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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