Comments on: Damallsvenskan: Super Cup Goes to Göteborg

By: Rainer Fußgänger

Rainer Fußgänger — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:54:51 +0000

@wosofan: I totally agree with you about Christen Press. She has been one of my favourite players since I first saw her play for magicJack in the WPS (on the internet) and the reason is primarily that she just shoots from every angle and is very fast. We’ll see a lot from her this season, even more than last year. And Hammarström gained certainly confidence of the fact that Pia Sundhage said that she is her current #1 goalkeeper.

@GambitSWE: You are right, it was the second and not the third PK shoot out between the sides, though even last year’s final was decided by a penalty that Marlene Sjöberg took in overtime like you say. Yael Averbuch was pretty impressed by Tyresö since she said that they’ve been somehow lucky and had played against one of the best teams in Europe.
However, it is still a long way to go to be able to meet Lyon and have a 50/50 chance of winning against them in two matches. But Olympique Lyonnais is in my eyes the best team in the world. It would be great to see them against the USWNT, Germany or Japan for once.

By: GambitSWE

GambitSWE — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:44:42 +0000

A nice read, however, it was “only” the second time a final between these two teams were decided in a penalty shooting. The second final, last year, was decided in Extra Time. Though it was a pk that decided that game, when Marlene Sjöberg gave the Gothenburg team the 2-1 lead, that eventually also became the full-time score.

By: wosofan

wosofan — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 23:43:23 +0000

Worth mentioning that Christen Press’s goal was pure class: taking an aerial pass off her chest, while on the move, and then turning it quickly past Hammarstrom. I am consistently impressed by her readiness to receive and take shots — i.e., her first touches are usually good. Remarkable to see the improvement/confidence in a player who first played for Goteborg in Champions League, just one year ago.

Hard to understand why Goteborg’s Schough was not in the starting IX v. Juvisy, as she is a constant offensive threat. Anyway, Goteborg played much, much better than they did in either match against Juvisy, and I wonder if that’s because of Schough getting more time to play, Goteborg’s familiarity with Tyreso, or maybe Juvisy is that much better an opponent? (Would love to hear Yael’s opinion on that, as she had to agree that they played much better).

Finally, based on this and other recent performances, I would rate Hammarstrom as among the top few goalkeepers in the world right now, and that’s certainly a big plus for Sweden heading into the Euros.