Lindahl injury was ACL tear - 6 months rehab waiting
"I was prepared that it would be bad, so I'm not surprised", comments Hedvig Lindahl. "It just feels good that it's done".
The injury will almost certainly spoil Lindahl's chances to make the Sweden team for the World Cup in September. Her replacement in the club will probably be Malmö FF back-up keeper Jenny Olsson.
Corren: Målvaktsstjärnan borta minst ett halvår
Three Damallsvenskan players in FIFA World Stars Team
There will be a scheduling problem for the Damallsvenskan trio. Marta plays the UEFA Women's Cup final on the 21st and has a Damallsvenskan match on the 25th followed by the return leg of the UEFA Cup final the 29th. Umeå's manager Roland Arnqvist commented the news with a "Yeah, good luck trying to get her to China for the game" and I think it is pretty obvious that Marta, no matter the honour of being chosen for a World Star team, would rather play the Arsenal matches.
Bente Nordby and Lotta Schelin has Damallsvenskan games scheduled for the same day as the FIFA match. They are both essential players (to put it mildly) for their teams and I wouldn't let them go. But I'm not running their clubs.
FIFA: FIFA Women's World Stars v. China to open programme
Västerbottens Folkblad: Marta missar världsmatch
Damallsvenskan schedule for 2007 announced
Because of the long break for China, the schedule is tighter than usual with a lot of mid-week matches, but there is so far no complaints. Not even from Umeå (!), that on the contrary are particulary pleased that the season doesn't finish until early November. That will make it easier for the team to stay match fit for the UEFA Women's Cup quarterfinals in mid November, that Umeå has already penned in.
Västerbottens Folkblad: UIK nöjt med spelschemat
Svensk Fotboll: The full Damallsvenskan schedule
No more recruits to KIF Örebro
The club has plans going to Scasna's old club Sparta Prague for a March training camp and possibly developing a cooperation with the club, the best side in Czech Republic.
In the club's plans are also trying to defend their Swedish Futsal championship. Only three of the Damallsvenskan clubs are participating in this years championships, apart from Kif Örebro also Qbik and Falköpings KIK. The general opinion seems to be that the Futsal season interfers with the important pre-season training, but Sundhage sees benefit to gain for the outdoor game from the high pace and technical demands of playing futsal.
Nerikes Allehanda: Räkna inte med nya amerikanskor i KIF
Svensk Fotboll: Futsal: KIF Örebro vill försvara guldet
Marta back from Brazil - to play midfield??
But a place on the midfield in Umeå might be in her future. The club is still looking for a replacement for Moström, but manager Roland Arnqvist has set a deadline at February 15. "We are having three agents working for us going through the market with a fine comb, but if we fail, we can easily see Marta taking a step down to the midfield".
Västerbottens Folkblad: Bästa Marta hemma
Svt: not a clip really, but you can see the interview with Marta about 6 minutes into last night's sports news
Expressen: Moströms plats kan tas av - Marta
Lindahl facing several months of rehabilitation after knee injury
The knee injury Hedvig Lindahl suffered last week will keep her from playing at least 3, maybe 6 months.
The result from the MRI examination, made public today, revealed damage to the meniscus and a cruciate ligament. The full extent of the injury will not be known until the operation, scheduled two weeks from now, but will require several months of rehabilitation. In best case she will be back in time for the Damallsvenskan opener in April, a more severe injury can keep her out of the game for 6 months or more.
Hedvig Lindahl injured
Linköping's sport director Bengt Ekholm reveals that he is already looking for a replacement if it comes to the worst, but "there are maybe eight or nine keepers in the world as good as Hedvig". He is looking both in Sweden and abroad.
EDIT: Yes, the young American prodigy Danesha Adams is mentioned in the Corren article, but obviously not as a contender for the goal-keeping spot. Corren writes that an unnamed US player will join Linköping next week for a try-out, and Adams has been mentioned. Sport director Ekholm only says that he's heard the name, but that she's not being persued by the club at the moment.
Corren: Ny målvakt sökes - i hela världen
TV4: Skadade Lindahl på sträckbänken (video)
Malmö players leaving and Malmö players renewing
Midfielder Frida Nordin and attacker Anna Mörstam has renewed their contracts with Malmö. Nordin, member of the Swedish 2003 World Cup squad, was mostly a starter last year while Mörstam didn't get much time and was eventually loaned out to 1st division side Öster. She scored lots of goals during her late season loan period and seems confident she can compete for a starting position. Two youngsters from Malmö's successfull youth programme - Lina Rehov, 18 year old defender who made her first appearence for the full team last year, and 16 year old attacker Cecilia Kotte - has both signed long term contracts with their club.
On the other hand has winger/defender Johanna Rosén decided to return to Kristianstad DFF after one season with Malmö FF. Rosén played 10 matches for Malmö the 2006 season and hopes to be able to play a more important role with her old club. Kristianstad has stated that their ambition is to win promotion to Damallsvenskan. Rosén will be followed by soon to turn 20 Vlora Bajraktaraj, a homegrown Malmö midfielder who made her debut already three years ago, but has failed establish herself.
A third player is rumoured to leave Malmö for ambitious Kristianstad, back-up goalkeeper Jenny Olsson. Olsson has been on the bench behind Caroline Jönsson for several years now and admits that she is "leaning towards chosing Kristianstad".
Sydsvenskan: Två spelare förlänger med MFF Dam
Norra Skåne: Malmömålvakt blir nästa nyförvärv i KDFF?
Kristianstadbladet: Rosen är tillbaka i KDFF: "Målet är allsvenskan"
Malmö FF: Ytterligare två spelare klara för 2007
Mäkinen ends international career
After 15 years and more than 100 matches for Finland, Anne Mäkinen has decided to end her international career. Mäkinen, that made her debut as a 15 year old in a match against Soviet Union 1991, is praised for her leadership and immense influence in the national team. She singles out Finland's successful European Championship run 2005, that ended with a semifinal against Germany, as her best memory. She admits that she most probably would have stayed another year if Finland had qualified for the World Cup, but decided to announce her retirement now to give the national team time to prepare for the 2009 European Championships, that will be hosted by Finland.
In an interview with the finnish YLE network's Swedish language channel, she says that she will continue to play club football, presently for Bälinge, as long as it is fun. And it still is.
YLE: Mäkinen tackar för sig, ”The one and only”
Marta named FIFA World Player
The proud Umeå manager Roland Arnqvist commented that this will benefit the club a lot. Everything that is important for a top club - sponsors, match attendance, media interest, advertising - will move in the right direction. "And of course we will try to capitalize on Marta's award. We are already an internationally respected club, but this help even more."
FIFA.com: Cannavaro and Marta reign supreme
Göteborgsposten: Marta Vieira da Silva ger Umeå klirr i kassan
For those interested in details, the complete voting result can be found at
http://fifa.com/documents/fifa/events/FWPG06_results_by_player_women.xls
and the voting records of the national team coaches and captains in these documents:
http://fifa.com/documents/fifa/events/FWPG06_votes_captains_women_final.xls
and http://fifa.com/documents/fifa/events/FWPG06_votes_coaches_women_final.xls.
Eurosport airs UEFA Women's Cup finals
In Sweden, there will for the first time be a Super Cup - a match between the league winners and the cup winners. The Umeå - Linköping clash will take place in Linköping on April 1 2007 and be broadcast on TV4.
Damfotboll.com: Umeå IK i tre tv-cupmatcher
Malmö and Sunnanå clears the bar in licensing board's audit
Sunnanå has seemed pretty confident already when they filed their papers about a month ago, but chairman Sören Gustavsson still showed relief. "We've made a huge job and now with a renewed license we can start working with sponsors and players for the next season".
Malmö's chair ingrid Gustafsson admitted that she had been really nervous (and the rumour says that the club was only SEK 25,000 from losing the license) and were very relieved. She also says that she is pleased that neither players nor coaches has tried to secure their future with other clubs while waiting for the license decision. Goalkeeper of the Year winner Caroline Jönsson, mentioned in connection with clubs as Linköping, Djurgården and Asker, says that she wants to stay, but needs to discuss details.
Immideately after the audit result became public, Malmö FF announced their "Europe 2009" plan, a SEK 21 million plan to win the UEFA Women's Cup 2009. They already are in detailed talks with three major sponsors and promises to reinforce the squad with "selected player profiles".
Sydsvenskan: MFF Dam kan andas ut, Bara sex spelare med kontrakt
Damfotboll.com
Post Award show comments: Mockery, insult, scandal!
Marta's non-nomination for Forward of the Year was still the big talk the day after the Sweden Football Award show, and few people (including me) understands what the jury was thinking. Apart from that, the award winners were considered worthy their prize. I had expected some disappointment from Umeå considering the outcome of the midfielder prize, but the local Umeå journalists must have caught Arnqvist and Jeglertz after they spent too much time at the bar. Arnqvist calls the event a mockery and an insult and promises to never put his foot there again and blames the Football Association for the jury's choices, while Jeglertz states that not a single one of the winners were good enough to get a spot at the Umeå team.
Västerbottenskuriren: "Det här är så pinsamt"
Västerbottens Folkblad: Jeglertz dömde ut Fotbollsgalan
Jeglertz is wrong by the way, and he knows it. Caroline Jönsson is a better goalkeeper than Sofia Lundgren and Umeå would take back Hanna Marklund any day, no questions asked. Schelin could probably move Anna Sjöström out of the starting eleven, but Caroline Seger would find herself in an Lisa Dahlqvist position in Umeå - thrilled for every minute she gets to play. Mäkinen and Moström are better players than Seger, but she is much more fun than they are. And this is show business.
A couple more Lotta movies, just to make Joao happy.
http://www.aftonbladet.se/atv/player.html?catID=26&clipID=12737
http://expressen.se/webb-tv/index.html?serialid=2043
EDIT: Ok, this almost getting ridiculous, but I found another Lotta Schelin clip. This one is from the SVT morning show, and Lotta confesses that she hasn't been to bed yet. I won't translate the interview - she's just happy, she's had a great year, she's looking forward to China, women's football has won a lot of recognition the last years but still far from equal.
SVT: http://svt.se/content/1/c6/70/03/20/sport-2006-1114-lotta.ram
Sweden Football Awards 2006
The 2006 big Sweden Football Award Gala was earlier tonight. You can find the nominees and my personal comments here. The winners:
Coach: André Jeglertz, Umeå IK
Breakthrough: Stina Segrström, Kif Örebro
Goalkeeper: Caroline Jönsson, Malmö FF
Defender: Hanna Marklund, Sunnanå SK
Midfielder: Caroline Seger, Linköping FC
Forward: Lotta Schelin, Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC
The Diamond Ball, Player of the Year: Lotta Schelin, Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC
When, in the presentation of the nominees, Caroline Seger was asked why she should get the award, she answered "Because I'm a hot chick". If you want to see her, other hot chicks, a bunch of old men and some hot guys you can check out these places:
Dagens Nyheter
Expressen
TV4
Aftonbladet (video)
Svenska Dagbladet, and again
Svt: Just Schelin (video)
Sweden Football Gala Player nominees: No Marta?!
Coach: Andrée Jeglertz, Umeå IK; Martin Pringle, Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC; Jörgen Petersson, Malmö FF
While not in anyway dismissing the challenges it brings to coach an all-star team, I still can't help thinking "who could possibly fail with the players Jeglertz has to his disposal?". My heart is more with Jörgen Petersson, who took on the task to live up to Malmö's reputation, while having to work with 4-5 rookies in every match.
Breakthrough: Lisa Dahlkvist, Umeå IK; Stina Segerström, KIF Örebro; Emma Wilhelmsson, Malmö FF
This should be Stina Segerström's price, coming from nowhere (ok, not really nowhere, just Örebro) and creating a starting position for herself on the national team, competing with the likes of Jane Törnqvist and Karolina Westberg. But Lisa Dahlqvist has also impressed a lot on me - getting regular time on Umeå's midfield means keeping the likes of Lise Klaveness and Elaine Moura on the bench.
Goalkeeper: Caroline Jönsson, Malmö FF; Hedvig Lindahl, Linköpings FC; Carola Söberg, Mallbackens IF
Should be Caroline Jönsson, at least in my opinion. Steady grip on the starting position in the national team, great job in her club both tending goal and breaking in a bunch of teenagers, that now by the end of the year almost resembles a decent defense
Defender: Hanna Marklund, Sunnanå SK; Stina Segerström, KIF Örebro; Frida Östberg, Linköpings FC
Harder to tell here, Hanna could very much deserve her second appointment here, but Frida has impressed in this position and contributed to the fact that Linköping actually has one of the best defenses in the league. Stina will get another price.
Midfielder: Malin Moström, Umeå IK; Anne Mäkinen, Umeå IK; Caroline Seger, Linköpings FC
Unlike the two others, Mäkinen is one of those less flamboyant players that are extremely vital for her team but not that much noticed. She's the hub in Umeå's midfield and I would like to see her getting the price. Seger has been growing a lot this year, but is seriously speaking not a player of Mäkinen's or Moström's quality yet.
Forward: Asthildur Helgadottir, Malmö FF; Lotta Schelin, Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC; Victoria Svensson, Djurgården/Älvsjö
All three great forwards, all of them of crucial importance for their teams. But while Helgadottir is your text-book target-player, Schelin has all the qualities a target-player needs and Victoria Svensson has been playing target most of the season, we don't see any fast forwards here. No Hanna Ljungberg or Josefine Öqvist. Or Marta. Why isn't Marta here? The only reasonable explanation I can see is that she has been slotted for the big price, the Player of the Year price, the big diamond ball.
This is by the way the first time ever non-swedish players can win a Player of the Year price. And there are of course some predictable complaining from Umeå over Marta's absence, but also someone like Johan Esk, influental columnist in Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter, searched in vain for a reasonable explanation.
Svensk Fotboll: Fotbollsgalan
Västerbottenskuriren: Gunnar Johnsson: Marta bäst i världen - men inte i Sverige
Dagens Nyheter: Det är ett galet skämt
Mmadu, Ikidi and Kudaisi has arrived in Nigeria
The nigerianfootballer.com also reported on the ultimatum Ntiero Effiom issued to the players last week, probably the factor that made the players decide to leave their club in Sweden.
Nigerianfootballer.com: Swedish Falcons arrive, begin training with mates, Ntiero may shut door on Kudaisi, Ikidi
Kacey White interview
Kicking It Around With Kacey White
FIFA decision: Qbik Nigerians can stay with the club
Qbik's Nigerian trio Mmadu, Ikidi and Kudaisi will stay with the club until the end of the season. FIFA's answer to the question the Swedish FA posed about Nigeria's demand that the club should release them to the national team came yesterday. The African Championships is not in FIFA's international calendar, so Qbik are not obliged to release their players.
It is crucial to Qbik's chances to remain in Damallsvenskan that they can put up their best team and the three Nigerians are all part of that. Chairman Lars-Inge Hallstenson is pleased with the way it turned out, but adds that he understands that the players have mixed feelings about this. He hopes that this will not cause problems for the players national team careers in the future.
Värmlands Folkblad: Qbiks nigerianskor stannar säsongen ut
Marta chooses Umeå over Brasil
Marta will not join Brasil's national team for the South American World Cup qualifications in Argentina. She has had talks with the Brasilian Football Association and obtained a permission to finish the season with Umeå. She will also have a minor throat surgery to fix some respiratory problems after the season.
The South American qualification tournament starts November 10 and coincides with Umeå's UEFA Women's Cup semifinals. Marta's Umeå teammate Elaine has already joined the Brasil team.
Västerbottens Folkblad: Marta väljer UIK framför brasilianska landslaget
Qbik Nigerians worries about national team future
Maureen Mmadu, Faith Ikidi and Yinka Kudaisi, all certain starters with Qbik, are caught in the middle of the struggle between Qbik and the Nigerian Football Association. They are not happy with the situation. "We're just standing in the middle of this and can't really do anything", says midfielder Mmadu. "We want to help keeping Qbik in Damallsvenskan, but we also wants to help Nigeria. The African Championships is the qualification tournament for the 2007 World Cup, so it's really important for the country." The Nigerian FA has told them that they expect them to turn up at camp immideately and the players are now worried that their national team careers might be in jeopardy.
Qbik chairman Lars-Inge Hallstensson has also been having discussions with people at the Nigerian FA. The talks has been "straight forward" and from the Nigerian side "rather demanding". He understands that his players are worried and frustrated, but explains his position: "We are the ones that are paying their wages. Unless we get a FIFA decision that says otherwise, they're playing for us." Head coach Kjell Petersson adds that he hasn't even thought about what a team without these three players would look like.
Värmlands Folkblad: "Vad ska vi göra?"