact that a Sweden SWAT Team hadn't even been considered. Probably they couldn't find enough stereotypes for it. (seriously: how do you stereotipically represent a Swedish, as well-separated from other Nordic countries? ). Not sure what's the most silly representation, between Japan and Italy. Anyway, no-one could have figured that "the USA vs the World" was going to be so one-sided (for the World).
Fashion report: Frisk and Dahlkvist are not exactly twinsies, but similar. White sneakerand black flow-y pants for both; Frisk in a shiny green shirt so dark it’s almost black; Dahlkvist’s shirt is more of a mint green with amazing huge sleeves, and it will look very dramatic if she gets excited and starts waving her arms around. She’s not really prone to such behavior though. They just did a retrospective of the coach’s career, and did not ever show him in a Bälinge shirt, thank goodness.