Reaction from England and Sweden to Zlatan's 4-goal Master Class vs. England at Friends Arena. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's play and goals against England have him hailed around the world

HDPremierleague YouTube Channel video: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Bicycle Goal in Sweden's 4-2 win over England at Friends Arena, Stockholm on November 14, 2012.
http://youtu.be/az4mFb18DUE

Reaction from England and Sweden to Zlatan's 4-goal Master Class vs. England at Friends Arena on Wednesday. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's play and goals against England have him hailed around the world 



TV4 Sweden video: Engelska Sky hyllar Zlatan: "Snyggaste målet jag har sett"; British SkyTV celebrates Zlatan: Best-looking goal I've ever seen; highlights of England at Sweden from SkySports November 15, 2012.

http://www.tv4play.se/program/fotbollsklipp?video_id=2240470&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se

                   
                   
                   
                   
                

The Guardian's sports editor Ian Prior speaks to the worldwide reaction to 35-yard overhead kick. November 15, 2012.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2012/nov/15/zlatan-ibrahimovic-strike-video

The Guardian

Steven Gerrard: Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal was best I've ever seen

• England captain hails Swede's 'special' performance

• Fourth goal was 'better than Rooney's against City'

By Dominic Fifield at Friends Arena, Stockholm

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Steven Gerrard's achievement in becoming the sixth player to gain a century of England caps ended overshadowed with the midfielder conceding Zlatan Ibrahimovic's stunning fourth goal was the best he had ever seen.

Read the rest of the article at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/nov/15/steven-gerrard-zlatan-ibrahimovic-best

TV4 football expert Olof Lundh: (Paraphrased) - It's not even a script that Hollywood would think of creating for Sweden's first game in their new national stadium.
http://www.tv4play.se/program/sporten?video_id=2240422&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se 

England vs. Sweden today: Steven Gerrard set to get 100th Cap today in Stockholm with 3 rookies starting for Three Lions as England meets Sweden tonight in Friends Arena's inaugural international match in Solna -home of next July's Final of UEFA's Women's Euro 2013

England FA YouTube Channel video: Twelve  years after playing in his first match as a member of the English National Team, Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard reflects on tonight's international friendly at Sweden in what will be his 100th match as part of the Three Lions and the first international match to be played at Sweden's new home for the Men and Womens National Team. Uploaded November 14, 2012. http://youtu.be/ZxXp58DlS2s

With temps in the 40's Farenheit, the stadium roof will be closed -match will be aired on TV4 in Sweden.
More match info at: http://svenskfotboll.se/ and http://friendsarena.se/Evenemang/Invigningsmatch-Sverige-England/

I found out last week that the annual national telecast of the St. Lucia concert will be there on December 15th. Sweet! 

http://www.tv4play.se/program/sporten?video_id=2240039&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se&starttime=22
TV4Sport senaste sportnyheterna: Allbäck inför Sverige England: "Ska bli häftigt"
 Allbäck: England-Sweden will be awesome. 


SvenskFotboll YouTube Channel video: Nya Nationalarenan - Friends Arena - från första spadtag till färdig arena New National Arena - Friends Arena - from the groundbreaking ceremony to the final arena. Uploaded November 14, 2012.
http://youtu.be/C1DKagq8X60



SvenskFotboll YouTube Channel video: Marcus Allbäck reveals the starting line-up for  Sweden in their match tonight against England. Uloaded November 14, 2012. http://youtu.be/zJoPjWwjbpA




 SvenskFotboll YouTube Channel video: SvFF:s första presskonferens på Friends Arena 7/11 2012 - svenskfotboll http://youtu.be/bHE48I1hUHU


http://www.england.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=299824

http://svenskfotboll.se/arkiv/landslag/2012/11/truppen-mot-england/

http://www.youtube.com/user/england/

http://www.youtube.com/user/svenskfotboll/


http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/index.html

http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/news/newsid=1887601.html

As expected, it's au revoir! Pia till Sverige: U.S. Women's National Soccer Team coach Pia Sundhage leaving U.S. after five years to return home and coach Sweden, which will host next year's UEFA Women's EURO in July

It's the lead story in the sports section of Aftonbladet
http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/landslagsfotboll/damlandslaget/article15345115.ab

In perhaps the worst-kept sports secret of 2012, after months -and some even say years!- of deliberate and sometimes desperate efforts by everyone involved in Swedish football from head federation authorities at SvFF to average fans to persuade U.S. Women's National Team head coach Pia Sundhage to return to Sweden to head Sveriges damlandslag i fotboll, she has finally said yes.

The Swedish sports media have been pushing for this personnel move for what seems like forever, and during the recent Olympics in London, where Sundhage guided the U.S. squad to their second Gold Medal in her five years, newspapers, blogs and websites throughout the country were constantly writing and positing on what a positive difference Sundhage could make to what is already an extremely talented Swedish squad.

Here is one of the "do everything humanly possible" to get Pia columns I came across over the past few months, with slight variations depending upon who was saying it or writing it:
Simon Bank: Gör allt som är mänskligt möjligt för att anställa Pia till EM
http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/kronikorer/bank/article15240473.ab

Unfortunately for coach Thomas Dennerby, Sweden was missing some of its best players from last year's strong third-place Women's World Cup squad in Germany
http://youtu.be/MpPO8xSaIUM

That included HBB favorite Josefine Öqvist, who was pregnant, and actually gave birth two weeks before the Olympics began, as I mentioned in my July 25th post last month, to her daughter, Stella.
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/swedish-heartache-we-regret-to-inform.html


It's an understatement to say that Josefine was desperately missed on the offensive side of the field at the Olympics!

Josefine is such a spark plug for the team and has such a sixth sense for the ball that it seems positively uncanny at times.
She leverages her body position in relation to the ball about as well as any female player around, and her knack for putting herself in the right position for a steal or to cleanly receive a ricochet pass that leads to a breakaway, well, sometimes it makes her almost seem like a cartoon character that's moving twice as fast as anyone else on the field.

Not that many of you readers out there in the blogosphere or even here in South Florida will get my reference as clearly as I'd like, but in all sorts of ways, when Josefine's on the field, her savvy, mannerisms and moxie greatly remind me of Miami Norland High School's Cindy Clippinger back in the late 1970's, whom I saw play several times in big games.

For a whole host of reasons not worth getting into here, besides my having very strong feelings for a certain very talented, lanky and attractive German-speaking goalie named Karen at HML
(Hialeah Miami Lakes), who was one of the stars of her team back then when they were winning the Girl's soccer title in the GMAC -the Greater Miami Athletic Conference, the athletic league for Dade County public high schools- I saw quite a lot of Clippinger and never went away unimpressed

Though she attended Norland, one of North Miami Beach's arch-rivals in soccer, Boys and Girls, along with North Miami, the two high schools closest to NMB, she was THE best female soccer player in South Florida that I ever saw -by a mile. And I saw a lot of them. 
(One of my two sisters played at NMB, too, after I left for college at IU.)
Cindy Clippinger was just plain fun to watch!

And if you like irony, and me comparing a wonderful Swedish player now to a wonderful player from more than thirty years ago, you'll like this -Norland High School's sports nickname was -wait for it -the Vikings!

All screenshots of Swedish star midfielder Josefine Öqvist by South Beach Hoosier, July 6, 2011. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

These screenshot I took of Swedish star striker Josefine Öqvist and Team Sweden on July 6, 2011, came during a game at the Women's World Cup in Germany against the U.S.A., which Sweden won 2-1. http://youtu.be/gCsRos4Zp2A

After eight years as head coach, Dennerby resigned a week ago, effective mid-September, having helped Sweden move up -and remain at- the top ranks of Women's football. He deserves a lot of thanks and credit for making them such a respected team.! 
http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/news/newsid=1849242.html
http://www.tv4.se/sport/klipp/caroline-seger-valkomnar-en-forandring-2212604

Last I heard, Josefine says that she WILL be playing again, I just don't know when.
I think we should hold off for a few months and see how she feels after New Year's Day, since there's no point in her setting silly and meaningless deadlines just to keep fans happy, since she could well change her mind.

The Swedish Women's Under-19 squad won the Euro championship for the first time this year,
http://www.uefa.com/womensunder19/season=2012/matches/round=2000218/match=2010243/postmatch/report/index.html#diaz+secures+title+sweden
and is loaded with talent that'll seek to make the big move up to the big National Team in the coming months, since as I've stated a few times here on the blog this year already, next July, Sweden will be hosting the 2013 UEFA Womens Euro, and it's sure to be a very well-attended and exciting three weeks of football.


Sweden will be host the 2013 UEFA Womens Euro from July 10-28th, with the title match in Solna, just north of Stockholm. http://fogis.se/damem2013/
http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/index.html

Here's a short video about the team, the town and the supporters who Josefine plays for, Tyresö FF.


Tyreso TV video: Tyresö FF mer än bara fotboll! (More than just football!!!)
Uploaded Feb. 10, 2011. http://youtu.be/4CpJGnX_-bA

Tomorrow, Sunday, second-place Tyresö FF plays at home against league-leading  Linköping FC for the lead of the 12-team Damallsvenskan, the highest league of Women's football in Sweden, a league that Sundhage was the leading scorer in during the mid-1980's.


FIFA TV video: Sundhage: 'The moment of my football life'. Uploaded August 13, 2012.
http://youtu.be/v4ZmpM2Fu8o -----


Los Angeles Times
Pia Sundhage steps down as U.S. women's soccer coach
By Kevin Baxter
September 1, 2012, 11:15 a.m.

Three weeks after guiding the U.S. women's soccer team to an Olympic title, Pia Sundhage is stepping down as coach to return to her native Sweden.

"It was an honor to be able to coach these players for five years and I learned a tremendous amount from all of them," Sundhage said in a statement released by U.S. Soccer on Saturday.

Read the rest of the story at:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-pia-sundhage-resigns-20120901,0,3286133.story


-----
Svenska Fotbollförbundet -SvFF (Swedish Football Association) homepage: http://svenskfotboll.se/landslag/herrar/

SvFF's WebbTV/videos homepage: http://svenskfotboll.se/webb-tv/

#Euro2012 - Meanwhile, in part owing to both history and karma, Ireland psyches itself up for Euro 2012 in ways that are slightly different than most other countries...

Euro 2012: Ireland - an animated history - The Guardian
http://youtu.be/wqHkQOzrC5U


#Euro2012 - Meanwhile, in part because of history and karma, Ireland psyches itself up for Euro 2012 in ways that are slightly different than most other countries...



Sunday's matches on ESPN, DirecTV Channel 206: 
11:45 a.m Eastern Spain vs. Italy
2:30 p.m. Croatia vs. Ireland




It's Time - Ireland Euro 2012 Promo video
http://youtu.be/LOW1HAHoA9w



JEDWARD - Put The Green Cape On - EURO 2012
http://youtu.be/0eParXVjkPI


Sunday's matches on ESPN, DirecTV Channel 206: 
11:45 a.m Eastern Spain vs. Italy
2:30 p.m. Croatia vs. Ireland

#Euro2012 -Video of BBC's controversial edition of Panorama titled, "Euro 2012 Stadiums of Hate" on the rampant violence, racism & anti-Semitism at football matches in Poland and Ukraine that has inflamed millions; Sol Campbell urges fans to "stay away"; BBC's response to criticism of program

BBC's Panorama "Stadiums of Hate" May 28, 2012.
http://youtu.be/E0f259wCerY


I actually meant to post this controversial video of the May 28th broadcast of the BBC's investigative program Panorma in my last post early this morning about the racist outbursts from the crowd -a minority of the 25,000 there to be sure- at the Dutch training session in Poland on Thursday, but perhaps it's for the best that it now has its own post.



Yesterday, the BBC posted this clip on their website from former England captain Sol Campbell's criticism of Poland and Ukraine being selected as co-hosts for Euro 2012 before they showed they're capable of running something like this BEFORE they've got a firm handle on the overt racism and anti-Semitism present at football matches in their countries, has really riled millions in the two countries, as well as Poles and Ukrainians living in Great Britain.
But many have agreed with his analysis that they weren't worthy in the first place, given  how self-evident the problems STILL are.




http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00tl1z1

BBC video: Sol Campbell: 'Stay away from Euro 2012'  
Article and more video at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18192375


Today on the BBC's website, the show's editor, Tom Giles, has posted his response to criticisms of the program on their "The Editors" blog, which I happen to subscribe to:

'Stadiums of Hate': Legitimate and fair

By Tom Giles 

18:28 UK time, Friday, 8 June 2012

When an investigative current affairs programme like Panorama broadcasts a programme called Euro 2012: Stadiums of Hate 11 days before a major football tournament and which reveals shocking images of racist abuse and violence in the host countries - controversy is to be expected.

Read the rest of the post at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2012/06/stadiums_of_hate_legitimate_an.html

------

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/

Oranjekoorts (Orange fever) at home, but in Poland, Dutch National Team is target of racial abuse in Krakow during team training session for Euro 2012. Info on incident, rumors of cause, and what UEFA is doing as tourney opens Friday; UEFA to players: Just DON'T step off the field!; #Euro2012

CNN video: Dutch National Team is target of racial abuse in Krakow, Poland during team practice for Euro 2012. Pedro Pinto reports from Warsaw on incident, rumors of cause and what UEFA is doing. Tourney starts today as Poland hosts Greece in Warsaw. June 7, 2012.

http://cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2012/06/08/pinto-football-racism-reported.cnn.html

SNTV video: Refs can 'stop games over racism', says UEFA President Platini

http://youtu.be/K7dzeia7ix0

Today's games on ESPN:  

11:30 a.m. Eastern - Greece vs. Poland 

2 p.m. Eastern - Russia vs. Czech Republic

The Netherlands plays Denmark on Saturday, an ESPN match airing at 11:45 a.m. and then plays Germany on Wednesday.

Some of you more regular readers of the blog might recall that my pre-2010 World Cup prediction was that the Orange would win in South Africa, but instead, they lost in a very ugly and depressing way in the title match to Spain, a style that really upset a lot of Dutch football fans at home and around the world.

TRAINING DUTCH TEAM ORANJE FOR EURO 2012 !! NEDERLAND HD

http://youtu.be/6TmXRyThcQw

DUTCH TEAM ORANJE GETTING READY FOR EURO 2012 !!!!

http://youtu.be/zu7wE9GVPL0

One Nation Thinking Only of Orange! (LOL!)

Oranje vlaggetjes zijn levensgevaarlijk voor verkeer

http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1012/Nederland/article/detail/3267314/2012/06/07/Oranje-vlaggetjes-zijn-levensgevaarlijk-voor-verkeer.dhtml

and 

http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/5624/sportwereld/photoalbum/detail/3261250/352272/0/Oranjekoorts-stijgt-in-Goirle.dhtml total of 8 photos

Algemeen Dagblad's Euro 2012 homepage: 

http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/2942/EK-voetbal/index.dhtml

England's first match under new manager Roy Hodgson is against France on Monday; more on that match over the weekend.

All hail 'Roy the Redeemer'!

http://youtu.be/-ovbGWkRY_A 

FA video: Italy vs. England U21 Highlights - Azzurini 1, Lions 0

FA video: Italy vs. England U-21 Highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWVp28AQZ0U

Game story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/9391403.stm and
http://www.uefa.com/under21/news/newsid=1592415.html

http://www.uefa.com/under21/index.html