By Rainer Fussgänger – The first round of Damallsvenskan 2012 is over. Both media and fans were looking mostly forward to see Marta “coming home” after three years. And what a show Tyresö FF delivered for 110,000 watching on television and 2,892 fans on Tyresövallen. Otherwise the response of fans was quite chilly like the weather in most parts of the country. Especially Gothenburg, which had poor crowds with less than 300 seeing Jitex against reigning champions LdB FC Malmö and a little more than 300 seeing the debut of Americans Christen Press and Ingrid Wells against Stockholm side Djurgården.
AIK vs Piteå IF 0-3
Attendance: 307
Piteå: Sofie Persson 7’, own goal 80’, Hanna Pettersson 92’
AIK, which came back to Damallsvenskan after only one year, was closer to Piteå than the result might show, but the fact that AIK was defeated proves that this is going to be a tough year for the young team from just outside Stockholm. New players scored two goals for Piteå. Sofie Persson after 7 minutes was the first goal of the Damallsvenskan 2012 and came after a corner. Persson, who is from Southern Sweden, was the best on the pitch. She decided to go to the very north of the country because Piteå could offer her a job as the architect she is.
Umeå IK vs Vittsjö GIK 4-1
Attendance: 502
Umeå: Tuija Hyyrynen 9’, Emmelie Konradsson 32’, Linda Molin 37’, Lina Hurtig 80’
Vittsjö: Sofie Andersson 42’
Shot statistics show that the game was almost even, but Umeå won because of their experience in the first league. Vittsjö, which is for the very first time in Damallsvenskan, had to play without American Danesha Adams since her working permit was not ready in time. Sofie Andersson. who scored as much as 34 goals last season in the 2nd division, did even well in Umeå, but when she was lucky that Umeå had already scored three times.
Tyresö FF vs KIF Örebro 7-0
Attendance: 2,892
Tyresö: Caroline Seger 26’, own goal 36’, Line Röddik Hansen 47’, Caroline Seger 48’, Marta 57’, Marta 71’, Vero Boquete (PK) 90’
What a performance by Tyresö! The team that many think will win the league this year had some problems in the first 15-20 minutes, but when Caroline Seger scored the first goal for her new team, the Yellowreds became more and more confident. And it is by far not only Marta who makes the difference. Tyresö showed a lot of variation.Kirsten van de Ven and Line Röddik Hansen played excellent on the wings, and forward Madelaine Edlund made the center backs of Örebro tired with her powerful runs. And finally Marta scored and performed a dance of joy with her Brazilian friend and teammate Elaine. Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé made some great saves, otherwise it could have been 10 goals or even more. Important to say that KIF Örebro is not a team that is expected to end up at the bottom of the table.
Kristianstads DFF vs Linköpings FC 1-1
Attendance: 808
Kristianstad: Elin Nilsen 59’
Linköping: Manon Melis 91’
Many have seen Linköping as the one team to be able to compete with Tyresö’s powerful roster. However, their first match ended disappointing for both sides. Ambitious Kristianstad coach Beta Gunnarsdottir has declared that she wants to win the gold medal this year, and due to high pressing on the pitch, the home side caused Linköping a lot of problems. Elin Nilsen’s goal after one hour seemed to last, and Linköping’s start of the season looked as horrible as last year. But never leave Manon Melis alone. The Dutch striker used an individual mistake and scored the equalizer. Kristianstad’s not satisfied with the result, and Linköping’s not satisfied with their game.
Jitex BK vs LdB FC Malmö 1-4
Attendance: 258
Jitex BK: Annica Sjölund 58’
LdB FC Malmö: Amanda Ilestedt 25’, Lina Nilsson 39’, Anja Mittag 68’, Elin Rubensson 78’
There was no doubt that the champions Malmö were the dominating side on the pitch. Ramona Bachmann was the player of the match. She created a lot, but defenders Amanda Ilestedt and Lina Nilsson scored the first two goals before German international Anja Mittag and U19-Swedish international Elin Rubensson scored #goals number 3 and 4. Jitex’s game is very physical, and although they had no chance in tying or even winning against Malmö, it will be interesting to see them against teams that seem to be more equal to them.
Kopparberg/Göteborgs FC vs Djurgården 2-0
Attendance: 318
Göteborg: Christen Press 5’, Christen Press 81’
Göteborg did not convince as one of the favorites of this season. They were very often easily disturbed by Djurgården that could not create many chances for themselves, but made life very difficult for the home side. The only player who really convinced and could be one of the big names this year was Christen Press. She had several opportunities, runs a lot, and finally scored her first goals for Göteborg. Press leads the scoreboard of the league together with Marta and Caroline Seger.
Rainer Fussgänger, of Germany, lives in Sweden and has followed the Damallsvenskan for eight years now. Living in Stockholm with three clubs (Djurgården, Hammarby, and Tyresö) around the corner, he is lucky to see a lot of games. You can follow Rainer on Twitter @ffschweden and check out his website at http://ffschweden.wordpress.com.