Sweden’s Champion of Women’s Soccer Pia Sundhage is one of Sweden’s best female soccer players of all times. As a coach, she has gone on to lead the United States women’s national team to two Olympic golds and the Swedish team to a silver. Now, she is trying to do the same for Brazil at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
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By Kajsa Norman
hen Pia grew up in the 1960s, there was no such thing as women’s soccer. “Soccer was a sport for men, something that girls shouldn’t even consider,” she recalls. However, young Pia quicky discovered she enjoyed kicking the ball, and she was good at it. In her hometown of Marbäck outside Ulricehamn, she was considered an odd bird, but the boys still allowed her to play with them. On the local soccer pitch, Pia pretended to play for Brazil, Sweden or West Germany (as it was called back then). Somedays she was Pelé, other days Beckenbauer. One day, the coach of the local boys’ team came up to Pia and asked if she wanted to play a proper soccer match. Pia was thrilled, but the offer came with a caveat; she’d have to pretend to be a boy. “He came up with the name Pelle instead of Pia, so for two years my name was Pelle and that allowed me to play soccer on the boys’ team,” she recalls. In 1971, at age 11, Pia played her first match with a women’s soccer team, IFK Ulricehamn. By the age of 15, she was playing for the Swedish National Team. Swedish Press | July-Sept 2021 | 14
In 1984, Sweden won the European Women’s Championship, or European Competition for Women's Football, as it was called back then. Pia scored the winning goal against England Pia Sundhage was the head coach of the Swedish women’s national soccer in the final. She team 2012-2017, coaching the team to success. Photo: TVsporten/SVT also scored both goals in the semi-final against Italy, led the team to an Olympic gold at the making such an impression on the 2008 Summer Olympics. Afterwards, Italians that S.S. Lazio offered her a all American Olympic gold medalists contract. In 1985, at the age of 25, Pia were invited to the White House to became Sweden’s first female profesmeet President George W Bush, but sional soccer player. Pia turned down the invitation. “I’m After a successful career where simply not impressed by big men,” she Pia participated in 146 matches with explains. Team Sweden, scoring an incredible Pia also coached the American 71 goals, she transitioned to coaching. team to a silver in the 2011 FIFA “After 22 years on the women’s naWomen's World Cup, where the US tional team it felt like a natural next advanced to the final for the first time step,” she says. since 1999. And in the 2012 Summer Pia began coaching Swedish teams Olympics, they won gold again. Pia’s in the 1990s before crossing the success led to her being named FIFA Atlantic in the early 2000s to coach women’s soccer teams the Philadelphia Charge and the Boston Breakers. In 2007, she served as an assistant coach for the Chinese women's national team during the FIFA Women's Pia Sundhage is one of the most successful US World Cup. That same year, she was managers. She reached a World Cup final and offered the job as head coach of the won two Olympic golds. Photo: ESPN.com United States women's national team. World Coach of the Year in 2012. “I screamed out loud,” she recalls. That same year, Pia returned to “Just imagine being given the opporSweden where she became head coach tunity to coach the best team in the world as they are heading to the Olym- of the Swedish women’s national soccer team, coaching them to bronze in pics, and I got to pick the path.” the European Championships and a Her first year as their coach, Pia
