Umeå wins LDB Sports Cup
There are a lot of indoor tournaments in Sweden in the winter, usually five-a-side or futsal on small indoor courts. Even if clubs like Hammarby usually have big success competing in these, most Damallsvenskan sides don't care much about them. But LDB Sports Cup is different. Four major European sides - Kolbotn from Norway, Brøndby from Denmark, Umeå IK and hosting LDB FC Malmö - compete for a cash prize of USD 10,000, with full teams on a full size indoor field.
The tournament was more than just four matches. Hosting LDB FC had made an effort making it a major event. There were a series of lectures and football clinics, led by among others national team coach Thomas Dennerby, and autograph signings downtown with Marta and other stars and it made quite an impact in the small town of Växjö, where it was held.
But the matches are of course the most important. All of the team coaches had stressed how important it is to get good competition and to be able to play real matches early in the season. The matches did however show that it was early (most of the players hadn't played a real match for three months) and the players often seemed a bit uncomfortable with the ball and had problems making the right decisions, as the case often is in the early preseason matches.
Umeå won the Cup and the big cash prize after first defeating Brøndby in the semifinal 1-0 and then Malmö, with an extratime penatly kick by Marta. Malmö's defender Emma Wilhelmsson had been successful containing Umeå's world class forward, but in the last minute of extra-time Marta managed to get inside the penalty area and create a fairly soft penalty for herself.
The match unfortunately saw two injuries. Umeå's Elaine had to leave early in the match with a knee injury, that might be serious and Malmö's Nilla Fischer got a neck injury, that probably is less serious.
This is still early days and you shouldn't make to much out of it, but both Umeå and Malmö showed some interesting set-ups. In the Brøndby match, Umeå had a 4-2-3-1 formation with Marta on the wing, Madeleine Edlund on top and Frida Östberg playing defensive mid, while Malmö used a more defensive 4-5-1 against Umeå with new forward Maria Aronsson as target.
Looking at the teams, you could see that Norwegian Kolbotn seemed weakened by their recent player losses, both to other teams and to injury, and were definitely number four in the competition while the three others were fairly equally matched.
LDB FC Malmö - Kolbotn 3 - 0 (1-0)
Malmö: Stephanie Öhrström - Therese Jönsson, Malin Levenstad, Emma Wilhelmsson, Lina Nilsson - Frida Nordin (53 Emma Stålhammar), Nilla Fischer, Dora Stefansdottir (61 Aylin Yaren), Therese Sjögran (64 Antonia Göransson) - Therese Lundin (61 Maria Aronsson), Manon Melis
Goals: 1-0 Therese Lundin, 2-0 Manon Melis, 3-0 Therese Lundin
Umeå - Brøndby 1 - 0 (1-0)
Umeå: Ulla-Karin Rönnlund - Anna Paulsson, Karolina Westberg, Johanna Frisk, Emma Berglund (36 June Pedersen) - Frida Östberg (50 Emma Åberg Zingmark), Lisa Dahlqvist - Ramona Bachmann, Hanna Ljungberg, Johanna Rasmusen (36 Marta) - Madeleine Edlund
Goals: 1-0 Madeleine Edlund
Brøndby - Kolbotn 3 - 0 (3-0)
Goals: 1-0 Tanja Mejer Christensen, 2-0 Cathrine Paaske Sørensen, 3-0 Lene Jensen
Umeå - LDB FC Malmö 1 - 0 (0-0)
Umeå: Carola Söberg - Anna Paulsson, Emma Berglund, Johanna Frisk, June Pedersen - Marta, Frida Östberg (61 Ramona Bachmann), Elaine (13 Lisa Dahlqvist), Johanna Rasmusen - Madeleine Edlund (36 Sofia Jakobsson), Emelie Konradsson (36 Emma Åberg Zingmark)
Malmö: Stephanie Öhrström - Therese Jönsson, Malin Levenstad, Emma Wilhelmsson, Emelie Ölander - Frida Nordin, Nilla Fischer (59 Aylin Yaren), Dora Stefansdottir, Therese Sjögran, Emma Stålhammar - Maria Aronsson (54 Therese Lundin)
Goals: 1-0 Marta
Smålandsposten: Världens bästa fotbollspelare mötte Växjöfansen, Bäddat för drömfinal i Växjö Tipshall, Martas finalkväll - trots allt
Sydsvenskan: Risig Lundin glänste i premiär,
Svt: a video with few words from Umeå's resigning manager Roland Arnqvist followed a by Marta-focused segment from the Sports Cup.
The tournament was more than just four matches. Hosting LDB FC had made an effort making it a major event. There were a series of lectures and football clinics, led by among others national team coach Thomas Dennerby, and autograph signings downtown with Marta and other stars and it made quite an impact in the small town of Växjö, where it was held.
But the matches are of course the most important. All of the team coaches had stressed how important it is to get good competition and to be able to play real matches early in the season. The matches did however show that it was early (most of the players hadn't played a real match for three months) and the players often seemed a bit uncomfortable with the ball and had problems making the right decisions, as the case often is in the early preseason matches.
Umeå won the Cup and the big cash prize after first defeating Brøndby in the semifinal 1-0 and then Malmö, with an extratime penatly kick by Marta. Malmö's defender Emma Wilhelmsson had been successful containing Umeå's world class forward, but in the last minute of extra-time Marta managed to get inside the penalty area and create a fairly soft penalty for herself.
The match unfortunately saw two injuries. Umeå's Elaine had to leave early in the match with a knee injury, that might be serious and Malmö's Nilla Fischer got a neck injury, that probably is less serious.
This is still early days and you shouldn't make to much out of it, but both Umeå and Malmö showed some interesting set-ups. In the Brøndby match, Umeå had a 4-2-3-1 formation with Marta on the wing, Madeleine Edlund on top and Frida Östberg playing defensive mid, while Malmö used a more defensive 4-5-1 against Umeå with new forward Maria Aronsson as target.
Looking at the teams, you could see that Norwegian Kolbotn seemed weakened by their recent player losses, both to other teams and to injury, and were definitely number four in the competition while the three others were fairly equally matched.
LDB FC Malmö - Kolbotn 3 - 0 (1-0)
Malmö: Stephanie Öhrström - Therese Jönsson, Malin Levenstad, Emma Wilhelmsson, Lina Nilsson - Frida Nordin (53 Emma Stålhammar), Nilla Fischer, Dora Stefansdottir (61 Aylin Yaren), Therese Sjögran (64 Antonia Göransson) - Therese Lundin (61 Maria Aronsson), Manon Melis
Goals: 1-0 Therese Lundin, 2-0 Manon Melis, 3-0 Therese Lundin
Umeå - Brøndby 1 - 0 (1-0)
Umeå: Ulla-Karin Rönnlund - Anna Paulsson, Karolina Westberg, Johanna Frisk, Emma Berglund (36 June Pedersen) - Frida Östberg (50 Emma Åberg Zingmark), Lisa Dahlqvist - Ramona Bachmann, Hanna Ljungberg, Johanna Rasmusen (36 Marta) - Madeleine Edlund
Goals: 1-0 Madeleine Edlund
Brøndby - Kolbotn 3 - 0 (3-0)
Goals: 1-0 Tanja Mejer Christensen, 2-0 Cathrine Paaske Sørensen, 3-0 Lene Jensen
Umeå - LDB FC Malmö 1 - 0 (0-0)
Umeå: Carola Söberg - Anna Paulsson, Emma Berglund, Johanna Frisk, June Pedersen - Marta, Frida Östberg (61 Ramona Bachmann), Elaine (13 Lisa Dahlqvist), Johanna Rasmusen - Madeleine Edlund (36 Sofia Jakobsson), Emelie Konradsson (36 Emma Åberg Zingmark)
Malmö: Stephanie Öhrström - Therese Jönsson, Malin Levenstad, Emma Wilhelmsson, Emelie Ölander - Frida Nordin, Nilla Fischer (59 Aylin Yaren), Dora Stefansdottir, Therese Sjögran, Emma Stålhammar - Maria Aronsson (54 Therese Lundin)
Goals: 1-0 Marta
Smålandsposten: Världens bästa fotbollspelare mötte Växjöfansen, Bäddat för drömfinal i Växjö Tipshall, Martas finalkväll - trots allt
Sydsvenskan: Risig Lundin glänste i premiär,
Svt: a video with few words from Umeå's resigning manager Roland Arnqvist followed a by Marta-focused segment from the Sports Cup.
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