The Swedish Damallsvenskan recently wrapped up Round 12, and now the league takes a break until Aug. 15, as several players from various teams are heading to the Olympics with their respective countries. Here is a full recap of Round 12’s matches.
By Rainer Fussgänger
Tyresö FF vs Kopparberg/Göteborgs FC 3-1
Attendance: 1,713
Tyresö: Marta (Annica Svensson) 58′, Elaine Moura (Vero Boquete) 62′,Marta (Vero Boquete) 77′
Göteborg: Sara Lindén (Johanna Almgren) 42′
Last year, Tyresö lost everything in their home match against Göteborg, falling behind 3-0 after only 20 minutes. This year is different. Although Tyresö wins convincingly and is the far better side, it seems that Tyresö is still a group of extremely gifted individuals more than a perfect team. In most of the cases though that is enough to beat the opponents. Göteborg played a good first half where Tyresö had the chances, but Göteborg scored the goal. The second half was Marta’s, and in my eyes she played her best match on Swedish soil since she left Umeå more than three years ago. Her two goals are the difference between the sides in this match and Göteborg is now only 6th and 11 points behind Tyresö. That seems to be impossible to manage in the last 10 games.
Djurgården vs Linköpings FC 1-4
Attendance: 423
Djurgården: Jessica Landström (Mia Jalkerud) 89′
Linköping: Nora Holstad Berge 12′, Manon Melis (Emma Lundh) 30′, Emma Lundh 62′, Emma Lundh 85′
Linköping has turned the page, and they have learned to score. With Dutch Manon Melis in good form again, and with Emma Lundh scoring two goals against her former team mates of Djurgården, Linköping continues its rise to the top of the table. Djurgården had no chance to stop the quick forwards and offensive midfielders Melis, Emma Lundh, and Lisa DeVanna. The Stockholm team goes into the break with only a few hopes left to be able to avoid relegation. Without a bunch of new players to give them a new injection, I see Djurgården in the 2nd division next year.
LdB FC Malmö vs KIF Örebro 2-1
Attendance: 840
Malmö: Emma Wilhelmsson (Ramona Bachmann) 3′, Anja Mittag (PK) 78′
Örebro: Elin Magnusson 66′
Champions Malmö needed a penalty to take the three points against KIF, which has played their worst season in years yet. But play has improved during the last month for Örebro. Swedish WNT centre back Sara Larsson is back, but she will miss the Olympic Games because of her lack in match experience this year. Malmö’s coach Peter Moberg criticized the Swedish Soccer Federation for letting Damallsvenskan play while the U19 European Championships are being hold in Turkey. Malmö had to play without centre back Amansa Ilestedt and midfielder/forward Elin Rubensson who are essential players in Swedens U19 NT.
Vittsjö GIK vs Jitex BK 1-0
Attendance: 1,009
Vittsjö: Danesha Adams (Kendall Fletcher) 69′
Vittsjö finishes the first half of this season as 3rd behind Malmö and Tyresö. Whoever put money on that in March has probably earned a fortune. Even when Vittsjö does not play at their best, they are able to win matches. That positive conclusion gave their coach Thomas Mårtensson. Jitex has a losing streak of four matches now. The only goal was an American combination of centre back Kendall Fletcher and midfielder Danesha Adams who scored her seventh goal.
Kristianstads DFF vs Piteå IF 3-2
Attendance: 684
Kristianstad: Johanna Rasmussen 40′, Becky Edwards (Johanna Rasmussen) 74′, Kosovare Asllani (PK) 93′
Piteå: Sofie Persson 3′, June Pedersen (Ann Mari Dovland) 65′
It is quite unusual to criticize referees in Sweden. It happened after the game between KDFF and Piteå. Twice in the lead, Piteå was beaten by a penalty three minutes into stoppage time. Both coaches and several players had no good words for referee Sara Persson. Kristianstads coach Elisabet Gunnarsdottir could not understand her opponents bad temper: “Before I came to the press conference, I saw a video of the situation, and to me it was a clear penalty for us.”
Rainer Fussgänger, of Germany, lives in Sweden and speed 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 .