Damallsvenskan Newsblog

Kopparbergs/Göteborg's stand-out midfielder Ingvild Stensland is considering joining the new American professional league WPS.
"It would have been great to play over there. They have a lot of good players and a league where everyone is a professional player", she told a Norwegian newspaper. Her contract with Göteborg finishes in November, but the club has told her that they want to renew it. "I haven't made up my mind", Stensland said, "I enjoy it a lot here, but result-wise the season has been disappointing".
A drawback with the American league is the short, April to August, season and Stensland also sees some problems with combining club play in America with her national team obligations.
Fædrelandsvennen: Snuser på proffdrøm i USA

Stensland didn't get picked in the international draft last week, but the WPS club St. Louis has been assigned the WPS playing rights for Stensland as a "post-draft discovery player". Yes, I don't understand how this works either.
St. Louis: Players

Sweden - Romania 2 - 0 (2-0)
Sweden: Hedvig Lindahl - Anna Paulson, Sara Larsson, Stina Segerström, Sara Thunebro - Caroline Seger - Kosovare Asllani (71 Sara Lindén), Nilla Fischer (63 Louise Fors), Therese Sjögran - Lotta Schelin (77 Madelaine Edlund), Jessica Landström
Goals: 1-0 Therese Sjögran (32), 2-0 Nilla Fischer (37)
Attendance: 3,680
Sweden did their duty against Romania, dominating the match, but lacking some of the speed, edge and will that would have been needed against a better side.
On the brighter side, three players got their first caps for the full national side - Kosovare Asllani, Louise Fors and Sara Lindén - and did well enough to expect further call-ups. In particular Asllani impressed. She showed a lot of initiative, did well one-on-one and participated in the build-up to Therese Sjögran's 1-0 goal with a great pass to Schelin. She was also named player of the match.
Lindén and Fors had shorter time to make an impression, but both showed that Dennerby wasn't wrong in giving them the opportunity. The fourth un-capped player, Nazanin Vaseghpanah, wasn't dressed for the match, but will most probably play against Ireland on Wednesday.
Dagens Nyheter: Enkel svensk kvalseger mot Rumänien
Aftonbladet: 19-årig debutant imponerade i EM-kvalet, ”Vi är den nya generationen”
Vestmanlands Läns Tidning: pictures
SVT: match clip

Kia McNeill och Ifeoma Dieke has played a big part in Kristianstad's, for a newcomer, successful Damallsvenskan season. The club's sport director Ulf Berglund says that it is one of his top priorities to tie them to the club for the next season too. McNeill and Dieke have been a very reliable defense couple and Berglund says that he knows that other clubs are looking at them. And the new American league might also be an alternative.
Berglund is still confident that the club will be able to find a solution that benefits both the club and the players. Kristianstad has just started a cooperation with a club on Cyprus, where the league plays the winter season and finishes in April. Berglund thinks that Dieke might enjoy playing a couple of winter months on the Mediterranean island and then return to Kristianstad.
Kristianstadsbladet: Tuff konkurrens om "Iffi" och Kia

Kristianstad's coach duo, Thomas Mårtensson and Ulf Palmquist, have both declared that they will not renew their contracts. They are by no means dissatisfied with the club, the team or their own performance, but thinks six years is enough. Manager Berglund says that they have done a great job for the club and doesn't seem ready to accept that they will be leaving: "We will sit down and talk this over".
Kristianstadsbladet: Succéduon lämnar KDFF

Umeå IK's management is looking less and less optimistic about the club's chances to keep Marta. "The Americans have the upper hand now", said sport director Britta Åkerlund yesterday. "The American league is extremely anxious to get Marta, the same way they brought over David Beckham. I think they are prepared to go very far to reach their goal", she concluded.
A rumour, retold by tabloid Expressen, says that the Los Angeles WPS club, that drafted Marta, is prepared to pay her between SEK 8 and 10 millions a year - far out of reach for any Swedish club. Marta's present salary from Umeå is about SEK 1 million a year. Personal contracts gives her almost another million. That is still far from the rumoured American offer and Marta has stated that if the difference between the offers are big, the money will decide "I want to be able to help provide for my family", she has explained.
Nonetheless, there are now three Swedish clubs giving offers to Marta. In addition to Umeå IK and LDB FC Malmö, Linköping FC has announced their interest. Linköping has done this the last few years and sport director Anders Mäki says that "it would be criminal not to try to get Marta".
Expressen: Amerikansk miljonjakt på Marta
Fotbollskanalen: Marta lämnar Umeå (video)

USA's national team coach Pia Sundhage says in an interview that she is confident that Marta will go to the WPS league. And, furthermore, that she should go: "She will be playing with gold medalists. The quality will be higher than in Damallsvenskan. The Swedish league is too uneven. In USA there will be world class players in every team."
SVT: Sundhage: "Marta flyttar till USA"

Losing Marta, as hurtful as it might be for Umeå, could be a blessing in disguise. The money used for Marta's salary can easily pay two world class players. Umeå's manager Andrée Jeglertz has revealed that the club has taken steps to begin talk's with AIK's prolific goalscorer Lisa De Vanna. De Vanna will however only be interesting if the club fails to keep Marta.
Västerbottenskuriren: De Vanna kan ersätta Marta

Lotta Schelin, preparing for the last Euro qualification matches with Sweden's national team, told reporters that she was completely surprised by her being drafted in the American WPS league.
"I have no idea about this at all. I don't even know what club it is", she told a reporter before starting to ask him about the American league: How many clubs are there? How many players were drafted? Which club drafted me?
"But of course it's fun", she added. "I've always felt it would be fun to play in USA, but this is nothing I've been thinking about." But she adds that as she just has moved to France, it's hard to decide for a new league.

Malmö's goalkeeper Caroline "Carre" Jönsson reacted the same way, surprised but pleased: "Of course it's fun that someone thinks you're good", she said, but added that she will decide after the Swedish season is completed. "I've got a lot of things to figure out then".

Göteborgsposten: Schelin draftad av Los Angeles
Svenska Dagbladet: Schelin: "Visste absolut ingenting"

"There is a chance I'll stay. Everyone knows I enjoy it really much here", said Marta today to the local newspaper Västerbottens Folkblad. "But I want to know about the offers from both sides before I decide". She says her agent handles all the negotiations and she doesn't know that much about the new American league or the club that drafted her: "The only thing I know about Los Angeles is that it is a bigger city than Umeå."

About at the same time today, LDB FC Malmö's board member and main financer, Kent Widding Persson, revealed that his club has entered the competition for Marta's signature. They have announced their intentions to both Umeå IK and to Marta's agent Fabiano Farah. "We think it is important to elevate the level of Damallsvenskan and then it's important to keep Marta in Sweden. As it seems like she might not stay in Umeå, it would be wrong if we didn't give her a serious offer", he said. He confirmed that the offer is at the same level as the wage Lotta Schelin recieves from her French club Lyon, i.e. somewhere around SEK 1,5 millions a year.

Västerbottens Folkblad: Marta: “Det finns chanser att jag stannar kvar”
Sydsvenskan: Marta har fått bud av LDB FC Malmö

The new professional USA league Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) announced the result of their first international draft late yesterday. 28 international players, 4 for each team, were drafted. Six of these are or have been playing in Damallsvenskan this season: Brazilians Marta (Umeå), Daniela (Linköping) and Cristiane (played first half season with Linköping), Australia's Lisa De Vanna (AIK) and the two Swedes Lotta Schelin (Göteborg, but since September 1 in Lyon, France) and Caroline Jönsson (LDB FC Malmö).
The draft doesn't mean that there is any agreement between club and player or that they have even been talking. It is simply a way to distribute the WPS rights to a particular player. The clubs now needs to get in touch with players and their clubs and start negotiations.
Not all players on the 28 player list will join the American league. The Brazilians and De Vanna are all on contracts that will run out in November, and should be available for discussions. That's not necessarily the case with the Swedes. Jönsson is already contracted for 2009 and Lotta Schelin has just started her two year contract in Lyon. Let's just say that these two are less likely to end up in WPS in the near future.
This news is still pretty new, so there is no comments in Swedish media yet, just the news flash.
Aftonbladet: Marta närmare proffsdrömmen (pretty much the same text, from the news agency TT, appears in all major Swedish news outlets)
WPS: WPS holds International Draft (the official announcement, full list of drafted players)

Sunnanå has had a fairly disappointing season, finishing just above the relegation line, but are gearing up for the 2009 season.
Their first in what they hope to be several important signings is Perpetua Nkwocha, who just has signed a new 6 month contract for the 2009 season. Nkwocha, who originally was a forward, has been playing midfield for Sunnanå, where she has been one of their most important players. Sport director Sören Gustafsson is of course very pleased to see Nkwocha, or Pepe is she is called in Sunnanå, for a third season.

Other national team players are also of interest for Sunnanå. The 22 years old midfielder Kirsty Yallop from New Zealand's Olympic team will come to Sunnanå for a try-out next week. The club has also contacted LDB FC Malmö, announcing their interest in national team keeper Caroline Jönsson, who is currently studying in nearby Umeå. And two of Umeå Södra's best players, midfielder Hanna Folkesson and attacker Linda Fransson have attracted the club's interest, as has the prolific goalscorer Elin Lundström from the local 2nd division side Åkullsjön.

But the maybe most interesting news is that a 30 year old mother of a newborned child has started training with the team. But Hanna Marklund says "I just want to see if I still think it's fun" and refuses to comment ion any plans for the 2009 season.
Norra Västerbotten: Pepe stannar ett år till, OS-spelare ska testa i Sunnanå, Elin på glid till Sunnanå

After Linköping's Monday night loss to AIK, Umeå more or less secured their fourth straight Damallsvenskan title when they defeated Örebro. Five points ahead is good measure, even if Linköping has one more match left to play. Umeå's two remaining matches at home against Kristianstad and Bälinge shouldn't be any problem. Umeå very rarely lose at home and never to a bottom level team.

Kif Örebro - Umeå IK  0 - 2 (0-1)
Örebro: Kristin Hammarström - Susanna Lehtinen, Sanna Valkonen, Stina Segerström, Stina Fröjdfeldt (81 Hanna Pettersson) - Marie Hammarström, Marina Pettersson, Lena Andersson, Elin Magnusson - Maria Nordbrandt, Leena Puranen (46 Caroline Näfver)
Umeå: Carola Söberg - Anna Paulsson, Karoline Westberg, Johanna Frisk, Frida Östberg - Mami Yamaguchi (83 Emelie Konradsson), Hanna Ljungberg (56 Emma Åberg Zingmark), Lisa Dahlkvist - Johanna Rasmussen (74 Sofia Jacobsson), Madeleine Edlund, Marta
Goals: 0-1 Madeleine Edlund (27), 0-2 Marta (62)
Attendance: 3,083
A very convincing performance from Umeå, dominating the field and out-shooting the hosts 16-4. Marta was back on the team and showed her best side, including a trademark solo raid from the left side, that she completed with a right foot shot in goal: "The goalkeeper didn't expect me to shoot with the wrong foot".
SVT Västerbotten: UIK:s tränare har guldvittring (video), match clips and talk with coach Jeglertz
Västerbottens Folkblad: Klappat och klart, UIK
Västerbottenskuriren: Örebro hade inte en chans


Djurgårdens IF - Hammarby IF  3 - 1 (2-0)
Djurgården: Nadine Angerer - Malin Engdahl (68 Rebecca Johnson), Anne-Marie Norlin, Therese Brogårde, Sara Thunebro - Marijke Callebaut (81 Jennifer Meier), Ariane Hingst, Femke Maes, Anna Hall - Victoria Svensson, Linda Sällström (88 Anna Lagerberth)
Hammarby: Kethrin Lehmann - Anna Lindblom, Karin Lissel, Elin Sölveskog, Annica Svensson - Jennie Jonsson (60 Matilda Agné, 76 Tempest-Marie Norlin), Madeleine Tegström - Hodan Siid Ahmed (89 Therese Dahlberg), Nazanin Vasegpanah, Kristin Bengtsson - Sara Johansson
Goals: 1-0 Linda Sällström (17), 2-0 Victoria Svensson (36), 2-1 Karin Lissel (72), 3-1 Femke Maes (75)
Attendance: 473

AIK - Linköping FC  3 - 2  (1-0)
AIK: Sofia Lundgren - Sofia Simonsson, Linda Sembrant, Frida Höglund, Linda Lekander - Emma Lundh, Anne Mäkinen, Elin Ekblom Bak, Louise Fors (88 Jessica Julin), Laura Kalmari (85 Annica Sjölund) - Lisa De Vanna
Linköping: Hedvig Lindahl - Maja Krantz, Sara Larsson, Charlotte Rohlin, Marie-Louise Skålberg - Josefine Öqvist, Daniela, Caroline Seger, Maria Karlsson (60 Ann Westermark) - Jessica Landström, Kosovare Asllani
Goals: 1-0 Louise Fors (28), 2-0 Frida Höglund (49), 3-0 Emma Lundh (60), 3-1 Kosovare Asllani (83), 3-2 Jessica Landström (89)
Attendance:1,195
The first team to drop points in the last matches will lose the title race, predicted Linköping's Maria Karlsson a few matches ago. Linköping lost their Monday night away game to a superior AIK and most probably also lost their chances to win the Damallsvenskan title.
AIK played better organized with fast, accurate passes, an aggresive defense a couple of really great goals. Louise Fors had a great left foot shot from just outside the penalty area, that Hedvig Lindahl maybe should have had a chance to catch, but failed. Then defender Frida Höglund managed the shot of her lift, a 35 meter missile perfectly in Lindahl's upper left - untouchable. Linköping were unable to hold on to the ball in their offensive third for any longer period of time while AIK's De Vanna continously threatened Linköping's goal. Emma Lundh made it 3-0 for AIK when she caught the rebound from one of De Vanna's attacks and the match seemed decided. But finally, in the last 15 mionutes, Linköping seemed to get their game in order and scored twice in the same manner, advancing to the goalline and making a pass backwards where first Kosovare Asllani and then Jessica Landström could score. But too little, too late.
Several Linköping's players were close to tears after the match and merciless in their assessment of themselves. Hedvig Lindahl put it simplest: "They were good, we were not"
Aftonbladet: ”AIK var bra, vi var inte bra”
Corren: LFC föll – nu är guldet långt borta
Dagens Nyheter: Umeå i guldläge - tack vare AIK
SVT: match clip 30 seconds into the sports news - watch it, AIK's second goal is amazing!
Fotbollskanalen: match clip

Umeå IK's Danish forward/winger Johanna Rasmussen has signed a new one year contract with the club, making her the 13th player to re-sign. Umeå's manager Andrée Jeglertz needs six more players to keep the 19 player squad he has had this season. But he is not worried: "There are still a few question-marks, but there is no reason for panic". He also states that even if all 19 would extend their contracts, he will sign at least one new player: "That is always good for the group".
Among the players unsigned for 2009 are veterans Hanna Ljungberg and Frida Östberg, where the question isn't about Umeå or any other club, but about playing or not playing. The same goes for keeper Ulla-Karin Rönnlund, who has two young children. Marta is negotiating, presumably not only with Umeå.
Västerbottens Folkblad: Rasmussen stannar i UIK, Lagbygget rullar stabilt på


Hammarby IF has reached agreements with three key players, Anna Lindblom, Matilda Agné and Elin Sölveskog. Lindblom and Agné, both youth national team players, have signed for two years .
Hammarby: Anna, Matilda och Elin förlänger


Linköping's young star and newest national team player Kosovare Asllani has not yet come to an agreement with her club. She says that she will listen to all offers that comes her way and admits that she has already been contacted by LDB FC Malmö. What will be important for her is that she is seen as a starter: "I don't want to start the season on the bench again", says the 19 years old and continues "You can erase that 'talent' word. I think I have proven myself now. "
Corren: LFC kan snuvas på Asllani

The 19th round of matches in Damallsvenskan finally decided the fate of the relegation candidates. Kristianstad's goal against Hammarby put them definitely over the relegation line. That, and losing to Malmö, has Umeå Södra 6 points and 46 goals from Sunnanå just above relegation with only two matches left - not a feasible task. And Bälinge is 10 points from safety with three matches.
The title race on the other hand goes on. Umeå IK is, at least temporarily, leading with two points. Linköping plays the last 19th round match tomorrow night against 4th place AIK. The Stockholm side aspires to catch up with Malmö at third - if they want to do that they probably needs to take points from Linköping.

Umeå IK - Sunnanå SK  5 - 0 (1-0)
Umeå: Carola Söberg - Anna Paulson, Karolina Westberg (51 Emma Berglund), Johanna Frisk, Frida Östberg - Lisa Dahlkvist, Hanna Ljungberg (61 Emmelie Konradsson), Mami Yamaguchi (74 Sofia Jacobsson) - Ramona Bachmann, Madeleine Edlund, Johanna Rasmussen
Sunnanå: Åsa Berglund - Sandra Berggren, Rebecca Smith (38 Kristina Wiklund), Sanna Frostevall, Alexandra Nilsson - Matilda Forslund (79 Erika Karlsson), Josefin Johansson, Perpetua Nkwocha, Magdalena Esseryd - Mirjam Marklund (46 Lisa Renberg), Lina Johansson
Goals: 1-0 Johanna Rasmussen (16), 2-0 Madeleine Edlund (50), 3-0 Madeleine Edlund (65), 4-0 Ramona Bachmann (69), 5-0 Lisa Dahlkvist (80 PK)
Attendance: 1,357
Umeå dominated from the first kick, but were unusually timid in the offensive third. Except for a give-away from Sunnanå defender Sanna Frostevall, that Johanna Rasmussen took good care of, scoring 1-0, the guests managed to contain Umeå's attack. In the second half it worked better for Umeå and Madeleine Edlund showed that she can score without Marta setting her up.
Umeå started without Marta and, even if she was dressed for the match, she never came off the bench. Coach Jeglertz explained that she was taken of the team, since she broken some of "the values and standards" of the club. Neither he nor Marta, who simply stated that Jeglertz is the coach and decides who plays, wanted to reveal on any details. But it seems like there was an incident at a training session last Friday, where Marta got upset over a disallowed goal in an intra-team scrimmage and angrily left the field. Her behaviour and her refusal to apologize should be the reason for Jeglertz decision. But she seems to be taken in defense by some her team mates (Karolina Westberg, Lisa Dahlkvist) sho comments that they don't understand why this became such a big deal at all.
Norra Västerbotten: Edlund sänkte sin gamla klubb
Västerbottens Folkblad: UIK-stjärnan Marta på bänken av disciplinära skäl
Västerbottenskuriren: Schism bakom bänkandet av Marta
Expressen: Vägrade be om ursäkt


LDB FC Malmö - Umeå Södra FF  3 - 1 (0-0)
Malmö: Caroline Jönsson - Dora Stefansdottir, Christina Örntoft, Emma Wilhelmsson, Lina Nilsson - Frida Nordin, Therese Lundin, Nilla Fischer (24 Maria Aronsson), Therese Sjögran (75 Emma Stålhammar), Pavlina Scasna (46 Therese Jönsson) - Manon Melis
Umeå Södra: Minna Meriluoto - Maria Wictorsson (78 Fanta Cooper), Petra Vaelma, Kristin Åberg, Anna Rehn - Nicole Cross, Hanna Folkesson, Emma Sundberg (68 Linda Fransson), Vanessa Mångsén (60 Victoria Forsmark) - Jennifer Nobis, Terese Andersson
Goals: 1-0 Manon Melis (60), 2-0 Manon Melis (68), 2-1 Terese Andersson (89), 3-1 Manon Melis (91)
Attendance: 410
Malmö started really bad, according to coach Jörgen Pettersson a reaction from the narrow loss to Umeå IK a few days ago, and was also hurt by having to substitute Nilla Fischer after only 20 minutes with an ankle injury. They managed to take some control ovwer the match in  the second half without ever impressing. Except striker Manon Melis, her hat trick making her total league season tally 22 goals with three matches left to play.
Sydsvenskan: Hattrick av Melis

Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC - Bälinge IF  5 - 0 (1-0)
Göteborg: Jenny Olsson (66 Sandra Bjurteg) - Amelie Rybeck, Jane Törnqvist, Ingvild Stenland, Marlene Sjöberg (77 Elin Dahl-Örn) - Lisa Ek, Sofia Karlsson, Maria Karlsson, Sofie Andersson - Sara Lindén, Linnea Liljegärd (77 Frida Svensson)
Bälinge: Veronica Svensson - Karolina Mats, Nina Engström, Natalie Spilger, Lisa Lantz (64 Ida Brännström) - Julia Lyckberg, Emilia Appelqvist (68 Temryss Lane), Julia Bhy, Katri Nokso-Koivisto - Alexandra Höglund (28 Sarah Storck), Emma Lindqvist
Goals: 1-0 Linnea Liljegärd (5), 2-0 Sofie Andersson (49), 3-0 Linnea Liljegärd (51), 4-0 Sara Lindén (70), 5-0 Sara Lindén (90)
Attendance: 286
Coach Torbjörn Nilsson was happy to see that his team could score without their big star Lotta Schelin, now at French top side Lyon. He should have been partucularly pleased with Sara Lindén, who didn't obnly score twice, she also set up two more goals.
Bälinge's Sarah Storck, their best player this match, commented on her team's likely relegation and playing in the 2nd tier next year: "It's not all bad. We need to win and get some confidence in ourselves".
Göteborgsposten: GFC toppar egna tabellen
Upsala Nya Tidning: "Det har varit tjejer mot kvinnor"


Hammarby IF - Kristianstads DFF  0 - 1 (0-1)
Hammarby: Kathrin Lehmann - Anna Lindblom, Karin Lissel, Elin Sölveskog (75 Therese Dahlberg), Annica Svensson - Hodan Siid-Ahmed (62 Medeleine Tegström), Jennie Jonsson - Matilda Agné (63 Tempest-Marie Norlin), Nazanin Vaseghpanah, Kristin Bengtsson - Sara Johansson
Kristianstad: Sandra Wahldén - Maria Åhlund, Ifeoma Dieke, Kia Mcneill, Carolin Ericsson (86 Johanna Jönsson) - Angelique Sandberg (68 Johanna Rosén), Therese Björck, Sofie Persson, Erla Arnadottir - Frida Pettersson, Susanne Moberg
Goals: 0-1 Frida Pettersson (24)
Attendance: 258
The only goal in the match secured Kristianstad's continued Damallsvenskan participation next season. Defender Ifeoma Dieke made a rare offensive excursion when she broke a Hammarby attack and advanced forward in to Hammarby's penalty area. Kristianstad's best goalscorer this season, Frida Pettersson got the ball as neither Dieke nor Hammarby goalkeeprr Lehmann managed to control it and scored.
Kristianstadsbladet: Seger för Kristianstads DFF - allsvenska kontraktet säkrat


Djurgårdens IF - Kif Örebro  2 - 1 (0-1)
Djurgården: Nadine Angerer - Malin Engdahl (79 Jennifer Meier), Anne-Marie Norlin, Therese Brogårde, Sara Thunebro - Marijke Callebaut (46 Rebecca Johnson), Femke Maes, Victoria Svensson, Anna Hall - Linda Forsberg, Linda Sällström (89 Anna Lagerberth)
Örebro: Kristin Hammarström - Ingrid Ericsson, Marina Pettersson, Stina Segerström, Susanna Lehtinen (75 Hanna Pettersson) - Marie Hammarström, Sanna Valkonen, Elin Magnusson - Maria Nordbrant (80 Sara Fröjdfeldt), Kim Ekebom (59 Leena Puranen), Caroline Näfver
Goals: 0-1 Maria Nordbrant (16), 1-1 Victoria Svensson (54), 2-1 Victoria Svensson (63)
Attendance: 342

Two of the players that chose to say no thanks to the remaining, for qualification meaningless, Euro qualifiers against Ireland and Romania, Hanna Ljungberg and Victoria Svensson, has somewhat different views on playing the 2009 Euros in Finland.

Victoria Svensson has already decided that she wants to continue with the national team over next season: "It's so fun in the national team and I feel I still have something to contribute".

Hanna Ljungberg, who for the last few years has been almost constantly troubled by injuries, hesitates. "It's important for me to rest now. We're in the middle of a fight for the championship now and have UEFA Women's Cup matches later on". But she doesn't want to make a decision for next year yet, she only says that "this doesn't necessarily mean that I'm finished with the national team".
Dagens Nyheter: Victoria Svensson satsar på EM-spel
Göteborgsposten: Hanna tveksam till landslaget

With rich European clubs like Lyon and the new American professional league WPS stepping on the scene, the competition for top footballers is definitely stronger for the 2009 season than it has been for 2008. Unconfirmed rumours says that Marta and Cristiane has been asking for USD 400,000 a year to play in WPS. But that doesn't discourage Swedish clubs.

Linköping reveals that they have given Cristiane a contract offer for the 2009 season. Linköping's chairman Christer Mård says that he believes that he has a good chance: "If she comes back, she knows what she comes back to. And she enjoyed a lot playing here".
Aftonbladet: Linköping har inte gett upp Cristiane

At the same time, it is rumoured that three different WPS clubs are also talking to Cristiane. And the big Brazilian club Corinthians female side has secured a sponsor, that offers Cristiane a monthly salary of about SEK 95,000 if she plays for the club.
JB Online: Presidente corintiano sonha com contratação de Marta

Umeå IK has started negotiations with Marta's agent Fabiano Farah. Umeå's sport director Britta Åkerlund says that Marta is their top priority, "but there is of course a limit. The competition is growing and it will probably take more than last year to keep her". Manager Andrée Jeglertz says that he hopes and believes that Marta will stay, "not the least because of the high quality of football we have here".
Västerbottenskuriren: Marta prio 1 för Umeå IK

Marta's contract with Umeå finishes after November and several clubs have announced their interest to talk to her. The strongest bidders are probably clubs in the WPS league. Fabiano Farah says that he is expecting a big proposal from the American side: "All the big owners in the league wants her. Their visions is to have Marta as the new poster name for the league. They're trying to put together a proposal for a long term contract".
Västerbottens Folkblad: Marta kan vara förlorad för Umeå IK

Linköping FC - Djurgårdens IF 2 - 1 (1-0)
Linköping: Hedvig Lindahl - Maja Krantz, Sara Larsson, Charlotte Rohlin, Anna-Kaisa Rantanen - Josefine Öqvist (69 Marie-Louise Skålberg), Caroline Seger, Daniela, Maria Karlsson (69 Ann Westermark) - Jessica Landström, Kosovare Asllani (77 Petra Larsson)
Djurgården: Nadine Angerer - Malin Engdahl (87 Jennifer Meier), Ann-Marie Norlin, Therese Brogårde, Sara Thunebro (77 Rebecca Johnson) - Marijke Callebaut, Ariane Hingst, Femke Maes, Anna Hall - Linda Sällström, Victoria Svensson
Goals: 1-0 Kosovare Asllani (38), 1-1 Victoria Svensson (64), 2-1 Jessica Landström (72)
Attendance: 1,025
Even if Djurgården is far from the team that challenged for the title the last five years, it's still a strong side and has performed particularly well against the top three sides Linköping, Umeå and Malmö. Last night's match against Linköping was no exception. Linköping got the first goal, young star Kosovare Asllani receiving the ball from Jessica Landström and turning away a timid Djurgården defender. But the match was tough, fairly physical and Djurgården could deservedly equalise 20 minutes into the second half, a great taken chip over Hedvig Lindahl by Victoria Svensson. Svensson was one of the dominating figures in the match and also had a shot in the goal-post that could have decided the match. But Linköping kept grinding on and Jessica Landström through on the left side and could score against a fairly passive Djurgården defense. In the fading minutes of the match Djurgården kept substituting defenders for forwards to keep the pressure up and the Linköping home crowd was audibly dissatisfied as the referee let the play go on after more than four minutes of extratime. But Linköping managed to defend their goal.
The win keeps Linköping at the top for yet another round. Their winger Maria Karlsson said before the match that the rest of the series will be like a penalty shoot-out. Whoever makes the first miss will likely lose the whole thing. Next penalty shot is for Umeå against Malmö Wednesday night.
Corren: Anfallsduo bakom LFC:s seger
Dagens Nyheter: Festen är över för Umeå

With LDB FC Malmö's hard earned win at Sunnanå, we can see a three team race for the championship. We have Linköping at 43 points, Umeå 42 and Malmö 39, all with 17 matches played. I would say that whichever of these three that manages to play their remining five matches without giving up any points will be the final league winners. Already the next few days there are two important matches: Linköping faces Djurgården and Umeå clash with Malmö. Should Linköping win while Umeå and Malmö draws, there is little to keep Linköping from winning their first ever Damallsvenskan title.


Sunnanå SK - LDB FC Malmö 0 - 1 (0-0)
Sunnanå: Åsa Berglund - Sandra Berggren (87 Lisa Renberg), Rebecca Smith, Sanna Frostevall, Alexandra Nilsson - Carina Holmberg (69 Matilda Forslund), Josefin Johansson, Perpetua Nkwocha, Magdalena Esseryd (77 Elin Lundholm) - Lina Johansson, Mirjam Marklund
Malmö: Caroline Jönsson - Dora Stefansdottir, Emma Wilhelmsson, Christina örntoft, Nera Smajic (53 Lina Nilsson) - Emma Stålhammar, Nilla Fischer, Therese Sjögran, Pavlina Scasna (80 Therese Jönsson) - Maria Aronsson (65 Therese Lundin), Manon Melis
Goals: 0-1 Therese Sjögran (58)
Attendance: 403

Sydsvenskan: Sjögran lyfte LDB
Norra Västerbotten: Sunnanå föll tungt

Bälinge IF - Hammarby IF  0 - 2 (0-0)
Bälinge: Veronica Svensson - Karolina mats, Natalie Spilger, Nina Engström, Lisa Lantz - Julia Bhy, Emilia Appelqvist (62 Julia Lyckberg), Moa Lina Mattsson (46 Alexandra Höglund), Katri Nokso-Koivisto - Sarah Storck, Emma Lindqvist (74 Jenny Jansson)
Hammarby: Kathrin Lehmann - Anna Lindblom, Karin Lissel, Elin Sölveskog, Annica Svensson - Hodan Siid-Ahmed (72 Jennie Jonsson), Madeleine Tegström - Therese Dahlberg (55 Andrea Comaneci, 63 Matilda Agné)), Nazanin Vaseghpanah, Kristin Bengtsson - Sara Johansson
Goals: 0-1 Andrea Comaneci (58), 0-2 Kristin Bengtsson (71)
Attendance: 163

Upsala Nya Tidning: "Vi släpper in riktiga skitmål"


Umeå Södra FF - Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC  0 - 2 (0-0)
Umeå Södra: Minna Meriluoto - Maria Wictorsson (65 Victoria Forsmark), Kristin Åberg, Petra Vaelma, Anna Rehn - Vanessa Mångsén (73 Patricia Hägglund), Emma Sundberg, Hanna Folkesson, Linda Fransson (84 Terese Andersson) - Jennifer Nobis, Nicole Cross
Göteborg: Jenny Olsson - Amelie Rybeck, Jenny Hallstensson, Jane Törnqvist, Marlene Sjöberg (79 Sofia Karlsson) - Lisa Ek (73 Linnea Liljegärd), Ingvild Stensland, Maria Karlsson, Sofie Andersson - Johanna Almgren, Sara Lindén
Goals: 0-1 Sara Lindén (60), 0-2 Sara Lindén (71)
Attendance: 206

Göteborgsposten: Målen kom till slut
Västerbottenskuriren: Inte den här gången heller...

Jessica Landström, who transferred from the Stockholm side Hammarby to Linköping last year, has had great success both in her club team and in the Swedish national team. But in spite of getting close to a league and cup double with her Linköping, she is not certain that she stays after the season: "I've got all my friends in Stockholm and I'm keeping all doors open for a while".
Linköping does of course want to keep her and Landström says that she takes all alternatives into consideration. She likes it in Linköping and if the club manages to hold on to the core of the team "it would be ok to continue playing here", she says. On the other hand, she and her partner Sara has just bought a new apartment in Stockholm, where she spends most of her time. And, she says "it would be exciting with USA when they are starting up the new league. And Lotta [Schelin] got to go to France".
Expressen: Jagar dubbeln - men snart kan stjärnan lämna Linköping

Idle speculations: She is not cheap, she has a decent full time professional contract with Linköping. Hammarby most certainly can't afford to take her back. Djurgården could do well with a forward like her and she has played there before, but the club is not known for offering young domestic players good contracts. AIK has the money and might have to replace Lisa De Vanna, who could go back home to Australia, where a new league is starting, or to the WPS league in USA. Umeå is of course always a force to be reckoned with, but even if Landström is from the far north it doesn't seem likely that she will move far from Stockholm. Unless she moves abroad. Her name has been mentioned on wish-lists of international players for the WPS league in USA. Still, that's just speculation. We'll have to wait and see.

LDB FC  Malmö's national team goalkeeper Caroline Jönsson has spent the last days training with 1st division side Sundsvalls DFF, a couple of hours south of Caroline's new home in Umeå. Former Sweden goalkeeper and Malmö goalkeeper coach Elisabeth Leidinge is working with the club and is happy to have the national team star on the training sessions.
Caroline Jönsson hopes to be able to find teams to train with closer to Umeå. But LDB FC has matches against all three northern clubs in Damallsvenskan, so guesting training sessions with these are not yet an opportunity.
When it comes to where Jönsson will play club football in the future, there isn't much news. She herself refuses to talk publicly about it until the season is finished. All three Damallsvenskan sides in the north - Umeå IK, Sunnanå SK, Umeå Södra FF - claims they are satisfied with the goalkeepers they've got. But Sundsvall's coach Sören Ericson, who wished his team played in Damallsvenskan so that he could hire Jönsson, might still be right when he said "There isn't a single club up here that  wouldn't want her on their team".
Norra Västerbotten: Sunnanå jagar inte Jönsson
Sundsvalls Tidning: Träning som bär sig

Umeå Södra FF - Umeå IK  0 - 6 (0-5)
Umeå Södra: Minna Merilouto - Fanta Cooper, Moa Westermark (46 Kristin Åberg), Nikki Cross, Petra Vaelma - Linda Fransson, Emma Sundberg (68 Elina Sormunen), Hanna Folkesson, Vanessa Mångsén - Jennifer Nobis (68 Patricia Hägglund), Victoria Forsmark
Umeå: Ulla-Karin Rönnlund - Anna Paulsson, Johanna Frisk, Karolina Westberg (46 Emma Berglund), Frida Östberg - Lisa Dahlkvist, Emma Åberg Zingmark, Mami Yamaguchi - Johanna Rasmussen, Madeleine Edlund (58 Sofia Jakobsson), Marta (46 Ramona Bachmann)
Goals: 0-1 Marta (12), 0-2 Marta (15), 0-3 Madeleine Edlund (23), 0-4 Marta (27), 0-5 Madeleine Edlund (32), 0-6 Johanna Rasmussen (52)
Attendance: 1,093
After 15 minutes and two Marta goals, it was all over for little sister Umeå Södra. Umeå IK's coach Andrée Jeglertz, who has been critical to his team's slow starts the last few matches, had encouraged his team to play out to their full capacity from the first minute. And they did. They showed their best and after half an hour they were five goals up after a Marta hat-trick and a brace by Madeleine Edlund.
At half-time, Jeglertz subbed out Marta, saving her for the match against top side Malmö next week. He didn't want to risk her getting hurt or recieving her third yellow card before that match. And even with Marta on the field it would have been hard for Umeå to keep up the same game as they had in the beginning of the match. And Umeå Södra were a lot less passive than before, having told each other at half-time to at least try to win the second half.
Västerbottenskuriren: Allt var över på en kvart
SVT Västerbottensnytt: goal clip

LDB FC Malmö's goalkeeper Caroline Jönsson moves to Umeå. She has been accepted by the psychology programme at Umeå University and has just started her studies.
She will however continue to play for Malmö the rest of this season. After the season and the first semester at the university, she will evaluate her situation and make a decision. I presume it will be about moving schools or moving clubs. As long as I have followed her, Caroline has talked about studying for a Master of Science in Psychology as one of her ambitions.
In an interview with Swedish radio, she talks about Umeå University's generous attitude towards top-level sports, which I think favours her staying up north.
She also tells that she has been well recieved by her mates from the national team. She has been staying with Frida Östberg and loaned Hanna Ljungberg's car.
Sydsvenskan: Caroline Jönsson har lämnat Malmö
Västerbottenskuriren: Världsmålvakt flyttar till Umeå
Sveriges radio: Malmös Caroline Jönsson flyttar norrut (with radio interview)

AIK - Bälinge IF  4 - 0 (2-0)
AIK: Sofia Lundgren - Sofia Simonsson, Linda Sembrant, Frida Höglund - Emma Lundh, Elin Ekblom Bak, Louise Fors, Anne Mäkinen, Laura Kalmari (66 Jessica Julin) - Annica Sjölund (61 Linda Lekander), Kate Gill (61 Lisa De Vanna)
Bälinge: Veronica Svensson - Emma Lindqvist, Nina Engström, Natalie Spilger, Karolina Mats - Emilia Appelqvist, Noelle Keselica (61 Katri Nokso-Koivisto), Sarah Storck (66 Jenny Jansson), Julia Lyckberg - Moa Lina Mattsson (61 Julia Bhy), Alexandra Höglund
Goals: 1-0 Annica Sjölund (13), 2-0 Elin Ekblom Bak (42), 3-0 Louise Fors (61), 4-0 Linda Lekander (81)
Attendance: 427
"We're too leightweight for this", sighed Bälinge's coach Zaine Söderlund after yet another defeat. The league's number four, AIK, were too strong and too fast for Bälinge.
Upsala Nya Tidning: Zaine Söderlund efter ny storförlust: "Vi hänger inte med"


LDB FC Malmö - Kif Örebro  4 - 0 (1-0)
Malmö: Caroline Jönsson - Dora Stefansdottir, Christina Örntoft, Emma Wilhelmsson, Lina Nilsson - Frida Nordin (71 Emma Stålhammar), Therese Sjögran, Nilla Fischer (74 Therese Jönsson), Pavlina Scasna - Maria Aronsson (66 Therese Lundin), Manon Melis
Örebro: Kristin Hammarström - Ingrid Ericsson (46 Caroline Näfver), Stina Segerström Sanna Valkonen, Susanna Lehtinen - Sara Fröjdfelt (58 Leena Puranen), Marie Hammarström, Lena Andersson, Elin Magnusson (80 Hanna Pettersson) - Marina Pettersson, Kim Ekebom
Goals: 1-0 Pavlina Scasna (14), 2-0 Therese Sjögran (57 PK), 3-0 Maria Aronsson (66), 4-0 Manon Melis (72)
Attendance: 698
The LDB players complained themselves over being too slow in the first half, where Pavlina Scasna and in particular her cunning free-kick in the 14th minute, a variation the team probably have spent some time on at training, were the only thing to be happy about. But in the second it took off, Örebro became completely outplayed by a fast, constantly moving and perfect passing Malmö. Örebro's Kim Ekebom spent most of the half all alone in attack, hardly ever connecting with her teammates.
Malmö's 56th minute fairly softly awarded penalty, kicked in goal by Malmö, seemed to break whatever will Örebro had left.
Sydsvenskan: Scasnas frispark tog skruv
Nerikes Allehanda: KIF-tränaren efter raset: "Vi tappar moralen"

Linköping's goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl wrote in her blog after the Umeå-Djurgården match, that she hadn't actually been saying any prayers, but it still seemed like they were answered. In Kristianstad it looked like Linköping's players were determined to take the somewhat unexpected opportunity they were gifted by Djurgården. They didn't only just try to win, but made a real effort to catch up on Umeå's advantage in goal difference. After the huge 7 goal win, they now have the same goal difference as Umeå, + 31 goals, and are four points up with one match more played.

Kristianstads DFF - Linköping FC  0 - 7 (0-3)
Kristianstad: Maria Edman - Johanna Jönsson, Kia McNeil, Ifeoma Dieke, Carolin Ericsson - Susanne Moberg, Therese Björk (77 Vlora Bajraktaraj), Sofie Persson, Johanna Rosén (90 Red Card) - Frida Pettersson (55 Angelique Sandberg), Erla Arnadottir (66 Pernilla Falk)
Linköping: Hedvig Lindahl - Anna-Kaisa Rantanen, Sara Larsson, Charlotte Rohlin, Marie-Louise Skålberg - Maja Krantz, Daniela, Caroline Seger (66 Tilda Heimersson), Maria Karlsson (57 Petra Larsson) - Kosovare Asllani (73 Lisa Nilsson), Jessica Landström
Goals: 0-1 Kosovare Asllani (2), 0-2 Kosovare Asllani (18), 0-3 Daniela (43), 0-4 Caroline Seger (54), 0-5 Petra Larsson (58), 0-6 Lisa Nilsson (79), 0-7 Jessica Landström (85)
Attendance: 1,131
Linköping opened after less that two minutes with 19 years old Kosovare Asllani, playing in the spot Cristiane left, scoring form a cross by Maria Karlsson. 16 minutes later it was time for an almost perfect replay of the first goal and already here Kristianstad showed problems standing up against the top side. They still had a good chance to reduce with a few minutes left of the first half, as Susanne Moberg's hard shot hit both the horizontal and the goalline before Hedvig Lindahl could control it. Instead Daniela put Linköping in an even larger lead with a great volley-shot from inside the box. In the second half the scoreline just ran away against a dejected Kristianstad. "We were completely overrun in midfield", said head coach Ulf Palmqvist and added that his team still haven't the strength for three matches in one week.
Kristianstadsbladet: KDFF överkört av Linköping
Aftonbladet: Storseger för Linköping
Corren: Guldläge för LFC – igen


Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC - Sunnanå SK  4 - 1 (2-0)
Göteborg: Jenny Olsson - Amelie Rybeck, Jane Törnqvist, Jenny Hallstensson, Marlene Sjöberg (70 Sofia Karlsson) - Lisa Ek (75 Sofie Andersson), Ingvild Stensland, Maria Karlsson, Johanna Almgren - Sara Lindén, Linnea Liljegärd
Sunnanå: Åsa Berglund - Sandra Berggren (77 Lisa Renberg), Rebecca Smith, Sanna Frostevall, Alexandra Nilsson - Carina Holmberg (82 Elin Lundholm), Josefine Johansson, Perpetua Nkwocha, Magdalena Esseryd (68 Matilda Forslund) - Lina JOhansson, Mirjam Marklund
Goals: 1-0 Jane Törnqvist (6), 2-0 Linnea Liljegärd (27), 2-1 Mirjam Marklund (57), 3-1 Ingvild Stensland (67), 4-1 Johanna Almgren (86)
Attendance: 378
Göteborg, winless for three months, finally managed to dominate a match. Coach Torbjörn Nilsson said that they played at the top of their capacity the first 30 minutes. "After that we slowed down, but we were never in danger". Sunnanå's second half attempts to catch up, playing with a three player defense, opened up for Göteborg counters, that Stensland and Almgren managed to convert to goals.
Göteborgsposten: Äntligen seger för Göteborg
Norra Västerbotten: Sunnanå åkte på storförlust


Hammarby IF - Umeå Södra FF  2 - 0 (1-0)
Hammarby: Kathrin Lehmann - Matilda Agné (69 Annica Svensson), Karin Lissel, Elin Sölveskog, Anna Lindblom - Jennie Jonsson, Madeleine Tegström (70 Hodan Siid-Ahmed) - Andrea Comaneci (79 Thjerese Dahlberg), Nazanin Vaseghpanah, Kristin Bengtsson - Sara Johansson
Umeå Södra: Minna Meriluoto - Anna Rehn, Nicole Cross, Fanta Cooper, Petra Vaelma - Linda Fransson, Hanna Folkesson, Victoria Forsmark (77 Kristin Åberg), Anna Forss (66 Patricia Hägglund) - Vanessa Mångsén (77 Elina Sormunen), Jennifer Nobis
Goals: 1-0 Nazanin Vaseghpanah (18), 2-0 Nazanin Vaseghpanah (82)
Attendance: 407

Umeå IK - Djurgårdens IF  3 -3  (1-2)
Umeå: Ulla-Karin Rönnlund - Anna Paulsson, Johanna Frisk (75 Emma Berglund), Karoline Westberg, Frida Östberg - Lisa Dahlkvist, Hanna Ljungberg, Mami Yamaguchi - Johanna Rasmussen (59 Ramona Bachmann), Madeleine Edlund, Marta
Djurgården: Nadine Angerer - Makin Engdahl (86 Rebecca Johnson), Anne-Marie Norlin, Therese Brogårde, Sara Thunebro - Marijke Callebaut, Femke Maes, Ariane Hingst (56 Jennifer Meier), Anna Hall - Linda Sällström, Victoria Svensson
Goals: 0-1 Anna Hall (3), 0-2 Linda Sällström (35), 1-2 Marta (39 PK), 1-3 Marijke Callebaut (52), 2-3 Frida Östberg (64), 3-3 Ulla-Karin Rönnlund (94)
Attendance: 1,443
After the important win over Linköping, Umeå head coach Andrée Jeglertz wrote on the club's website that he didn't want any more congratulations for the victory: "We have to perform just as well on Saturday [against Djurgården] or we will be back were we were before the Linköping match. Linköping and LDB are terrific teams and both good enough to win the league. We can never forget that. We are not even leading the league. It will take a lot of extremely hard work the remaining matches." It's hard not to agree with him, in particular after today's event, when a less-than-extremely-hard-working Umeå only managed to save one point, and that in a desperate last minute attempt.
Djurgården took the lead already in the 3rd minute, when the ball after a corner-kick shuffle landed with Anna Hall, who got a great shot from distance in Ulla-Karin Rönnlund's upper right corner. Untouchable. Djurgården played well and organized against an Umeå that didn't seem quite as into the game as they should have been. There was a lot of ball-watching, both in midfield and defense and lack of movement and sometimes an air of indecision, that made the play almost come to a halt in midfield.
And Umeå lost the ball much too easy. Djurgården's second goal came when Hingst stole the ball from a wandering Lisa Dahlkvist and gave Linda Sällström a perfect pass. She ran away from her defenders and scored alone with Umeå's keeper. Umeå's had more attacks than Djurgården, but they mostly ended up in naught. But Marta won a penalty shot for herself and it was 1-2 at halftime.
The second started like the first, with Marijke Callebaut getting Djurgården an early goal, pass from Victoria Svensson. Shortly after, Ariane Hingst had to leave after what looked like twisting her knee. Hingst has had problems with her right knee for some time and there has been talk about surgery after the season. Victoria Svensson moved to midfield and was replaced by Jennifer Meier in attack, which probably hurt Djurgården's forward play somewhat.
The last 30 minutes, Umeå worked with more speed and dedication and it paid off. Frida Östberg scored with a smoker from distance to make it 2-3. Then in another crowded box fight Madeleine Edlund kneed the ball into goal, where a lying Angerer made a kicking save. The play almost came to a complete standstill, as everyone waited for the referee to blow the whistle for goal. But no whistle came. The TV slow motion showed clearly that the ball was over the line before Angerer's kick, but it wasn't that easy to see from some distance.
Umeå continued to hunt for an equaliser, and when they got a corner-kick in the fourth minute of extratime, they threw everybody forward, including goalkeeper Ulla-Karin Rönnlund And it was Rönnlund who managed to force the ball in goal, coming rushing from outside and almost running over a couple of Djurgården defenders. The final whistle came almost immediately after. I don't think I've ever seen Umeå players so happy with a draw.
Dagens Nyheter: Målvaktens mål gav Umeå kryss
Expressen: Här gör målvakten mål - på övertid
Västerbottenskuriren: UIK-mål felaktigt bortdömt
SVT: match clip

And since people have been searching the net for this:

There was an animated exchange of words between Djurgården's coach Anders Johansson and Umeå's assistant coach Steve Galloway after the match. The argument became so heated, that Djurgården's keeper Nadine Angerer saw it necessary to step in and push away Galloway from her coach. This and some goal-clips in a short video from TV4.

Sweden's fullback Anna Paulsson has decided to stay at Umeå,  signing a new one year contract. The 24 years old have been in Umeå since 2001.
Västerbottenskuriren: Påla förlänger kontraktet


Linda Lundström, 16 years old defender, has been moved up to AIK's senoir team. Lundström, an own club product, has been on loan to 2nd division side Brommapojkarna this season and will continue to play with them while training with AIK.
AIK: Linda Lundström uppflyttad till A-truppen


LDB FC Malmö continues their cooperation with 1st division side Tyresö FF. During the summer break, several first team players were loaned out from Malmö to the Stockholm suburb club. Now there is a new loan deal, keeping young Turkish midfilder Aylin Yaren in Tyresö the rest of the season. Defender Lina Rehov with Sweden U19 experience, who earlier was set to play college soccer in Florida, has also accepted to go to Tyresö on loan.
Tyresö FF: Lina Rehov klar för Tyresö FF


Thomas Sjöbeck, leader of Kristianstad's successful youth program, has left all his assignments with the club. He says he can't accept that the club hires expensive players, that can't compete for a spot on the first team, while the club never gives a chance to his young players. This gives the wrong signals to their young talents.
Club manager Ulf Berglund replied that the team would have had hard work trying to avoid relegation, if they hadn't signed players like Kia McNeal and Ifeoma Dieke. But this is the team's first season in the top tier and Berglund admits that he and the club management surely has made mistakes. Developing own talent is still one of the club's main priorities.
The new players Sjöbeck are talking about are most probably not McNeill and Dieke, who are both key players, but rather American Alyssa Oldenkamp and Malmö loanee Antonia Göransson. Both have so far only been playing with Kristianstad's farm team and not even dressed for a Damallsvenskan match.
Kristianstadsbladet: "KDFF skickar ut fel signaler"

Anna Bodén, Sunnanå's midfielder, hurt her knee during the match against AIK. An arthroscopi shows that both her meniscus and one of the ligaments in her left knee is damaged and she will hjave to have surgery. The rehabilitation is estimated to be six months long.
Sunnanå have since before three midfield players on the injury list; Kicki Viklund, Erika Karlsson and Johanna Lindahl. All of them are close to getting ready to play again, but it will probably take a few weeks.
Norra Västerbotten: Knäet är skadat – Bodén borta i sex månader


Kif Örebro's young forward star Emilia Erixon, who had great success during the spring last year, will not be able to return to play even this season. She suffered an ACL tear last August and then managed to tear it again during rehab training in March. New surgery followed and a new long rehabilitation period. Theoretically, she could be ready to play the last matches, but she is cautious: "It would be really fun to play, but you have to be realistic" Erixon says and adds that she and her physiotherapist agrees to go slower forward than maybe necessary.
Nerikes Allehanda: Inget spel för KIF:s anfallsstjärna i år

The match between Linköping and Umeå was build up as a directly deciding match, not only in the local media, but also in national newspapers and television. And had Linköping managed to win, it would have been very hard for anyone to catch up. Now, several comments says the matxch decided the league in Umeå's favour - if both teams wins all their remaining matches Umeå will finish one point ahead of Linköping. But both have matches against Djurgården remaining and Umeå also has to face Malmö - teams they both lost points to before the summer break. It's not over yet. But Marta might have been right, when she after the match said: "If we keep on playing like this, we will win the championship".

Linköping FC - Umeå IK  1 - 4 (0-1)
Linköping: Hedvig Lindahl - Anna-Kaisa Rantanen, Sara Larsson, Charlotte Rohlin, Marie-Louise Skålberg - Josefine Öqvist (70 Petra Larsson), Caroline Seger, Daniela, Maria Karlsson (85 Maja Krantz) - Kosovare Asllani, Jessica Landström
Umeå: Anna-Karin Rönnlund - Anna Paulsson, Johanna Frisk, Karolina Westberg, Frida Östberg - Lisa Dahlkvist, Hanna Ljungberg (58 Emma Åberg Zingmark), Mami Yamaguchi - Ramona Bachmann (28 Johanna Rasmussen), Madeleine Edlund (83 Sofia Jacobsson), Marta
Goals: 0-1 Hanna Ljungberg (33), 0-2 Johanna Rasmussen (55), 0-3 Marta (64), 0-4 Madeleine Edlund (78), 1-4 Jessica Landström (94)
Attendance: 9,413
On a very crowded Folkungavallen (official capacity 8.000), Linköping started best and it took Umeå 15 minutes before they had their first shot on goal and more than 20 before they managed to create anything really dangerous. But Umeå worked themselves in to the match and started to take over around the 30 minute mark. In particular their fast counters began to threaten Linköping, that had problems keeping Umeå's Marta and Johanna Rasmussen (substituting Ramona Bachmann, who apparently still was suffering from the effects of an earlier fever) from getting forward on the wings. They scored 1-0 on a great attack, starting with Frida Östberg advancing on the left side, letting the ball forward to Marta who shot a great cross, that a forward flying Hanna Ljungberg volleyed into goal.
In the second half Umeå dominated completely. Johanna Rasmussen picked up a rebound from a Marta shot and scored, Marta rounded Hedvig Lindahl in Linköping's goal for the third goal and it looked like Madeleine Edlund helped herself with her arm when she made the 4th. Still, it wouldn't have mattered. Neither Caroline Seger or Daniela on Linköping's midfield managed to get anywhere near the level they usually play and the defense had problems throughout the match, particularly Marie-Louise Skålberg on the left side and Josefine Öqvist was almost invisible.
Linköping still fought hard every minute of the match and Jessica Landström could force in a consolation goal in the final seconds. The big home crowd cheered, but Landström didn't look very happy.
The match was slotted for experienced Damallsvenskan referee Eva Ödlund. But she hurt herself warming up and the 4th referee, 26 years old Linn Wikström, made her Damallsvenskan début. Not the easiest match for that and she made a few mistakes, but nothing really serious.
The almost 9,500 crowd was a new record for women's club football in Sweden (the old record was 8,900 from Umeå-Djurgården 2004). It is actually a bigger crowd than what most matches in the men's premier division draws. The Linköping club had done a lot of hard work to promote the match and manager Anders Mäki was very pleased. The net earnings will probably land somewhere around SEK 500,000 and Mäki is no longer worried that the renewal of Daniela's contract will put the club finances in danger.
Aftonbladet: ”Visar att vi är mästare”, pictures 
Corren: Domaren hyllad och sågad, Publiksuccén säkrar pengarna för Daniela, Umeåuppvisning inför 9 413
Västerbottens Folkblad: Umeå IK övertygade i seriefinalen
 Västerbottenskuriren: "De ska inte tro att det är så lätt att vinna SM-guld"
SVT: match clip


Bälinge IF - Kristianstads DFF  0 - 0 (0-0)
Bälinge: Veronica Svensson - Karolina Mats, Natalie Spilger, Nina Engström, Emma Lindqvist - Jenny Jansson (49 Julia Bhy), Emilia Appelqvist, Julia Lyckberg (65 Katri Nokso-Koivisto), Noelle Keselica - Sarah Storck (73 Alexandra Höglund), Linda Blom
Kristianstad: Maria Edman - Johanna Jönsson, Kia McNeill, Ifeoma Dieke, Carolin Ericsson - Angelique Sandberg (67 Pernilla Falk), Therese Björck, Sofie Persson, Johanna Rosén (55 Susanne Moberg) - Frida Petersson, Erla Arnadottir
Attendance: 308
Both sides were disappointed after the match, Kristianstad that had hoped to get more room between themselves and the relegation line while the match for Bälinge felt like the last chance to save hope of a renewed contract. Bälinge looked like the better side, and pushed a lot forward in the second half but had big problems finishing.
Kristianstadsbladet: KDFF gjorde bara halva sitt jobb i bottenmötet
Upsala Nya Tidning: Nattsvart för Bälinge


Sunnanå SK - Hammarby IF  0 - 0 (0-0)
Sunnanå: Åsa Berglund - Sandra Berggren, Rebecca Smith, Sanna Frostevall, Alexandra Nilsson - Matilda Forslund (67 Carina Holmberg), Josefin Johansson, Perpetua Nkwocha, Magdalena Esseryd - Lina Johansson, Mirjam Marklund
Hammarby: Kathrin Lehmann - Anna Lindblom, Karin Lissel, Elin Sölveskog, Annica Svensson - Madeleine Tegström (73 Hodan Siid-Ahmed), Jennie Jonsson - Matilda Agné (46 Lisa Björkvik), Nazanin Vaseghpanah, Kristin Bengtsson - Andrea Comaneci
Attendance: 372

Västerbottens Folkblad: Måltorkan kostade poäng
Norra Västerbotten: Målmissarna kostar poäng


Umeå Södra FF - AIK  1 - 5 (0-5)
Umeå Södra: Minna Meriluoto - Anna Rehn (57 Elina Sormunen), Fanta Cooper, Petra Vaelma, Anna Forss (46 Vanessa Mångsén) - Nicole Cross, Hanna Folkesson, Emma Sundberg, Victoria Forsmark (46 Maria Wictorsson) - Linda Fransson, Jennifer Nobis
AIK: Sofia Lundgren - Emelie Karlsson-Wedin (76 Elin Karlsson), Frida Höglund, Linda Sembrant, Sofia Simonsson - Elin Ekblom Bak, Emma Lundh (88 Linda Maria Lundström), Anne Mäkinen, Louise Fors (76 Annica Sjölund) - Lisa De Vanna, Kate Gill
Goals: 0-1 Emma Lundh (18), 0-2 Emma Lundh (21), 0-3 Lisa De Vanna (33), 0-4 Louise Fors (34), 0-5 Lisa De Vanna (37), 1-5 Maria Wictorsson (53)
Attendance: 226

Västerbottens Folkblad: Storförlust för lamt Södra
Västerbottenskuriren: Fiaskomatch av Södra


Kif Örebro - Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC  1 - 0 (1-0)
Örebro: Kristin Hammarström - Marina Pettersson, Stina Segerström, Sanna Valkonen, Susanna Lehtinen - Lena Andersson, Marie Hammarström, Elin Magnusson - Leena Puranen (72 Sara Fröjdfeldt), Kim Ekebom (82 Hanna Pettersson), Caroline Näfver
Göteborg: Jenny Olsson - Marlene Sjöberg, Jenny Hallstensson, Jane Törnqvist, Amelie Rybeck - Johanna Almgren (75 Sofie Andersson), Maria Karlsson, Ingvild Stensland, Lisa Ek - Linnea Liljegärd (86 Camilla Schelin), Sara Lindén
Goals: 1-0 Lena Andersson (3)
Attendance: 562

Nerikes Allehanda: pictures
Göteborgsposten: Göteborg FC förlorar och tappar i tabellen

Sunnanå SK - Umeå IK  3 - 5 (2-2)
Sunnanå:
Umeå:
Goals: 1-0 Magdalena Esseryd (16), 1-1 Mami Yamaguchi (23), 2-1 Magdalena Esseryd (28), 2-2 Marta (44), 3-2 Lina Johansson (47), 3-3 Mami Yamaguchi (70), 3-4 Marta (85), 3-5 Hanna Ljungberg (92)
Attendance: 303
"I hate going up here to play" said Umeå's coach Andrée Jeglertz after the Sunday afternoon match, illustrating the problems Umeå often has defeating their local rivals at their home turf. In the Swedish Cup quarter final, the first half of the match was Sunnanå's, where usual fullback Maggie Esseryd was very successful in her new position on the left wing. Jeglertz was critical to his team's performance in the first half, halfhearted in ball duels and falling back too much in defense, but he also praised the team moral that helped them come from behind three times. Sunnanå's Kaj Eskelinen was mostly happy with the performance, but "if you are going to defeat Umeå, you have to be faultless in defense".
Västerbottens Folkblad: ”Jag hatar att möta Sunnanå här uppe”
Västerbottenskuriren: Hanna Ljungberg hittar målet igen

Umeå IK continues in their work to secure key players for the 2009 season. Experienced defender Karolina Westberg became the 9th player to commit for the 2009 season, followed by midfielder Lisa Dahlkvist, who also extended her stay in Umeå with one year.
Västerbottens Folkblad: Umeå IK förlänger med nyckelspelare
Umeå IK: Ytterligare en nyckelspelare klar för 2009


Elin Ekblom Bak is very pleased with her first year with AIK and has decided to sign a new two year deal, keeping her with the club over 2010.
AIK: Elin Ekblom Bak förlänger kontraktet med AIK


After taking a big step towards a renewed Damallsvenskan contract with the win over Umeå Södra last Saturday, Kristianstad's sport director Uffe Berglund has started making plans for next year. His first priority is to find a way to keep his team's centre defense duo Kia McNeill and Ifeoma Dieke. It will be a big cost for the small club, but Berglund seems optimistic.
Kristianstadsbladet: "Jag är stolt över tjejerna"


And Linköping's Brazilian midfielder Daniela says to SVT that she would be happy if she got an offer from Linköping for the 2009 season.
SVT: Daniela vill stanna i Linköping (video, interview in English)

Djurgårdens IF - LDB FC Malmö  2 - 3 (0-2)
Djurgården: Nadine Angerer - Malin Engdahl, Anne-Marie Norlin, Therese Brogårde (46 Marijke Callebaut), Anna Hall (77 Jennifer Meier) - Ariane Hingst, Victoria Svensson, Femke Maes - Linda Sällström, Linda Forsberg, Sara Thunebro
Malmö: Caroline Jönsson - Dora Stefansdottir (Lina Nilsson), Christina Örntoft, Emma Wilhelmsson, Nera Smajic (74 Red card) - Frida Nordin, Nilla Fischer, Therese Sjögran, Pavlina Scasna (76 Therese Jönsson) - Maria Aronsson (74 Emma Stålhammar), Manon Melis
Goals: 0-1 Manon Melis (30), 0-2 Manon Melis (41), 1-2 Victoria Svensson (75), 1-3 Manon Melis (77), 2-3 Femke Maes (86)
Attendance: 587
Both Malmö and hosting Djurgården are teams that play what most people would call good football - the ball to the ground, short passes, possession-oriented with few un-directed long-shots. During long parts of the first half they also proved that this can be really boring. A lot o short-passing in midfield leading nowhere ("duttande" is the appropriate Swedish word) and very few promising attempts to attack. The good cooperation between Malmö's winger Frida Nordin and notorious goalscorer Manon Melis put an end to this with two goals in the last 15 minutes, both the result of Nordin's good crosses and Melis ability to rush into the right position.
Malmö sounded confident in the half-time interviews and looked even more so in the second half. This over-confidence let Djurgården back into the game with Victoria Svensson acting as both inspirator and midfield engine. In a few mid second half minutes the match completely changed character. Malmö's full back Nera Smajic recieved her second red card and Victoria Svensson put the following free-kick directly in goal - a hard, low shot that a moving Ariane Hingst let through the wall. Malmö did a defensive substitution, replacing Scasna with Therese Jönsson, while Djurgården changed to three in the back-line when they put in Jennifer Meier in the attack. Soon after Malmö extended their lead, Manon Melis completing her hat-trick with good help from Djurgården's defender Malin Engdahl who practically gifted her the ball. The rest of the match was Djurgården frantically trying to tie the game with one player short Malmö mostly defending. Even Melis, who most of the match tried to fit in as a fifth wheel in Djurgården's defense line was now seen in her own penalty area, booting away the ball. Femke Maes managed to reduce on a great shot from a Victoria Svensson pass, but it wasn't enough.
Malmö's players were very happy with the win and Manon Melis, who speaks surprisingly good Swedish, insisted that her side shouldn't be counted out in the gold medal race. And since Umeå and Linköping meet next, Malmö will gain points on at least on of them.
Sydsvenskan: LDB-seger mot Djurgården
Aftonbladet: Stockholmslagens mardröm
SVT: Melis hattrick sänkte Djurgården