History Follow Up: Ljungberg and Bouhaddi
In my fun facts post a couple of days ago, I mentioned that I wanted to find out more about the potential hard feelings between France and Sweden that Foudy commented on after Jossan Oqvist was given a red for kicking Sonia Bompastor in the stomach. The brief comment left me wanting to know more, but with little to work on I would need to stumble across the story to learn more. While doing research for the post on Pia, I found just what I needed: a name. Ljunberg to be exact.
Hanna Ljungberg played her first game for Sweden’s national team at the age of 17 in 1996. In 2009, after a 129 game and 72 goal international career, she announced her retirement from soccer. She is one of the most colorful players in the sport and is a national hero back home. By 2003 she was a top contender for World Player of the year, coming in 3rd behind Birgit Prinz and Mia Hamm. While playing she was a part of several Swedish championship teams, and was a major contributor to the success of her teams.
Football is my life. For me, [it] is a philosophy of life, much more than a sport.
In 2004, Ljungberg tore a ligament during training and throughout the rest of her career battled injuries. In 2006, the collision between her and French goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi Algarve Cup forced Ljunberg to slow down, and a few years later she bowed out.
The 2006 game against France was viewed by the French coach, Elisabeth Loisel, as a practice match to give her girls experience. With a young squad and a few players unable to play, she wanted to get a good game in against a strong Swedish team.
Sweden was known for scoring early, which was evident by the pressure they placed on the French defense from the beginning. Still, the French held strong, not letting any in during the first half. In the 51st minute, Lota Schelin took a ball in and was able to slide it in past Bouhaddi.
About 23 minutes later, disaster struck. A Swedish ball came sailing over the French back line, and Ljungberg, with one defender on either side, looked like she was going to win the ball. Bouhaddi charged out of her box to make the challenge. She came in with her head down and collided with Ljungberg midair. Ljungberg was immediately taken to the hospital with a severe concussion and fears that her jaw was broken.
Sweden took the game and placed 3rd in the Algarve cup, but two players walked away from the game with major impacts on their career. Ljungberg’s injuries forced her to slow down in the final years of her career. On the other side, a young keeper had tarnished her name, and may have ruined her career as a result of her aggressive play.
As a 16-year-old, Bouhaddi played as the French goalkeeper in the U-19 European Women’s Championship. She was a crucial part in their defeat of Norway in the final. In early 2004 she made her debut on the French national team, and was named the starting keeper for the UEFA Women’s Euro tournament in 2005.
Despite her experience and history with the team, she did not make it to the 2011 World Cup, apparently due to the fact that Bouhaddi and Sandrine Soubeyrand, the French captain, hate each other. Whether or not this is a reflection of Bouhaddi’s questionable character, her dirty play or just a mutual internal conflict, France was left with two subpar goalkeepers.
Maybe France was frustrated with its mediocre performance, or maybe French players just like to play dirty when theythink they can get away with it, but in the 68th minute when Sonia Bompastor kicked Josefine Öqvist and was kicked back, Foudy commented on the possibility of hard feelings between the players lingering from the 2006 game.
After looking into the issue, I don’t think that is the case. Sure the memory existed, but I think that in general Sweden is a classy team while France likes to test the boundaries of dirty play. Bompastor was obviously the initiator of the conflict on the field and should have been sent off; instead, Sweden received its first ever World Cup red. Sweden remembers what happened, but they did not go for blood in the game to retaliate for things of the past. Though Öqvist shouldn’t have retaliated, Bompastor got what she asked for.
I think the mentality of Swedish players is commendable. They always appear to look on the bright side, and the fact that a team like Sweden received their first red card in the WWC this year shows that they like to play clean.
After her injury, Ljungberg made a comment that was the epitome of the Swedish mentality:
I felt I had the upper hand as we both ran towards the ball – I would reach the ball first, head it over the keeper and score. I really didn’t feel I was doing anything dangerous. I don’t understand what Bouhaddi was thinking the way she went in head first… She probably just timed it wrong.
She gave the French keeper the benefit of the doubt and moved on. It seems the Swedes always take the more optimistic view. I will be interested to follow the team more closely in the future.
-HD
Pia: The Eternal Optimist
Pia Mariane Sundhage was born in Sweden on February 13, 1960. While playing for IFK Falköping as a 14-year-old, Pia began turning heads. A year later she was called up to the national squad. She remembers:
It was in 1975 against England and we won 2-0 in Gothenburg. The national coach rang me up and I read a report in the paper too, which was obviously a very big thing for me at 15. But I wasn’t nervous because I had quite good technical skills, more so than some of the others, and that made me comfortable with the group.
By 1982 she was playing for Östers IF where she scored 62 times in only two seasons on the team. Between her years at Jitex BK and Hammarby IF DFF, she won 4 Damallsvenskan and 4 Svenska Cupen. It is notable that Pia was on the scene of Swedish soccer from the beginning. The Damallsvenskan got its start in 1973, and until the start of Women’s Professional Soccer in the US, the Damallsvenskan was noted as the best women’s league in the world.
Internationally, Pia made a name for herself by scoring 71 goals in her 146 international games. She led Sweden to their first European Women’s Championship in 1984 and scored 4 goals in the 1991 World Cup where the team took bronze.
Needless to say, she became a legend in her country, and was viewed as
one of the world’s greatest female players during her career. She even made it on to a Swedish stamp.
However, there is more to Sundhage than her game. She does just as well at the helm as she does on the field. In fact, by 1990 she began coaching in addition to her responsibilities as a player. For the next 11 years she coached the U-16, U-19 and U-21 Youth National Teams. At her retirement in 1996, she took over the head coaching position of the U-19 Women’s National Team, winning one gold and two bronze medals in the European Championship during her tenure.
Already a legend in her home country, when she led the USWNT to gold in Beijing in 2008, her popularity exploded. In fact, a debate ensued as to whether she should be hired as the head coach for the Swedish Men’s National Team, but she stayed put and has done remarkable things for the team.
Bringing a new style and attitude, she led the women to five championships and by 2010 had the best record of any US women’s coach. When she was instated, the USWNT still had a bitter taste in its mouth from the 2007 World Cup. The coaching styles of April Heinrichs and Greg Ryan had not worked for the team, and many players left that tournament with negative feelings.
Throughout this year’s World Cup, we heard tales of Pia’s optimism and ever-present smile. In our US team we witnessed an incredible level of fitness, a new finesse and the determination to leave everything on the field. Hope Solo, who was left off the team midway through the 2007 World Cup after criticizing Ryan for his decision to start Brianna Scurry against Brazil, said of her coach:
From the moment Pia stepped in she changed the entire dynamic of this team. She’s one of the more laid-back coaches I’ve ever had. She wants to help the players be creative and think for themselves on the field. I think a lot of American-style coaches, they try to be more involved in every pass, every play.
Every player likes to have a bit of freedom on the field and it brings the joy back to us, back to the time when you’re a little kid and just played for the fun of it.
Though she often appears serene on the sidelines, her coaching style is one of “positive reinforcement, loyalty and…endless optimism.” It is said that Pia only ever tells her players positive things and leaves the criticism to her assistant coaches. She is almost always happy, sometimes singing songs for her team (and even for the press).
“My glass is always half full,” says Pia.
I think it’s contagious. We didn’t end up on top this time, but I am confident that Pia’s eternal optimism will continue to give spirit to the US team and lead us to great things in the future.
Thanks for being our coach, Pia. And for reminding us to believe.
-HD
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