Damallsvenskan Newsblog

... and there is more in the press, radio and TV than I can handle. So I decided to bunch together everything that isn't really news, just background stuff:

Linköping's Josefone Öqvist isn't happy about being benched, but understands the reasons. She is really, really impatient to play again and is convinced Linköping can win the league. Coach Mikael Bornehav says he's got all the players he wanted except a defensive midfielder (he tried with Umeå's Frida Östberg, but she declined) and the team might be to offensive minded.
SVT (Windows media clip)

The national daily sports show on SVT feature a 3 minute segment on Kristine Lilly and Kate Markgraf.
SVT (Windows media clip)

Finnish national team striker and Damallsvenskan's best goalscorer last season Laura Kalmari left Umeå to stay with her boyfriend in Stockholm and to play with champions Djurgården/Älvsjö (in that order). Interviews in both an Umeå paper and the major Stockholm daily.
Västerbottens Folkblad: Tänker vinna SM-guld "på riktigt"
Dagens Nyheter: Kalmari följde sitt hjärtas väg

In the past it was Pia Sundhage, the present is Hanna Ljungberg and the future is already here: Caroline Seger. At least according to Linköping's local daily. A bit of local patriotism showing through, but Caroline doesn't mind - she really wants to be the best and isn't afraid to talk about it.
Corren: Det är goda utsikter för Seger

Roland Arnqvist, the man behind Umeå's success story, says the club has had four cornerstones: good organization, good economy, good team spirit and good sponsor relations. Probably easier said than done, but  Roland also expresses his admiration over how Mallbacken can run a top team from a three-way crossroads in the middle of a forest.
Värmlands Folkblad: Beundrar Mallbacken

Mallbacken defender Kicki Ingvarsson understands that Mallbacken, situated in a 200 inhabitant village, is a picturesque element in Damallsvenskan, but would like it if somebody sometime would asked about their training or their playing philosophy. Mallbacken has had it's ups and downs in the preseason matches, butr they are still satisfied with the play. Defense is strong and they just have to score more goals that last season.
Värmlands Folkblad: Mallbacken backar inte enligt backparet

Hanna Ljungberg spent so much time in rehab last year, that Umeå counts her as a reinforcement. Hanna says that the European Championship is the big goal - "We've lost two big finals to Germany, both on extratime.
Expressen: "I fjol grät jag hur mycket som helst"

Gefle Dagblad has found the only local girl playing in Damallsvenskan,  Freja Egebrand , who played for Mallbacken last season but now has changed to Stockholm based AIK. Freja, a striker, says she will have to work hard for a starting position. AIK's number one choice is probably Lena Persson , who scored 20 goals in the 1st division last year.
Gefle Dagblad: Freja börjar troligen på AIK-bänken

Kristine Lilly is the swedish football signing of the year, men included, writes a Göteborg daily in a long background article on the player.
Göteborgsposten: Örebro har gjort årets värvning

"I want to win a gold, I'm so tired of silvers", says defender Sara Larsson, who has plenty of silverware from both the national team and her former club Malmö FF. Sara, who was retrained from midfielder to defender when she joined Malmö, says she thinks Linköping probably still has a to thin squad to win the championship, but Sweden has a really good chance in the European Championships.
Norrköpings Tidningar: Landslagsbacken laddar om

The national radio network Sveriges Radio has launched their football site for the season. Great preseason coverage. For those not familiar with the swedish language, there is a Tiffeny Milbrett interview here and the network's Damallsvenskan expert Anette Börjesson has her prediction here