Damallsvenskan Newsblog

Umeå's striker Madelaine Edlund has been called up for the national team as replacement for Malmö's Therese Lundin, who has been troubled be her hip lately. This is Edlund's first call-up for the full national side, but she has 29 youth national team matches.
Edlund, who for the moment at least is Umeå's leading striker, did not participate in her team's training today at Borehamwood. She only had light rehab training after hurting a leg in a crash with Linköping's goalkeeper Wednesday night. She still hopes to be match fit again on Sunday.
Svensk Fotboll: Debutant ersätter skadad Lundin
Västerbottens Folkblad: Ett fokuserat UIK i London

The news that the second coming of the professional women's league in the USA might be next year (see Women's Soccer Initiative's press release at http://wsii.typepad.com/wsii/2007/02/wusa_relaunch_s.html), has been met by both hopefull and worried comments. A poll made by the major newspaper Svenska Dagbladet during the Algarve Cup suggested that half the national team squad could be tempted to go west.
Göteborg's star player Lotta Schelin doesn't complain over her present situation, but is tempted by the prospect of living in another country and playing in a professional team, where all players can show up for a training session in the middle of the day. "The money isn't that important".
Sweden goalkeeper Caroline Jönsson is a bit more uncertain and doesn't think USA will offer the ideal preparations for the Olympic games next year: "The season will be too short. And we don't know anything about coaches, other players or stadiums yet." She also hopes that the Swedish FA follows this closely. "Right now, Damallsvenskan is the best league in the world and this is where you've got the best conditions for development. The FA might have to make a different committment to be able to compete with an American league."
Pia Sundhage, who was active as a coach in WUSA 2001-2003, welcomes a return but doesn't want to make a clear-cut recommendation for Swedish players to join the league. "There is a lot to consider. I'm sure they will develop the months the league is in play, but what about the rest of the year?" Still, she just like Caroline Jönsson, urges the Swedish clubs and Football Association to prepare themselves. More clubs must reach the same level as Umeå.
Djurgården's newly signed German Ariane Hingst is not interested: "I'll rather play in Sweden. I'm not sure that many players will go over there. If they pay really good wages, the top players might go."
Susanne Erlandsson, vice chairman of the Swedish FA, isn't that worried: "I don't see any mass exodus coming, since they hardly can pay the same wages as they did the last time". The FA's chairman, Lars-Åke Lagrell, thinks a new professional USA league will be positive both for the women's game and for individual players even if it could effect the Swedish league. "We've had some really good players from there playing here, now it might happen that some of our players chose to play in USA."
Svenska Dagbladet: Halva fotbollslandslaget lockas av proffslivet i USA, Pia Sundhage bekymrad
Upsala Nya Tidning: USA-liga utmanar allsvenskan
SVT: USA får damliga i fotboll - igen

The club with the SEK 24 million name, LDB FC Malmö, has decided to keep their provisional white kits as their permanent match jerseys. And the away kit will be a pink/black combo, that the players themselves had as first choice.
Sydsvenskan: LDB FC Malmö fortsätter i helvitt

Djurgården's Victoria Svensson will take up a position as football instructor at the academy her club runs in cooperation with a inner city Stockholm school. And the same school employs recently retired Djurgården player Linda Fagerström as a teacher.
Djurgården: Vickan och Fager radarpar igen

Kif Örebro are still looking for a new head coach and sport director Annika Grälls says they are studying 10 different names. She confirmes that one of them is former Umeå head coach Richard Holmlund, who took Umeå to three Swedish championships, won the Swedish Cup and the UEFA Women's Cup. But Grälls reiterates the club's position: they are in no hurry and will do a thorough investigation before making a decision. Holmlund on the other hand doesn't sound like he would be impossible to persuade.
Damfotboll.com: Mästartränare en av tio efter Pia
Nerikes Allehanda: Guldtränaren: "KIF har sonderat terrängen" (video)

Linköping - Umeå IK 0 - 2 (0-0)
Linköping: Jenny Olsson - Sara Larsson, Charlotte Rohlin, Marie-Louise Skålberg, Frida Östberg - Ann Westermark (74 Maria Karlsson), Caroline Seger, Petra Larsson (57 Faith Ikidi), Maureen Mmadu - Maria Aronsson (69 Tiffeny Milbrett), Josefine Öqvist
Umeå: Carola Söberg - Anna Paulsson, Johanna Frisk, Karolina Westberg, Maria Bergkvist - Elaine Moura, Lisa Dahlqvist (58 Hanna Ljungberg), Lise Klaveness (78 June Pedersen), Marta da Silva - Ma Xiaoxu (88 Erika Karlsson), Madelaine Edlund
Goals: 0-1 Hanna Ljungberg (66), 0-2 Madelaine Edlund (87)
Attendance: 3,021
A tight first half, where none of the sides managed to create much was followed by more of the same in the second. Still, Umeå managed to get the necessary goals. A nice cooperation between Hanna Ljungberg and Madeleine Edlund made the first (the Swedish FA's site gives the goal to Ljungberg, so I'm sticking with that, even if it looks like it was edlund from the video. And from what Hanna says) and young Norwegian June Pedersen served Edlund a great cross to head in shortly before the end. In front of a big crowd, that could have deserved a better match, defenders Frisk and Westberg impressed most in Umeå while hard-working Öqvist and Östberg looked good for Linköping. There were also two casualties from the match - Linköping's Petra Larsson had to leave with a muscle rupture in the thigh and will be out of action for a few weeks while Umeå's successfull striker Madelaine Edlund crashed with Linköping goalie Jenny Olsson just before the final whistle and had to limp off the pitch.
"When Linköping are not doing good", Umeå coach André Jeglertz said, "they have problems finding a rhytm in their play. And I think you could notice that tey felt the pressure meeting us, coming from two defeats". Linköping's Daneil Pettersson agreed somewhat, all the talk about gold, even if it hasn't been by themselves, has put a pressure on the players that they've had problems coping with. But he still regarded the match against Umeå as a big step forward compared with last week against Falköping. This while Jeglertz found relief in that they won in spite of never playing really good.
Corren: Stryk igen ? och nu är LFC sist, Ny Larsson skadad
Aftonbladet: Linköpings kris fördjupad
Expressen: Carola Söberg fick sin revansch efter Womens Cup
Västerbottens Folkblad: Madelaine Edlund sänkte Linköping
Västerbottenskuriren: Matchhjälten missar finalen
SVT: match clip
TV4: match clip


Sunnanå - Djurgården 1 - 1 (0-0)
Sunnanå: Åsa Berglund - Sandra Berggren, Hanna Marklund, Rebecca Smith, Magdalena Esseryd - Anna Bodén, Kristina Wiklund, Maria Nordbrandt (86 Mirjam Marklund), Sanna Frostevall - Lina Johansson (75 Maja Johansson), Alexandra Nilsson (68 Carina Holmberg)
Djurgården: Bente Nordby - Sara Thunebro, Jane Törnqvist, Therese Brogårde, Dorte Dalum Jensen - Elin Ekblom, Ariane Hingst, Anna Hall (68 Annemarie Norlin), Kristin Bengtsson - Victoria Svensson, Emma Lundh (75 Anna Lagerberth)
Goals: 0-1 Ariane Hingst (52), 1-1 Sanna Frostevall (79)
Attendance: 1,011
A disappointing result for Djurgården, that really thought they had the match in their hands. But scoring on Sunnanå can be a problem, the more when defenders Marklund and Smith has a good day. But finally Djurgården's pressure paid off Ariane Hingst could head in the ball, converting a Sara Thunebro corner-kick. But just 10 minutes from the end Sunnanå's fullback Sandra Berggren took an offensive run and managed to create her team's first corner. Anna Bodén placed the ball perfectly to a free-standing Sanna Frostevall.
Djurgården's coach Benny Persson was disappointed with the result: "We should have won this. We had three or four really good chances that we should have scored on", while Sunnanå celebrated the result like a win.
Norra Västerbotten: Hörnan gav skrällpoäng mot favoriten
Västerbottens Folkblad: Premiär som gav mersmak för Sunnanå

You can always find match results and the current standings at http://www.damfakta.se/.

When Linköping hosts Umeå later tonight, it's two coaches under pressure that meet. Linköping's Daniel Pettersson needs to change his team's path and Umeå's André Jeglertz will have a hard time keeping his mind off Sunday's match against Arsenal.
Linköping FC is young Daniel Pettersson's first big assignment as a coach and it couldn't have started worse. Two key players suffered long-time injuries before the season even got on track and his team started with defeats against Göteborg and Falköping. One more defeat and all possible championship aspirations will be gone. "I'm not sleeping well at nights", he admits and adds that he is more worried abiout how bad the team has been playing than that they've lost their first two matches. "We might have been looking as championship candidates, but that was before we were hit by [Hedvig Lindahl's and Anna-Kaisa Rantanen's] injuries. We still want to be among the top teams, but our start has made it harder."
Umeå's André Jeglertz is, with a few days between him and last weekend's Arsenal match, rather satisfied with the team's performance. "We dominated for 65 minutes and the players did everything we could expect from them, except scoring goals" he writes at Umeå's website. "If we can repeat our performance, I think the result will go our way".
At the same time he says that the match against Linköping will be hard - they've lost two games and will not give away a third one lightly. Umeå has had problems against Linköping lately - "They play a bit like Arsenal and are just as good!" - but he is convinced that Umeå will win if they give their all.
Corren: Tränaren lider och förändrar i laget
Umeå IK: Tankar efter Arsenal samt inför Linköping

National team goalkeeper Caroline Jönsson says you could have wished for another draw, but is more concerned over the extensive traveling in group B than over the competing teams in the group: "They are all good teams, you have to say that. But we know we can beat all of them. If you want to advance far in a World Cup, you will be up against good teams." Hammarby's Sara Johansson admits it looks tough, "but I think the other teams think it's hard to meet us too", while Victoria Svensson called it "a nightmare group".
Expressen: Sverige i mardrömsgrupp
Dagens Nyheter: "Tuff grupp, men vi är tuffa"
Aftonbladet: Dödens grupp ? igen

Kif Örebro - Kopperbergs/Göteborg FC 3 - 0 (0-0)
Örebro: Kristin Hammarström - Caroline Näfver, Stina Segerström, Sandra Linder, Ingrid Ericson - Elin Magnusson, Marie Hammarström, Lena Andersson, Hodan Siid-Ahmed - Pavlina Scasna, Hanna Pettersson (66 Emelia Erixon)
Göteborg: Maria Edman - Jenny Engwall, Maria Nilsson (76 Camilla Schelin), Maria Karlsson, Marlene Sjöberg - Sofie Andersson, Lisa Ek (67 Anna Andén), Salina Olsson, Emelie Farfa - Lotta Schelin, Sara Lindén
Goals: 1-0 Emelia Erixon (68), 2-0 Emelia Erixon (75), 3-0 Emelia Erixon (80)
Attendance: 785
Kif Örebro seemed to have recovered nicely from the pounding they recieved at Malmö a week ago. They were much tighter in defense and midfield, without really making any changes. Sara Linder in defense had been commissioned to shut out Göteborg's dangerous Lotta Schelin, who was not her usual self, still somewhat jet-lagged from her China trip last weekend. Örebro had the upper hand over a slow and uncreative Göteborg (injured Stensland visibly missing) most of the match, but didn't score until substitute forward Emelia Erixon came on with 25 minutes left. She ran through Göteborg's defense and scored three times in less than 15 minutes. She recieved good balls from Scasna and Näfver and was fast and accomplished enough to beat her defenders.
Nerikes Allehanda: Vilken succé Emelia!, Emelia Erixon blev matchhjälte (Video), pictures
Göteborgsposten: Göteborgs första förlust

Bälinge - Falköping 2 - 0 (2-0)
Bälinge: Veronika Svensson - Petra Vaelma, Linda Sembrant, Lina Andersson, Karolina Mats - Linda Blom, Heidi Matinlassi, Anne Mäkinen, Katri Nokso-Koivisto (89 Lisa Lantz) - Sanna Talonen, Annette Kent (68 Emma Lindqvist)
Falköping: Malin Andersson - Nettan Hofling, Karin Neuman, Elin Osbeck, Emma Eriksson, Therese Larsson, Madeleine Tegström, Cecilia Abrahamsson, Camilla Sanderheim, Sofia Fröjdstedt, Linnea Liljegärd (86 Rebecka Blennow)
Goals: 1-0 Linda Blom (19), 2-0 Sanna Talonen (31)
Attendance: 616
Bälinge hadn't won a Damallsvenskan match since they played Sunnanå in June last year, a winless streak of 15 matches, so coach Zaine Söderlund was pleased and relieved after the final whistle. Falköping came from their surprise defeat of Linköping, but didn't have much to show for it in the first half. Bälinge's Mäkinen and Matinlassi dominated midfield and both goals came from well placed long passes. Linda Blom scored from a Petra Vaelma cross and Anne Mäkinen set up Sanna Talonen with a free kick. Veronika Svensson tended the goal for Bälinge in spite of her hurting finger, but didn't have much to do. In the second half Bälinge lost some of their forward movement and became more passive, something that could have proved fatal against a better team than Falköping.
Upsala Nya Tidning: Första segern för Bälinge


Hammarby - Malmö 1 - 3 (0-2)
Hammarby: Katarina Wicksell - Therese Dahlberg (75 Karolina Rinman), Elin Sölveskog, Anna Lindblom, Annica Svensson - Jennie Jonsson, Malin Nykvist - Jessica Landström (80 Josefine Wejner), Lousie Fors (35 Therese Sandström), Marijke Callebaut - Sara Johansson
Malmö: Caroline Jönsson - Therese Jönsson, Emma Wilhelmsson, Malin Levenstad (86 Red card), Lina Nilsson - Nanna Johansen (67 Dora Stefansdottir), Nilla Fischer, Therese Sjögran, Frida Nordin (80 Emma Herbring) - Asthildur Helgadottir, Manon Melis (45 Emma Stålhammar)
Goals: 0-1 Asthildur Helgadottir (25), 0-2 Asthildur Helgadottir (42 PK), 0-3 Therese Sjögran (54), 1-3 Annica Svensson (87 PK)
Attendance: 509
The first 20 minutes the match was a fairly open game, but then Malmö proved heavier, stronger and more efficient. The turning point was Asthildur Helgadottir's 1-0 header from a Frida Nordin corner-shot. Malmö took over the match and the hosts very rarely managed to threaten Malmö's goal. Hammarby's young midfielder Lollo Fors had to leave the field with a groin injury and late in the first half Malmö's Dutch striker Manon Melis was downed in the penalty area. Helgadottir scored on the penalty, but Melis had to leave with knee pains. In the second half Malmö continued to press back Hammarby and Helgadottir was attributed a third goal following a shuffle in the box. After the match Helgadottir said she hadn't touched the ball, and the goal was given to Therese Sjögran. Late in the game Malmö's young defender Malin Levenstad used more force than necessary to stop Sara Johansson in the penalty area and got a red card, a decision a more experienced defender probably wouldn't have made, being 3 goals up and just minutes from the end. Hammarby's Annica Svensson executed the penalty to give Hammarby a consolation goal.
Sydsvenskan: Asta avstod tredje målet
Hammarby: Hammarby Damfotboll - LdB FC (Malmö) 1-3


Qbik - AIK 2 - 1 (0-0)
Qbik: Maria Yatrakis - Anna Nilsson, Lisa Mellberg, Jenny Hallstenson, Rebecca Johnson, Amelie Rybäck, Charlotte Nygren, Elin Ragnvaldsson, Therése Björk, Elin Sandgren (57 Sanna Backman), Jennifer Meier
AIK: Sofia Lundgren - Madelene Göras, Frida Höglund, Sanna Valkonen, Linda Lekander - Jessica Juhlin, Lina Hedqvist (87 Danielle Wallander), Anna Lundin (90 Madeleine Wedin), Freja Egerbrant - Sofia Simonsson, Laura Kalmari
Goals: 0-1 Laura Kalmari (49), 1-1 Anna Nilsson (71), 2-1 Jennifer Meier (77)
Attendance: 468
Qbik dominated the first half, but had problems findning the goal. Instead the decision would come in the second half, where AIK was much better and got the first goal. But Qbik used their counters well, first Anna Nilsson and then Damallsvenskan's youngest player, 15 years old Sanna Backman, found German striker Jennifer Meier in front of an open goal.
Qbik's coach commented that the win was very important for the team, a team that had to wait almost the entire season for their first win last year.
Nya Wermlandstidningen: Allsvenskans yngsta frälste Qbik
Värmlands Folkblad: Qbik - inte längre ett gäng nollor, Nilsson fick jubla i ovan roll

Umeå - Arsenal 0 - 1 (0-0)
Umeå: Carola Söberg - Anna Paulson, Karolina Westberg, Johanna Frisk, Maria Bergkvist - Lisa Dahlqvist (76 Ramona Bachman), Elaine, Lise Klaveness, Marta - Madeleine Edlund, Hanna Ljungberg (64 Ma Xiaoxu)
Goals: 0-1 Alex Scott (91)
Attendance: 6,265
You can find match reports in English at UEFA's site, Arsenal's site, Guardian Unlimited, BBC and several more, so I won't have to do that.
Some comments from the Swedish side: Umeå's Lise Klaveness says that they should have decided the match in the first half, when Umeå dominated. "We were very disappointed at halftime. We knew that it would be very hard to keep up the same pressure in the second half". Coach André Jeglertz commented that the team still has trouble keeping the play up for the full 90 minutes and "we were too hurried in our attacks and too careless with our passes". Hanna Ljungberg, who played the 60 minutes her doctors allowed her, was very critical to her team at Alex Scott's late winner: "She was helped by the wind, but we were far too passive. She shouldn't have been allowed to stand completely free and shoot". She also denied that Umeå has been underestimating Arsenal: "We have been watching Arsenal closely and they were exactly as good as we expected them to be."
Before the match, Umeå and Swedish media had focused on Arsenal's strong attack, but it was their defense that decided the game. And the team was stronger than expected: "We are used to be able to run down the opposition and dominate towards the end of the match", Lise Klaveness explains, but it didn't work that way against Arsenal.
But this is just half-time, Hanna Ljungberg points out, "I am confident that we can turn this around". Lise Klaveness finishes "I'm sure we will win with more than one goal away. It might be stupid to say this, but I think we are a better side"
Dagens Nyheter: Umeå lyckades inte näta
Expressen: Ljungberg kritisk till målet, Umeå föll på övertid
SVT video clips: Stort intresse inför Umeås Europafinal (pregame talk and interviews), Ma har egen hejarklack från Kina (Ma's Chinese fans), Umeå-Arsenal 0-1 (match clip), Hanna Ljungberg "Det var ingen underskattning" (postgame Hanna Ljungberg interview)

When Umeå IK in a few hours enters the field for the first leg of the UEFA Women's Cup final, it is a much different team from the one that qualified. With five starters (all of them national team players) from the extremely successful 2006 squad missing, the team is not unaffected.

As usual, Umeå looked far and wide in their search for new players. But in spite of losing a lot of playing power in the defense and midfield, the club only managed to find new attackers. They signed Asia's best young player Ma Xiaoxu (here greeted by a large part of Umeå's Chinese community ) and Swiss sought-after prodigy Ramona Bachman, but so far 21 year old Damallsvenskan veteran Madeleine Edlund from neighbouring Sunnanå looks like the best contribution, scoring 8 goals in 9 matches, including the preseason friendlies.

Umeå's failure to find replacements for midfielders Moström and Mäkinen has left them with a very top-heavy player roster; only 5 defenders but 8 forwards, This has forced the club to change their traditional tactics. The old 4-3-3 has been replaced by 4-4-2 to reinforce the midfield, with Lise Klaveness and Marta (both tagged as forwards in Umeå's squad list) taking the creative responsibility in the midfield, while Karolina Westberg, who looks like she's back in her 2003 form after a rough start in Umeå, will run the defense and is also the new team captain.

The preseason has also showed that the team hasn't managed yet to reach last year's level. One defeat, two draws and three wins isn't a record Umeå is used to or satisfied with. The week-long training camp in Turkey, that should get the team ready for the domestic season, gave a 2-1 loss to Russia's national team and a hard-fought 3-3 draw against Russian club champions Rossiyanka. Coach Jeglertz has not been satisfied. The team has often opened their matches slow and struggling and several players hasn't done what could be expected from them. Jeglertz has repeatedly critisised the Chinese star Ma Xiaoxu: She's a big star in China and stars are pampered there, he comments. As a star she is used to just wait for the ball, but here everyone has to work, take a run and create the space for another player.

The abundance of foreign players in Umeå has created an additional problem. When Umeå decided to sign Ramona Bachman from Switzerland, they assumed she would be considered a EU player, since Swiss citizens are treated as EU equals in almost all other aspect of life. But the Swedish FA was very definite in their resolution; Umeå has 4 foreign players on their roster (Marta, Elaine, Ma, Bachman) and only three of these can be on the match squad for a Damallsvenskan game. But today it is UEFA rules that apply, and all four can show up on the squad that will be announced within short.

Falköping - Linköping 2 - 1 (2-1)
Falköping: Malin Andersson - Nettan Hofling, Karin Neuman, Elin Osbeck, Emma Eriksson, Therese Larsson (86 Josefin Alfsson), Madeleine Tegström, Cecilia Abrahamsson (76 Charlotte Abrahamsson), Camilla Sanderheim (90 Rebecca Blennow), Sofia Fröjdstedt, Linnea Liljegärd
Linköping: Maria Cederholm - Maria Lindström (59 Faith Ikidi), Charlotte Rohlin, Frida Östberg, Marie-Louise Skålberg (82 Maureen Mmadu) - Petra Larsson, Maja Krantz (68 Ann Westermark), Caroline Seger - Maria Aronsson, Tiffeny Milbrett, Josefine Öqvist
Goals: 1-0 Cecilia Abrahamsson (8), 2-0 Therese Larsson (14), 2-1 Frida Östberg (32)
Attendance: 1,404

Expressen: "Jossan" i tårar efter ny förlust
Corren: Bottennapp när LFC föll igen


Djurgården - Qbik 3 - 1 (0-0)
Djurgården: Bente Nordby - Sara Thunebro (82 Malin Engdahl), Therese Brogårde, Jane Törnqvist, Dorte Dalum Jensen - Elin Ekblom, Ariane Hingst, Linda Forsberg, Kicki Bengtsson (75 Annemarie Norlin) - Emma Lundh (71 Anna Hall), Viktoria Svensson
Qbik: Maria Yatrakis - Lisa Mellberg (64 Sanna Backman), Jenny Hallstenson, Rebecca Johnson (82 Julia Spetsmark), Therése Lückner, Amelie Rybäck, Charlotte Nygren, Elin Ragnvaldsson, Therése Björk, Elin Sandgren, Jennifer Meier
Goals: 0-1 Own goal (53), 1-1 Kicki Bengtsson Bengtsson (56), 2-1 Sara Thunebro (64), 3-1 Own goal (68)
Attendance: 526

Nya Wermlandstidningen: Qbik höll i en halvlek


Göteborg - Bälinge 4 - 3 (1-2)
Göteborg: Maria Edman - Maria Karlsson, Maria Nilsson, Jenny Engwall, Marlene Sjöberg - Emmelie Farfa, Salina Olsson, Ingvild Stensland (42 Lisa Ek), Sofie Andersson - Sara Lindén, Lotta Schelin
Bälinge: Veronica Svensson (19 Sanna Åhman) - Petra Vaelma, Lina Andersson, Linda Sembrant, Nina Engström - Linda Blom, Anne Mäkinen, Heidi Matinlassi (64 Mikaela Björklund), Katri Nokso-Koivisto - Annette Kent, Sanna Talonen.
Goals: 0-1 Nina Engström (8), 1-1 Jenny Engwall (31), 1-2 Sanna Talonen (38), 2-2 Lotta Schelin (48 PK), 3-2 Salina Olsson (53), 4-2 Sara Lindén (70), 4-3 Linda Blom (75)
Attendance: 842

Göteborgsposten: Halvtidssnacket lyfte Göteborg


Hammarby - AIK 0 - 0 (0-0)
Hammarby: Katarina Wicksell - Therese Dahlberg, Annica Svensson, Elin Sölveskog, Anna Lindblom (78 Karolina Rinman) - Malin Nykvist, Jennie Jonsson - Marijke Callebaut, Lollo Fors, Jessica Landström - Sara Johansson (78 Therese Sandström)
AIK: Sofia Lundgren - Madelene Göras, Frida Höglund, Sanna Valkonen, Linda Lekander - Lina Hedkvist (77 Anna Karlsson), Jessica Julin, Freja Egebrant (59 Madeleine Wedin), Danielle Wallander (84 Hanna Jöhnk) - Sofia Simonsson, Laura Kalmari
Attendance: 985

Dagens Nyheter: Mållöst i Stockholmsderbyt


Malmö - Kif Örebro 5 - 0 (2-0)
Malmö: Caroline Jönsson - Therese Jönsson, Emma Wilhelmsson, Malin Levenstad, Lina Nilsson (78 Emelie Ölander) - Frida Nordin, Nilla Fischer, Therese Sjögran, Emma Stålhammar (70 Nanna Johansen) - Ásthildur Helgadóttir, Manon Melis (85 Cecilia Kotte)
Örebro: Kristin Hammarström - Ingrid Ericson, Stina Segerström, Malin Nilsson, Lena Andersson, Marie Hammarström, Pavlina Scasna, Hodan Siid-Ahmed, Caroline Näfver, Elin Magnusson, Hanna Pettersson
Goals: 1-0 Manon Melis (11), 2-0 Asthildur Helgadottir (38), 3-0 Asthildur Helgadottir (52), 4-0 Manon Melis (64), 5-0 Therese Sjögran (83)
Attendance: 1,013

Sydsvenskan: Två mål av Melis i Malmödebuten
Nerikes Allehanda: KIF Örebro utspelat och nollat av Malmö, KIF till Malmö med "motvillig" tränare

Hanna Ljungberg will in a few weeks go into the health care business. Together with Umeå IK's physician Anders Eriksson and physiotherapist Gunilla Stenmark she opens a health clinic, aiming to be a complement to the public health service with e.g. rehabilitation programmes. Hanna, who still aims to finish her physiotherapist studies some time, will obviously not take any big part in the activity in new company for quite some time yet, but she has, as she puts it, got quite a bit of experience in rehabilitation the last years.
Expressen: Hannas nya liv

KIF Örebro is working hard on findning a new head coach to replace the escaped Pia Sundhage and have compiled a short-list of candidates. Club chairman Gerd Engman says they need to find a solution within short, but that they want to do a thorough review before making any decisions. She does however reveal that it probably will be a short time solution.
Nerikes Allehanda: Svårt för KIF Örebro att hitta tränare

Nigerian national team players Faith Ikidi and Maureen Mmadu has arrived in Linköping. They have trial contracts with Linköping FC for the rest of April. If it works out to the satisfaction of those involved, the contracts will be extended until the beginning of the Women's World Cup this fall.
Corren: Nigerianskor provspelar i Linköping

Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC will start their own weekly TV-show on the local network Kanal Lokal. "Getting our own TV show will make it possible for us to reach new audiences and increase the interest in the club", comments Göteborg's Roger Larsson.
Göteborgsposten: Se Schelin i tv - varje vecka

Umeå's UEFA Women's Cup schedule made it necessary to move their 2nd round match to today, April 15. The remaining 5 matches will be played on Wednesday, April 18.

Umeå - Sunnanå 3 - 0 (2-0)
Umeå: Carola Söberg - Anna Paulson, Karolina Westberg, Johanna Frisk, Maria Bergkvist - Lisa Dahlqvist (70 Emelie Konradsson), Elaine, Lise Klaveness, Marta - Madeleine Edlund (75 Erika Karlsson), Ma Xiaoxu (62 Hanna Ljungberg)
Sunnanå: Åsa Berglund - Sandra Berggren, Hanna Marklund, Sanna Frostevall, Magdalena Esseryd - Kicki Wiklund, Anna Bodén, Carina Holmberg (72 Rebecca Smith), Alexandra Nilsson (46 Maja Johansson) - Lina Johansson (65 Emma Jonsson), Maria Nordbrandt.
Goals: 1-0 Lise Klaveness (26), 2-0 Marta (38 PK), 3-0 Hanna Ljungberg (63)
Attendance: 2,549
The new Umeå hosted local competitors Sunnanå and looked a lot like the old Umeå, brushing off their rivals just like they've been for several years now. The match showed very clearly just how much a key player Marta has become since Malin Moström moved from the pitch to the stands. From her new midfield position she probably won't be scoring so much this year, but all goals today had Marta's sign on them. A perfect ball to Lise Klaveness' forehead made the first goal. Then Hanna Marklund had to use excessive force to stop Marta inside the penalty area, and Marta executed the penalty-kick herself. And finally she served Hanna Ljungberg, just seconds after the Sweden striker entred as a second half substitute, the ball in a can't miss-position.
In spite of Marta's huge impact, Moström and Mäkinen are visibly missing in a midfield, that seems less powerfull than before, in spite of being made up by 4 players instead of 3 last year. Ma Xiaoxu shows promise, but still hasn't gelled in to the team. So when Hanna Ljungberg should get her minutes, it was Ma who had to leave, not her lesser known forward colleague Edlund.
The nice spring weather drew a good crowd to the Gammliavallen arena. One can only hope the conditions will be as good next weekend, when Arsenal LFC will be guesting. And with Marta as good as she is now and Hanna Ljungberg scoring again, the conditions for a good Umeå performance are looking bright.
Svt: the match clip
Norran: Sunnanå föll i premiären
Västerbottenskuriren: Kassaskåpssäker seger för UIK i hemmapremiären
Västerbottens Folkblad: Marta bakom derbysegern

National team head coach Thomas Dennerby will try to have an extra look at Yolanda Odenyo, former Bälinge and AIK player, when she returns from her college in Oklahoma to spend the summer vacation in Sweden. Odenyo hasn't played in Sweden since spring 2005, but Dennerby says that she was a very good player already when she left "and if she has continued to develop in USA, she might be interesting for the national team." Odenyo will be playing for 1st division side Gusk during the summer, since appearing for a Damallsvenskan side would jeopardize her college eligibility.
Upsala Nya Tidning: Odenyo ett namn för landslaget?

Djurgården/Älvsjö increased their squad with two young players, forward Mia Jalkerud and goalkeeper Emma Landkvist from 1st division club Älvsjö. The players will be training with Djurgården, but spend most of the coming season with their old club on loan.
Djurgården: Två till i truppen

Linköping FC has confirmed that they have made an agreement with Nigerian national team players Maureen Mmadu and Faith Ikidi. They former Qbik players are expected to show up in Linköping next week, depending on how long time the immigration authorities needs. Linköping has, without success, been trying to find a world class defensive midfielder and when Anna-Kaisa Rantanen suffered a long-time injury the midfield problem became urgent. Mmadu and Ikidi are signed as full-time professionals, but their compensation will be very far from the in Nigerian media rumoured SEK 54,000 a month. "Those figures are absurd", says LFC sport director Patrik Stålhammar, "they are just getting the normal compensation for foreign players".
Damfotboll.com: Nigeriaduo till Linköping - men inga fantasiförmåner

Jill Oakes has turned down the offer from Falköpings KIK she recieved after her successfull trial there a couple of weeks ago. Falköping's Bengt Tjus says that Oakes, who failed to impress Linköping FC at an earlier try-out, would have been a certain starter with Falköping. On the other hand is Falköping's signing of Nigerian forward star Cyntia Uwak moving along nicely and she will join the club in May.
Damfotboll.com: No Oaks för Falköping

The extra general assembly meeting of Malmö FF Dam unanimously agreed on a deal with their new sponsor, the cosmetics and skin-care company Hardford. The 5 + 3 years deal gives the financially strained club SEK 3 millions a year in exchange for their club name and a logo on the players jerseys. The new name is LdB FC Malmö, LdB being Hardford's most well known brand name, used for skin-care products. Hardford's owner, Kent Widding Persson, was also elected in the board of the club. He has previously been a member of the board of Malmö's ice-hockey club Malmö Redhawks.

Malmö FF Dam was on the brink of bankrupcy only weeks ago and without the new sponsor money it would have been unlikely that they would survive this year's FA audit. Several of the players addressed the meeting in pre-recorded video statements. While maybe not enthusiastic for the name change, they stressed that they want the club to suirvive. Club colours and new kit remains to be decided, but LdB is yellow. Something that is a cause for concern with some: the light blue Malmö FF's mortal enemy has always been the yellow IFK Malmö...

The reaction in Malmö to the name change is so far disappointment - Malmö FF is big in Malmö - but Jessica Wiberg, former fan club chairman, said in a TV interview before the decision became public, that as long as the new name isn't outright ridiculous, she can live with it. There is also some relief in the Malmö board. Chairman Ingrid Gunnarsson says that the name change is long overdue, they have felt small and unwanted by the bigger club.
Sydsvenskan: MFF dam byter namn till LDB FC Malmö
Svt: MFF-damer får 24 miljoner för namnbyte (video)

The first match-day the 2007 season gave us decent crowds and mostly expected winners, maybe except for Göteborg defeating Linköping, the most hyped team in the preseason predictions. Also some complaining over the inability from FIFA, UEFA and the Swedish Football Association to make a coordinated schedule for international games. Several starters were not with their clubs, but playing qualification matches for the 2007 World Cup, 2009 European Championship or 2008 U19 European Championship. Sunnanå and Falköping even rescheduled their would-be season opener, since Falköping was missing their main forward star Linnea Liljegärd while Sunnanå was missing defender Rebecca Smith (with New Zealand playing WWC qualifications) and three Swedish U19 players.

AIK - Djurgården 0 - 3 (0-1)
AIK: Sofia Lundgren - Madelene Göras, Frida Höglund, Sanna Valkonen, Linda Lekander - Lina Hedkvist, Jessica Julin, Freja Egebrant (85 Anna Bohlin), Madeleine Wedin (69 Danielle Wallander) - Sofia Simonsson, Laura Kalmari
Djurgården: Bente Nordby - Sara Thunebro, Therese Brogårde, Jane Törnqvist, Dorte Dalum Jensen - Elin Ekblom, Anna Hall, Linda Forsberg, Annemarie Norlin (73 Anna Lagerberth) - Kicki Bengtsson, Victoria Svensson
Goals: 0-1 Victoria Svensson (40) , 0-2 Victoria Svensson (85), 0-3 Victoria Svensson (90)
Attendance: 1,263
In front of what is a new record home crowd for AIK's ladies, Djurgården showed that they in spite of AIK's ambitious signings still are better on as good as every position. Djurgården had problems getting their game, in particular their attack, to work in the first half, partly due to the alterations in the set-up they had to make, missing forward Emma Lundh (with Sweden U-19) and midfielder Ariane Hingst (with Germany) as they were. But Victoria Svenssonm, who was uncertain before the game, complaining over a sore foot, showed that she still is a world class finisher and Kicki Bengtsson, prepared to play anywhere but in goal, knows how to find her, setting up two of the goals. On the AIK side Laura Kalmari was dangerous, getting a goal disallowed for offside, Sanna Valkonen and Frida Höglund excellent in defense and Sofia Lundgren probably had more work than she usually had in a whole season with Umeå. Somewhat in contrast to the result, AIK was fairly pleased with their performance, the more since it is a new team while Djurgården's Benny Persson excused his team's performance with that it was a season opener. It will get better.
Dagens Nyheter: Victorias hattrick avgjorde derbyt
Aftonbladet: Hattrick av Svensson i derbyt
TV4: the match clip


Bälinge - The club formerly known as Malmö FF 0 - 1 (0-1)
Bälinge: Veronika Svensson - Petra Valelma, Linda Sembrant, Lina Andersson, Nina Engström - Linda Blom (64 Karolina Mats), Anne Mäkinen, Heidi Matinlassi, Katri Nokso-Koivisto - Sanna Talonen (90 Emma Lindqvist), Annette Kent
The club: Caroline Jönsson - Therese Jönsson, Dora Stefansdottir, Emma Wilhelmsson, Nera Smajic - Frida Nordin, Nilla Fischer, Therese Sjögran, Emma Stålhammar (75 Nanna Johansen) - Asthildur Helgadottir, Therese Lundin (82 Lina Nilsson)
Goals: 0-1 Asthildur Helgadottir (6)
Attendance: 1,420
"It seems like the last day's turbulence in the club got to us at the field", commented a disappointed Malmö coach their narrow win. Malmö dominated the first half, when Bälinge's players seemed to have a big problems finding each other on the field, and Asthildur Helgadottir scored the winner in the penalty box shuffle that followed a Nera Smajic free-kick. Malmö's strong centre midfield with Sjögran and Fischer neutralised Bälinge's Mäkinen most of the time. But in the second half the game turned, with Bälinge pressuring against Malmö's goal. Bälinge's forward duo Talonen and Kent broke through the guest's defense more than once and Malmö's victory was only saved by some great goalkeeping from Caroline Jönsson. In the closing seconds of the match Bälinge's Annette Kent got the ball from Anne Mäkinen in a great position and everyone, including herself, thought it would be a goal. But Jönsson did a great save to tip it from the upper corner and out to a resultless cornerkick for Bälinge. Malmö's coach Pettersson was pleased with his team's attitude in the second half, they didn't play well but they kept fighting, while Bälinge's Zaine Söderlund was disappointed in the result and thought that his side should at least had one point.
Sydsvenskan: Premiärseger för nya klubben
Upsala Nya Tidning: Premiärförlust för Bälinge
TV4: the match clip

Kif Örebro - Hammarby 3 - 2 (2-1)
Örebro: Kristin Hammarström - Caroline Näfver, Ingrid Ericson, Stina Segerström, Sandra Linder - Hodan Siid-Ahmed (64 Emilia Erixon), Lena Andersson, Marie Hammarström, Elin Magnusson - Pavlina Scasna, Hanna Pettersson
Hammarby: Katarin Wicksell - Therese Dahlberg, Annica Svensson, Elin Sölveskog, Anna Lindblom (79 Karolina Rinman) - Malin Nykvist, Jennie Jonsson (73 Lisa Björkvik) - Marijke Callebaut, Therese Sandström, Jessica Landström (73 Josefin Wejner) - Sara Johansson
Goals: 1-0 Elin Magnusson (15), 1-1 Sara Johansson (17), 2-1 Pavlina Scasna (25) , 3-1 Hanna Pettersson (55), 3-2 Marijke Callebaut (64)
Attendance: 965
With a brilliant Pavlina Scasna, Örebro had the necessary edge in the beginning of the match, creating lots of scoring opportunities. The match lost some of it's intensity as the time went, but Marijke Callebaut's direct free-kick in the 64th minute brought the intensity back in the match and the finish was a thrill, with Sara Johansson almost equalising in extratime.
More than anything else, this was Pia Sundhage's farewell match to Kif Ötrebro, and her players did their best to make it a farewell on a high note (literally a high note, as you will be aware if you check out the video clip). A visibly moved Sundhage got a big send-off before going to China for her new job as assistant national team coach.
Nerikes Allehanda: Pia Sundhage: "Det känns så skönt", video clip
Aftonbladet: Pia Sundhage avslutade med seger och solosång


Linköping - Göteborg 1 - 2 (1-1)
Linköping: Maria Cederholm - Marie-Louise Skålberg, Sara Larsson (10 Ann Westermark), Lotta Rohlin, Maria Karlsson - Maja Krantz, Frida Östberg, Caroline Seger - Tiffeny Milbrett, Maria Aronsson, Josefine Öqvist
Göteborg: Maria Edman - Maria Karlsson, Maria Nilsson, Jenny Engwall, Marlene Sjöberg - Emmelie Farfa, Ingvild Stensland, Salina Olsson, Sofie Andersson (76 Lisa Ek) - Lotta Schelin, Sara Lindén (85 Anna Andén)
Goals: 0-1 Lotta Schelin (12), 1-1 Maria Aronsson (16) , 1-2 Lotta Schelin (56)
Attendance: 783
An already from the beginning handicapped Linköping (long-time injury victims Hedvig Lindahl and Anna-Kaisa Rantanen missing) lost another key player when Sara Larsson limped off the pitch after only 10 minutes. The remaining Linköping defense had huge problems with Göteborg's Lotta Schelin and midfielders Stensland and Olsson won the battle with Linköping's Seger. Linköping had several chances to even the score, but both Öqvist and Milbrett missed good opportunities. Göteborg's defense is supposed to be their weakest link, but last minute signee Jenny Engwall, in an unaccustomed centre defense position, helped a lot.
Corren: Förlust i premiären för LFC
Göteborgsposten: Schelin fixade premiärsegern, Jenny hittade rätt direkt
Svt: the match clip


Qbik - Umeå IK 0 - 4 (0-1)
Qbik: Maria Yatrakis - Anna Nilsson, Lisa Mellberg, Jenny Hallstenson, Therése Lückner - Amelie Rybäck, Charlotte Nygren, Elin Ragnvaldsson, Therése Björk - Elin Sandgren, Jennifer Meier
Umeå: Carola Söberg - Maria Bergkvist (70 June Pedersen), Karolina Westberg, Johanna Frisk, Anna Paulson - Marta, Lise Klaveness, Lisa Dahlkvist, Elaine (80 Emelie Konradson) - Madelaine Edlund, Ma Xiaoxu (77 Hanna Ljungberg)
Goals: 0-1 Karolina Westberg (14), 0-2 Ma Xiaoxu (63), 0-3 Lise Klaveness (81), Madeleine Edlund (90)
Attendance: 1,380
Nobody had seriously expected anything else than the safe win for Umeå against favoured for relegation Qbik that it turned out to be. But Qbik were happy with keeping the score down in the first and with their first 20 second half minutes, when they actually were challening Umeå. Umeå, as usual, upped the score in the last minutes of the match when their superior strength and stamina settled the game. In Qbik goalkeeper Maria Yatrakis got most of the praise, but coach Janne Jansson pointed out that "she has to be this good in every match if we're going to avoid relegation". Umeå's Jeglertz was happy with the cooperation between forwards Ma and Edlund and that his defense managed to contain Qbik's counter attacks. And of course that Hanna Ljungberg played in a match for the first time in 5 months.
Värmlands Folkblad: Yatrakis bäst på plan : Man måste ju försöka kriga,
Västerbottens Folkblad: Xiaoxu hittade målet direkt
Svt: the match clip

Bälinge - Ornäs 3 - 2 (2-1)
Bälinge: Sanna Åhman - Petra Vaelma, Lina Andersson, Linda Sembrant, Nina Engström - Linda Blom, Anne Mäkinen, Heidi Matinlassi, Katri Nokso-Koivisto - Annette Kent, Sanna Talonen.
Goals: 1-0 Sanna Talonen, 2-0 Sanna Talonen, 3-1 Emma Lindqvist
Bälinge won but did not impress in their last preseason friendly. On the positive side, Talonen continues to score and Anne Mäkinen, back with team after taking care of family affairs in Finland, makes a world of a difference in midfield.
Upsala Nya Tidning: Bälingeseger utan att imponera


Linköping - Djurgården 3 - 1 (2-1)
Linköping:
Djurgården: Emma Landkvist - Dorte Dalum Jensen, Jane Törnqvist (11 Malin Engdahl), Therese Brogårde, Sara Thunebro (75 Kicki Bengtsson) - Kicki Bengtsson (67 Emma Lundh), Anna Hall (67 Ariane Hingst), Linda Forsberg, Elin Ekblom - Annemarie Norlin (78 Anna Lagerberth), Victoria Svensson.
Goals: 0-1 Victoria Svensson, 1-1 Tiffeny Milbrett, 2-1 Maria Aronsson, 3-1 Tiffeny Milbrett (PK)
Two handicapped teams; Djurgården replacing an ill Nordby with junior Landkvist and starting without Lundh and Hingst since they are unavailable for the Damallsvenskan opener next week (national team assignments) and Linköping resting injured Rohlin and Seger.Törnqvist started for Djurgården, but decided already after a few minutes that she needed to rest her left thigh, that has been bethering her for a while. A lot of the match was characterized by a kick-and-run play with a hard wind making it difficult to control the ball. Djurgården still pressured Linköping great parts of the match, but the somewhat make-shift centre defense Östberg-Larsson proved to be Linköping's greatest asset this match.
Djurgården: Förlust mot Linköping
Linköping: LFC slog Djurgården
Corren: Fullt upp - då trivs Maja


Falköping - Hammarby 2 - 2 (2-1)
Falköping:
Hammarby: Katarina Wicksell - Annica Svensson, Karolina Rinman, Elin Sölveskog, Anna Lindblom - Matilda Agné, Jennie Jonsson - Jessica Landström, Therese Sandström, Marijke Callebaut - Sara Johansson
Goals: 1-0 Linnea Liljegärd (13), 2-0 Nettan Hofling (33), 2-1 Therese Sandström (39), 2-2 Sara Johansson (89)
A strong wind helped giving the both halfs of the match a completely different appearence. With the wind in their backs, Falköping kept the ball on Hammarby's half of the pitch and even managed to get a 2-0 lead. In the second half the roles reversed, with Hammarby holding ball on Falköping's side.
Hammarby: 2-2 mot Falköping i sista träningsmatchen
Falköping: Oavgjort mot Hammarby


Mallbacken - Qbik 0 - 1 (0-1)
Goals: Anna Nilsson
A close match on a bad spring pitch, where a shot from distance by Anna Nilsson put Qbik in the lead and goalie Maria Yatrakis denied Mallbacken a late equalizer.
Värmlands Folkblad: Usel plan rörde upp känslorna i hett derby


Sjöbo IF - Malmö FF 0 - 10 (0-6)
Malmö:
Goals:
Malmö was much stronger, faster, better organized and simply much more premier division than hosting 1st division newcomers Sjöbo.
Ystads Allehanda: Sjöbo fick en lektion av MFF


Falköpings KIK - Magnlerud Star (Norway) 5 - 1
Goals: Linnea Liljegärd (2), Sandra Krantz (2), Madeleine Tegström
Falköping, on camp in Denmark, clearly defeated the Norwegian 1st division team Magnlerud Star. U-19 player Linnea Liljegärd and veteran Sandra Krantz, prolific goalscorers in the 1st division last season, showed that they've still got it.
Falköping: Seger på lyckat läger

AIK - Hammarby 5 - 3 (4-1)
AIK: Sofia Lundgren - Madelene Göras, Frida Höglund, Sanna Valkonen, Linda Lekander - Danielle Wallander (70 Anna Karlsson), Freja Egebrant, Jessica Julin (88 Anna Bohlin), Lina Hedkvist (78 Hanna Jöhnk) - Sofia Simonsson, Laura Kalmari
Hammarby: Pernilla Ebberyd - Annica Svensson, Karolina Rinman, Elin Sölveskog, Anna Lindblom - Therese Sandström, Jennie Jonsson - Jessica Landström, Lollo Fors, Marijke Callebaut - Sara Johansson
Goals: 1-0 Sofia Simonsson (4), 2-0 Laura Kalmari (8), 2-1 Sara Johansson (26), 3-1 Laura Kalmari (32), 4-1 Lina Hedkvist (46), 4-2 Sara Johansson (59), 5-2 Laura Kalmari (61), 5-3 Sara Johansson (69)
Hammarby suffered their first defeat in an otherwise successfull preseason. Hammarby had more possession and more shots at goal, but Sanna Valkonen directed AIK's defense with authority and Sofia Lundgren made a couple of valuable saves. AIK's Finnish centre line (Valkonen-Julin-Kalmari) proved that they are the ones to keep the team in Damallsvenskan and and Sara Johansson showed that she will score Hammarby's goals, if anyone doubted that.
AIK: Målfest på Skytteholm
Hammarby: 3 mål av Sara i förlustmatch mot AIK


Bälinge - Djurgården 2 - 7 (1-3)
Bälinge:
Djurgården: Bente Nordby - Dorte Dalum Jensen, Jane Törnqvist, Therese Brogårde (64 Malin Engdahl), Sara Thunebro - Kicki Bengtsson, Ariane Hingst (64 Anna Hall), Linda Forsberg, Elin Ekblom - Emma Lundh (64 Annemarie Norlin), Victoria Svensson.
Goals: 0-1 Victoria Svensson, 0-2 Linda Forsberg, 0-3 Victoria Svenson, 1-3 Annette Kent, 1-4 Elin Ekblom, 2-4 Sanna Talonen, 2-5 Sara Thunebro, 2-6 Kicki Bengtsson, 2-7 Elin Ekblom
With Maja Åström injured and back-up Veronika Svensson out of country, Bälinge had to let out-field player Moa Eriksson tend the goal. A regular goal-keeper would have let in fewer goals, but wouldn't have changed the outcome. Djurgården once again showed that they are a very strong side this year, even if their play didn't work out as well as against Kif Örebro. Bälinge performed well in the attack, where Kent and Talonen will be something to watch in Damallsvenskan, while their defense needs more work.
Upsala Nya Tidning: Bälinge fick storpisk i träningsmatch mot Djurgården
Djurgården: Seger i Uppsala med 7-2


Mallbacken - Sunnanå 1 - 0
Sunnanå - ZBEDZDA Perm (Ukraina) 3 - 2
Goals: 1-2 Emma Jonsson, 2-2 Maja Johansson, 2-3 Maria Nordbrandt
Still at camp in Turkey, Sunnanå's 1st team played Ukrainian Perm and after a bad start managed to turn the match. The reserve team made a good performance against former Damallsvenskan side Mallbacken, but narrowly lost.


Bröndby (Denmark) - Malmö FF Dam 1 - 0 (1-0)
Malmö: Caroline Jönsson - Therese Jönsson, Malin Levenstad, Emma Wilhelmsson, Nera Smajic - Nanna Johansen (57 Emma Stålhammar), Nilla Fischer, Therese Sjögran, Frida Nordin - Manon Melis, Therese Lundin
A tight and intense match against the Danish champions and UEFA Cup semifinalists Brøndby left coach Pettersson confident before the start of the season April 11.
Malmö: Starkt Malmö FF DAM förlorade men dominerade matchen


Sunnanå - Rossiyanka (Russia) 0 - 3
Sunnanå - ZBEDZDA Perm (Ukraine) 1 - 2
Goals: Johanna Lindahl
Sunnanå, on camp in Turkey, had their 1st side playing Russian champions Rossiyanka while their 2nd side took on Ukrainian Perm.


Malmö FF Dam - Jitex BK 2 - 0 (0-0)
Malmö: Stéphanie Öhrström - Emelie Ölander, Dóra Stefánsdóttir, Lisa Gustafsson, Jenny Engwall - Antonia Göransson (61 Emelie Erlandsson), Emma Herbring, Lina Nilsson, Emma Stålhammar - Louise Östman (61 Dafina Memedov), Cecilia Kotte
Goals: 1-0 Louise Östman (59), 2-0 Emelie Erlandsson (77)
Malmö's second tiers were fielded against favoured-to-win 1st division side Jitex. The young Malmö side included two 15 year olds from the youth programme.
Sydsvenskan: MFF vann med B-uppställning


Malmö FF Dam - Skovlunde (Danmark) 4 - 1 (2-0)
Malmö: Caroline Jönsson - Therese Jönsson (70 Lina Nilsson), Malin Levenstad, Emma Wilhelmsson, Nera Smajic - Nanna Johansen (70 Emma Stålhammar), Nilla Fischer (85 Jenny Engwall), Therese Sjögran, Frida Nordin - Therese Lundin, Manon Melis (85 Louise Östman)
Goals: 1-0 Nilla Fischer (15), 2-0 Therese Sjögran (27), 3-0 Manon Melis (75), 4-0 Emma Wilhelmsson (83)
Malmö's best match so far this year, controlling the match against Denmark's third best team. Particulary the very reliable play in defense satisfied coach Pettersson.
Sydsvenskan: Årets bästa av MFF:s damer


Djurgården - Kif Örebro 10 - 0 (8-0)
Djurgården: Bente Nordby - Dorte Dalum Jensen, Jane Törnqvist (53 Malin Engdahl), Therese Brogårde (87 Elin Ekblom), Sara Thunebro - Kicki Bengtsson, Anna Hall, Linda Forsberg, Elin Ekblom (53 Annemarie Norlin) - Emma Lundh, Victoria Svensson (53 Anna Lagerberth).
Örebro:
Goals: 1-0 Kicki Bengtsson, 2-0 Jane Törnqvist, 3-0 Linda Forsberg, 4-0 Victoria Svensson, 5-0 Emma Lundh, 6-0 Victoria Svensson, 7-0 Linda Forsberg, 8-0 Kicki Bengtsson, 9-0 Emma Lundh, 10-0 Anna Lagerberth
A strong, speedy and efficient Djurgården steamrolled Örebro. Six different goalscorers says a lot about the depth in the squad, while this match hopefully doesn't say that much about Örebro.
Djurgården: 10-0 mot KIF Örebro


Bälinge - Gamla Upsala SK 3 - 1
Bälinge: Maja Åström - Lisa Lantz (70 Malin Ericsson), Lina Andersson, Petra Vaelma, Nina Engström - Katri Nokso-Koivisto, Linda Sembrant, Heidi Matinlassi (65 Emma Lindkvist), Mikaela Bengtsson (70 Julia Lyckberg) - Sanna Talonen (70 Moa Ericsson), Annette Kent
Goals: 1-0 Heidi Matinlassi, 2-0 Sanna Talonen, 3-0 Mikaela Bengtsson
A good team effort by Bälinge against the local 1st division side Gusk. A lot of opportunities created by a speedy attack and the team, where pretty much half of the starters are new since last year, is beginning to gel.
Upsala Nya Tidning: Bälinge hittade spelet mot Gusk

Malmö FF plans to change the club's name. They have summoned an extra general assembly meeting for April 11 with just one item on the agenda: new club name. The chairman and the board are very secretive and don't want to comment on what the proposed new name is or whether this has any connection with a rumoured new big sponsor or not.

Malmö's players were taken by surprise by the news. "We know absolutely nothing. I don't know what to say", said veteran goalkeeper Caroline Jönsson. Most of the players had a hard time understanding that they might not be MFF players for much longer "That is what I am. Anything else would just feel weird." And longtimer and fan favourite Jenny Engwall, who dropped in to say good-bye to her friends before moving to Göteborg, realized the irony in leaving just before the club might niot be Malmö FF anymore: "This better be really good, both the new name and the sponsor. Otherwise I am convinced it will hurt the club."

Just a few days later the man who secured Asthildur Helgadottir to Malmö FF had a press conference. The man is Percy Nilsson, major estate developer and the man behind Malmö's ice-hockey team Malmö Redhawks. He is building a big multipurpose indoor arena in Malmö, mainly to accomodate his hockey team and has employed Asta, a building engineer by education, to work on the project. Asta is happy: "This is what I've studied and this is what I want to do". Percy confessed that he had some problems convincing his staff, "the guys" as he called them, of the sensible in hiring an engineer that would be spend a lot of time away playing football, but refused, just as the club's chairwoman Ingrid Gunnarsson, to answer any questions that wasn't about Asta.

Percy Nilsson is a local tycoon, known for putting huge sums of money into his hockey team. After the unveiling of him as Asta's sponsor, most people suspect he is also at least a substantial part in the new big sponsor. The parallell to Linköping, where Linköping FC cooperates closely with the hockey-club Linköping HC makes him even more likely as the man who will give the club huge lump of money and change their name.

Local newspaper columnist Anja Gatu writes that Percy Nilsson definitely knows how to work the media. He gets great positive publicity to himself and his arena project with the presentation of Asthildur Helgadottir. Whether going in sponsoring Malmö FF and changing their name will benefit him and the club is another story. Malmö FF is a huge brand name and I as well as columnist Gatu asks Malmö FF's men, unlike AIK, doesn't make a big mistake when they appearently are missing out on the opportunity to have top teams both for the men and the women.

Sydsvenskan: MFF Dam byter namn på extra årsmöte, Madsen köper inte tillbaka MFF Dam, Chockade MFF-damer visste ingenting, Percy hjälper MFF Dam - anställer Asta, Handingskraftig Percy stjäl sina egna rubriker

When former Sweden national team coach Marika Domanski Lyfors has signed her contract as head coach for Chinas national team (I'm sure you have followed this elsewhere, if not check out fifa.com), her first call was to Kif Örebro coach Pia Sundhage. Sundhage, who has had an exception in her contract with Kif Örebro, making it possible for her to leave without notice if she would get an international job offer, was "excited, elated and expectant" and didn't have to think twice before accepting the position as assistanmt coach for China's national team.

Both Domanski and Sundhage has signed 18 month contracts, going over the Olympic games in Beijing next year. Domanski's decision wasn't popular with her employer, the Swedish football association, where she was responsible for the U21/U23 teams and player development. She also should have had an important role to play in the Swedish national teams preparations for the World Cup this fall. But the Swedish FA president Lars-Åke Lagrell commented, just before Domanski made her decision, that "We don't want her to leave, but we will not put up any obstacles if she decides to go".

Sundhage will leave Kif Örebro without a head coach just weeks before the Damallsvenskan season starts, and also take one of her coaches with her, Helena Andersson who is responsible for the team's fitness training. "It's a big loss", the club comments. "Nobody can replace Pia. But we are happy that she has stayed with us as long as she did. We've always been prepared that she could leave for an international job. We just thought that she would go to USA". Kif Örebro's newly elected chairwoman Gerd Engman confessed that her first thought was "Damn! I could have got a better start". The clubs general manager Thomas Rasmusson says that they will look for a new head coach, but will not hurry things. For the while being the remnants of the coaching team will carry on.

Kif Örebro's team captain Stina Segerström says that this will not effect the team. "This team has high ambitions and we will work it out."

Expressen: Blandade känslor när Domanski Lyfors lämnar
Dagens Nyheter: Stolt Domanski Lyfors tar över Kina
Svt: Domanski Lyfors klar för Kina , Sundhage blir Domanskis assisterande
Aftonbladet: Sundhage assisterar i Kina
Nerikes Allehanda: Sundhage lämnar KIF - assisterar i Kina, Stina tänker inte lägga energi på Pias KIF-avhopp, KIF Örebro fortfarande utan tränare
Svt: Kif Örebro utan tränare två veckor före premiären (video)

Linköping FC - Umeå IK 1 - 3 (1-0)
Linköping: Maria Cederholm - Marie-Louise Skålberg, Sara Larsson (45 Maria Lindström), Frida Östberg, Maria Karlsson - Perta Larsson, Caroline Seger (68 Kosovare Asllani), Maja Krantz (62 Tiffeny Milbrett) - Ann Westermark, Maria Aronsson, Josefine Öqvist
Umeå: Carola Söberg - Anna Paulson, Karolina Westberg, Johanna Frisk (45 Emma Berglund), Maria Bergkvist - Lisa Dahlqvist, Elaine, Lise Klaveness, Marta - Madelaine Edlund, Erika Karlsson (45 Ma Xiaoxu).
Goals: 1-0 Maria Aronsson (16), 1-1 Karolina Westberg (51), 1-2 Madeleine Edlund (69), 1-3 Madeleine Edlund (83)
Attendance: 573
Umeå coach André Jeglertz was not happy with his team at haf time: "We were playing like a girls team". And Linköping had been having the initiative in the first half, repeatedly finding their way through Umeå's defense. And they could have been a couple of more goals up; a shot in the woodwork by young debutant Maja Krantz and Josefine Öqvist narrowly missing after making her way through a permissive Umeå defense. But things changed in the second half. Umeå did two half time replacements (a seldom seen sight with Umeå), letting Ma Xiaoxu on for her first real match. Her entry and probably something Jeglertz said in the lockerroom changed the picture. There was a general shake-up on the Umeå side and when team captain Karolina Westberg scored off a Marta corner-kick (I think she has scored on a penalty kick before, but still a rare thing), Umeå's confinence grew and Linköping's began to falter. Madeleine Edlund looked really good, scoring first set up by Ma and then by Marta (a great looking volley-shot). Linköping seemed to lose the will already after Umeå made it 1-2 and captain Frida Östberg commented that they really had to find out why the team lose their spirit like that. Jeglert was more satisfied, but still worried about the performance: "We can't afford to be this uneven, we must be able to keep a high level through-out the entire match."
Svt: Umeå vann supercupen (video)
Corren: LFC tappade guldet i finalen
Västerbottens Fokblad: Magisk vändning av UIK
Västerbottenskuriren: Första titeln blev UIK:s

Linköping's midfielder Caroline Seger had to limp off the field after a crash with Umeå's Elaine, to much worry among the teammates and coaches. The club has already lost two key players to knee injuries (Lindahl and Rantanen). But the answer after a MRI examination was calming: no inner damage to the knee and after a few days of rest Seger should be fit again.

Corren: Seger skadad ? premiär i fara, Lugnande besked för Seger

AIK's Nazanin Vaseghpanah, the team's top scorer in the 1st division last year, has been ordered to rest by her doctors following an overstrained groin muscle. The verdict in 2-3 months rest and rehab before she can join the team.
Damfotboll.com: Norrettans skyttedrottning borta flera månader

Linköping's and Finland's 29 year old midfielder Anna-Kaisa Rantanen suffered knee ligament tear in a training match against Örebro. Operation and a possibly 6 month long rehab period will follow, which oputs her out of play for almost the entire season.
Corren: Rantanen borta hela säsongen
Linköping FC: Anna-Kaisa om skadan

Bälinge's keeper Maja Åström suffered a severe foot injury during training a few days ago. Nothing broken, but ligaments, cartilage and sinews are all damaged. Six weeks in a cast will follow and it will probably take more than two montrhs before she can play again. Åström is a key player for Bälinge and when she was injured the last three matches last year, the team conceded 14 goals compared to the 27 in the 19 matches with Åström in goal.
The club is looking for a replacement, but they need to find a player that is not registred for a club, which points in direction to USA. USA's Jennifer Branam has played for Bälinge and could have been an alternative, but is presently undergoing treatment for cancer.
Upsala Nya Tidning: Bälinges chockbesked - Maja Åström skadad, Åströms tillstånd värre än befarat, video interview with coach Söderlund

April 1st is the last date for a player to register for a new club, so the last weeks before are usually a bit hectic on the player market, even if there usually still are more rumours than actual movements. This happened:

Maja Johansson, ex-Mallbacken, who has been with Umeå the last few months, signed for Sunnanå. After Umeå's late signings of Ramona Bachman and Ma Xiaoxu it became appearent that Maja would have huge problems breaking in to the first 11 with Umeå's present abundance of forwards. She has signed a three month contract with the northern club (130 kilometers north of Umeå), tieing her with the club until the transfer window opens again July 1.
Norra Västerbotten: Maja klar för Sunnanå, Maja och Sunnanå vill - väntar svar från UIK

Malmö FF's Jenny Engwall goes on loan to Kopparbergs/Göteborg. 30 years old Engwall has played with Malmö since she was 16 and has been considered be the heart and soul of the team and the person you least expected to leave. But the competition for a spot on the team has grown and judging from Malmö's training matches so far, Engwall would spend a lot of time on the bench this season. At the same time Göteborg has been looking far and wide for an experienced defender since Sofia Dammström and Frida Höglund left earlier this year. Malmö's coach Jörgen Pettersson comments that he usually would oppose loaning a player to a competing club, but "a player that has been so loyal to the club for so long should be rewarded".
Malmö FF: Jenny Engwall till Göteborg
Göteborg FC: Jenny Engwall klar för Kopparbergs/Göteborg

Attacking midfielder Rebecca Moros, with USA U21 experience, had a fairly successfull try-out with Kif Örebro, participating in the 4-0 defeat of Qbik. She will move on to Cologne in Germany for another try-out before any decisions are made.
Nerikes Allehanda: KIF Örebro testade ny amerikanska

Emma Herbring, previously Jitex, has finally managed to finalize her move to Malmö FF. It has been a long and winding road, including Jitex not honouring a verbal agreement with Herbring to let her go if her boyfriend (Swedish national team player Ola Toivonen) moved from Göteborg, Malmö FF's men proposing to pay the transfer as part of the package with Toivonen, Malmö FF Dam's refusal to pay for a player they are not actively persuing and Emma and Ola taking the trip to Jitex to try to negotiate a termination of the contract themselves. It finished with Jitex mailing Malmö a contract with a "fill in any number you like" for transfer fee, Malmö paying SEK 0 (that is 0 as in nothing) for her contract, but with a SEK 1 million fine of they loan Emma Herbring to a club competing with Jitex. And one might add, not the best relations between the clubs involved.
Kvällsposten: Attacken mot MFF:s damer

Asthildur Helgadottir has renewed her contract with Malmö. The club has got her a part time job as an engineer. Asta had made it clear that she was not prepared to continue commuting from Iceland and she needed a qualified job to move to Malmö. Another deciding factor was probably Iceland's reasonably good possibilities to qualify for the European Championships in Finland 2009. Helgadottir seems keen on finishing her career with Iceland's first ever big championship participation.
Dagens Nyheter: Asthildur fortsätter i MFF Dam

Tiffeny Milbrett has re-joined Linköping FC and will stay until, early June, when she joins canadian Vancouver Whitecaps in the W-league.
Corren: Flygande comeback i LFC

Falköping has signed a contract with Nigerian national team forward Cynthia Uwak, voted 11th place for the FIFA World Player award last year. Uwak has played for Finnish top side FC United the last 2 years, where she has been named player of the year, but her agent has tried to get her to a club in "the world's best league". Kopparbergs/Göteborg passed over the offer, but Falköping was thrilled: "An opportunity we cannot miss". There is only one problem. FC United claims that Uwak signed a contract for the 2007 season late last year, which Falköping was unaware of when they signed the contract. FC United had given Uwak permission to talk to other clubs, but a transfer is depending on the clubs agreeing on a transfer fee. FC United's chairman Jari Manninen says it will probably take a five figure sum (in Euros, which means 6 figures in Swedish crowns) to buy her contract. I doubt Falköping has that kind of resources.
Göteborgsposten: Afrikas drottning har landat - i Falköping
Falköping: Världslagsspelare till FKIK!
Jakobstads Tidning: FC United kan förlora sin stjärna

More complicated Nigerian transfers. Former Qbik players Maureen Mmadu and Faith Ikidi surprisingly signed with 1st division side Eskilstuna United early this spring. But the transfer come to naught, when the Swedish Football Association pointed out that according to the rules, only Damallsvenskan sides are allowed to sign foreign professionals. It is not uncommon with foreign players in 1st division clubs, but they have not been employed by the clubs. After that, rumour has placed Mmadu and Ikidi in negotiations with clubs like danish top club Skovbakken and Damallsvenskan's Sunnanå and even back to Qbik. Sunnanå conforms they have been offered the players, but are, as Qbik, not interested.
Now, Linköping FC confirms that they have registred two African players, but will not release any names until the paoper-work is completed. Linköping has for a long time tried to find an internationally experienced defensive midfielder and when their midfielder Anna-Kaisa Rantanen suffered what looks to be a long-time injury, the need to strengthen the squad became even bigger. Linköping's sport director Patrik Stålhammar says he hopes the unnamed players will join the club within a week and be on the team in time for the Damallsvenskan kick-off April 11.
Eskilstunakuriren: United går miste om stjärnduon från Nigeria
Damfotboll.com: QBIK, Danmark eller Sunnanå för Mmadu?
Corren: LFC värvar nigerianska stjärnor

American midfielder Jill Oakes, on trial at Linköping earlier this year, joined Falköping for another Swedish try-out and impressed in the 1-1 draw against 1st division side Dalsjöfors. No news about a contract yet.
Falköping: Jill Oakes provspelade med FKIK

Kif Örebro's Keeley Dowling has been called up for residency camp with the USA national team. She is one of 32 players competing for a place in the World Cup team. She is under contract with Örebro and will return if and when she is dropped from the camp. Örebro's director Thomas Rasmusson reveals that the club has been taking this possibility in consideration and already registred a couple of players for the club as possible replacements. Since they are regsitred before April 1, they will be eligble to play if the club decides to sign them. No names mentioned, but a guess is that we are talking about American players.
Nerikes Allehanda: Dowling borta på obestämd tid

Scotland international defender Ifeoma Dieke has joined Qbik. Dieke, who lives in Miami but is a regular with Scotland, also had a trial with Kopparbergs/Göteborg. Dieke has been in touch with Qbik's Hallstensson for a couple of years, but the time hasn't been right. Dieke will not join Qbik immedeately, since she has committments in USA, but hopes to join the team in May at the latest.
Värmlands Folkblad: Ifeoma Dieke skrev på för allsvenska Qbik

Kif Örebro - Falköpings KIK 3 - 2 (3-1)
Goals: Falköping: Sandra Krantz, Linnea Liljegärd
The defeat aside, this must have been Falköping's best showing so far.
Falköping: Uddamålsförlust mot Örebro
Nerikes Allehanda: KIF Örebro besegrade Falköping


Team Strømmen - QBIK 5-2 (5-1)
Goals: Anna Nilsson, Jennifer Meier
Qbik crashed completely the last 10 minutes of the first half, letting Norwegian top side Team Strømmen go from 2-1 to 5-1. Better performance in the 2nd half, maybe somewhat due to a more complacent Norwegian performance, 4 goals up as they were.
Damfotboll.com: Team Strömmen - QBIK 5-2


Hammarby - Bälinge 4 - 1 (1-1)
Hammarby: Katarina Wicksell - Annica Svensson, Karolina Rinman, Josefin Christensen, Anna Lindblom - Malin Nykvist, Jennie Jonsson - Therese Sandström, Lollo Fors (Jessica Landström), Marijke Callebaut (Lisa Björkvik) - Sara Johansson
Bälinge: Maja Åström - Linda Blom (70 Linn Fors), Lina Andersson, Linda Sembrant, Nina Engström - Lisa Lantz (45 Julia Lyckberg), Heidi Matinlassi (65 Emilia Appelqvist), Mikaela Björklund, Karolina Mats - Annette Kent (65 Emma Lindqvist), Katri Nokso-Koiviso
Goals: 0-1 Mikaela Björklund, 1-1 Malin Nykvist, 2-1 Sara Johansson, 3-1 Jennie Jonsson, 4-1 Jessica Landström
Hammarby is still undefeated this preseason, but had a hard time getting a real hold on the match in the first half. A strong Bälinge preassured and destroyed Hammarby's attempts to an organized play. In the second half it seems like Bälinge lost steam and Hammarby could take control.
Bälinge: Bälinge Dam förlorade mot Hammarby
Hammarby: Hammarby vann igen - sänkte Bälinge med 4-1


KIF Örebro - Linköpings FC 1 - 1 (0-0)
Linköping: Jenny Olsson (46 Maria Cederholm) - Marie-Louise Skålberg, Frida Östberg, Charlotte Rohlin, Maria Karlsson - Anna-Kaisa Rantanen (30 Maja Krantz), Caroline Seger, Petra Larsson (60 Maria Lindström) - Ann Westermark (60 Kosovare Asllani), Maria Aronsson, Josefine Öqvist
Goals: 0-1 Caroline Seger (57), 1-1 Emelia Erixon (61)
Linköping, with several players still somewhat hampered by their tough Algarve Cup schedule, dominated but lacked the necessary edge. Örebro came to match without Stina Segerström (resting a sore thigh) and Pavlina Scasna (fever), but the new 19 year old striker Hanna Pettersson continued to impress. Linköping also lost some momentum when Finnish midfielder Anna-Kaisa Rantanen had to leave already after 30 minutes with a knee injury.
Nerikes Allehanda: Hanna i elvan för att stanna
Linköping: Oavgjort i Örebro


Malmö FF Dam - Stattena 1 - 0 (1-0)
Malmö: Caroline Jönsson - Therese Jönsson, Lina Rehov, Emma Wilhelmsson, Jenny Engwall (55 Nera Smajic) - Frida Nordin (75 Emelie Erlandsson), Lina Nilsson, Nanna Johansen, Emma Stålhammar - Manon Melis, Louise Östman (70 Antonia Göransson)
Goals: 1-0 Louise Östman (15)
Several Algarve Cup players rested and gave place for the back-ups to take a shot at a position as starters. But they mainly disappointed in a pale effort against the 1st division team Stattena.
Sydsvenskan: Blekt MFF dam utan stjärnorna


Kopparbergs/Göteborg - Jitex 3 - 0 (0-0)
Göteborg: Maria Edman (46 Sandra Bjurteg) - Elin Dal-Örn (46 Marlene Sjöberg), Sofia Karlsson, Maria Nilsson, Maria Karlsson - Sofie Andersson, Lisa Ek (46 Salina Olsson), Anna Andén (46 Ingvild Stensland), Emmelie Farfa - Frida Svensson (65 Catrin Johansson), Sara Lindén
Goals: 1-0 (51) Salina Olsson, 2-0 (59) Sofie Andersson, 3-0 (78) Sara Lindén.
Ex-Damallsvenskan Jitex had so far made a great preseason, defeating several Damallsvenskan teams, and started well against Göteborg. But when Göteborg subbed in their Algarve Cup veterans after the half time break, Jitex couldn't keep up.
Göteborgsposten: Göteborg hade bättre ork


Bälinge IF - Danmarks IF 3 - 0 (2-0)
Bälinge: Maja Åström - Lisa Lantz, Lina Andersson, Heidi Matinlassi, Nina Engström (Ida Norström) - Linda Blom (Mikaela Bengtsson), Linda Sembrant, Anne Mäkinen, Karolina Mats - Emma Lindqvist (Jenny Jansson), Annette Kent (Moa Eriksson)
Goals: 1-0 Linda Blom, 2-0 Annette Kent, 3-0
Anne Mäkinen made her first appearence for her new team in a friendly against local 1st division side Danmarks IF and showed that in spite of hardly having touched a ball in four months, she will be of immense importance to the team. Also making a comeback after an even longer abscense from top football was Annette Kent, top goalscorer for Bälinge the 2005 season.
Upsala Nya Tidning: Mäkinen gjorde storstilad entré
Bälinge: Bälinge Dam besegrade Danmark


Kif Örebro - Qbik 4 - 0 (1-0)
Örebro: Kristin Hammarström ? Marina Pettersson, Sandra Linder, Malin Nilsson, Ingrid Ericson (Emelie Brodin) ? Rebecca Moros, Lena Andersson, Marie Hammarström, Hodan Siid Ahmed (Emelia Erixon) ? Elin Magnusson, Hanna Pettersson.
Qbik: My Axelsson - Emilia Eriksson, Jenny Hallstenson, Ann-Sofie Halvarsson, Charlotte Nygren - Sanna Backman, Anna Nilsson, Therese Björk, Malin Barrulf - Therese Lückner, Jennifer Meier
Goals: 1-0 Hanna Pettersson, 2-0 Elin Magnusson, 3-0 Elin Magnusson, 4-0 Emelia Erixon
Qbik managed to keep up with Örebro most of the first half, but fell through in the second. Örebro, missing Dowling, Segerström and Scasna, showed higher speed, better passing and more determination in the attacks. Hanna Pettersson continued to score and American trialist Rebecca Moros (Duke university, Long Island Fury) made an exciting performance.
Nerikes Allehanda: KIF Örebro testade ny amerikanska
Värmlands Folkblad: Ungt Qbik föll i Örebro
Kif Örebro: 4-0 och en jublande tant

Sweden - France 3 - 1 (2-0)
Sweden: Sofia Lundgren - Anna Paulsson, Hanna Marklund, Charlotte Rohlin (46 Stina Segerström) , Sara Thunebro (46 Therese Lundin) - Frida Östberg, Caroline Seger, Therese Sjögran (46 Nilla Fischer) - Sara Johansson (60 Frida Nordin), Victoria Svensson (77 Salina Olsson), Josefine Öqvist (77 Maria Aronsson)
Goals: 1-0 Josefine Öqvist (17), 2-0 Victoria Svensson (45), 3-0 Sara Johansson (47), 3-1 Ramos (68)
Sweden finished off Algarve Cup action with a safe, but rather unspectacular win over France, finishing third place. Svensson's and Johansson's goals, that decided the game in Swedish favour, were both gifted from French defense. But hey, these opportunistic goals count just as much as a nice combination or a 25 meter shot.

Coach Dennerby declared himself satisfied with his team's perfiormance: "We have shown that we are able to defeat any team. I and the players agree that USA is the best there is at present, but in a match that counts and if we start with our most experienced players, we can take them." Sweden played the new 4-3-3 formation in all four matches and Dennerby was very pleased to see that it worked also against good opposition.
Other good news from Algarve was Caroline Jönsson, still a world class keeper, the centre defense with Marklund and Segerström (and Rohlin as a great back-up) and, while not actually replacing Moström, Seger and Sjögran has done good in midfield. Using three attackers has also resulted in much more movement and strength to the attack.
Swedish television's commentator Anna Pohjanen, as well as others, was pleased with the new Swedish team: "This is the first team that looks like a Dennerby team, plays a lot like his successfull Djurgården side 2003-2004. We have the players to successfully use a 4-3-3 formation. And it is more fun to watch."
Dagens Nyheter: Sverige trea i Algarve cup
Dagens Nyheter: INBLICK: Nya spelsystemet framgångsrecept
Svt: Den nya generationen formas på Algarve (video)
Svt: Anna Pohjanen om Dennerbys nya landslag (video)

USA - Sweden 3 - 2 (2-0)
Sweden: Caroline Jönsson - Marlene Sjöberg (60 Anna Paulsson), Hanna Marklund, Stina Segerström, Sara Thunebro - Nilla Fischer, Therese Sjögran (78 Therese Lundin), Salina Olsson (51 Frida Östberg) - Lotta Schelin (73 Sara Johansson), Maria Aronsson (51 Victoria Svensson), Frida Nordin (51 Josefine Öqvist)
Goals: 1-0 Abby Wambach (40), 2-0 Carli Lloyd (44), 2-1 Josefine Öqvist (71), 3-1 Abby Wambach (72), Victoria Svensson (82 PK)
USA dominated the encounter completely in the first half, establishing an almost constant pressure against the Swedish defense. The USA was stronger, faster and more aggressive, especially in the attack. Their defense kept feeding long balls over the midfield directly to their attackers and Sweden had a hard time following. Sweden hardly managed to establish any play on USA's half and the defense had huge problems keeping up. USA's 2-0 halftime lead would have been bigger if it hadn't been for good goalkeeping by Caroline Jönsson.
Things looked up a bit in the second half, when Östberg, Svensson and Öqvist got subbed in after a few minutes. Sweden managed to gain ground on the American half and create more in the offense. Josefine Öqvist headed in a goal from a Sjögran corner-kick, but almost immideately after USA once again proved to strong and to fast when Wambach escaped a passive Swedish defense. Victoria Svensson's late penalty kick goal wasn't enough and the US victory was, particulary considering the first half, undisputed.
Lotta Schelin went down in duel 15 minutes into the game, and seemed to have hurt her shoulder. She kept om playing for another hour, but her participation in the match against france is in doubt.
Svensk Fotboll: USA numret större än Sverige
Göteborgsposten: Sverige utan chans mot USA, Schelin snart tillbaka i träning
Dagens Nyheter: Ingen final i Algarve Cup, Schelin frågetecken i avslutningen
Expressen: Schelin skadad