Her 2011
2011 was a successful year for Pia Sundhage and the USA Women’s national team. In March, the side coached by the former Sweden international won the Algarve Cup for the eighth time. At the prestigious tournament in Portugal, USA beat Japan (2-1), Norway (2-0), Finland (4-0) and Iceland (4-2) to secure the trophy.
The North Americans also boast an impressive playing record for the year. In 19 matches, Sundhage and her team only left the field defeated on four occasions, two of them at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™ in Germany. The US, who remain top of the FIFA Women’s World Ranking, lost in the group stage to Sweden, their coach’s home country. The second defeat came in the dramatic final against Japan, a thrilling encounter that went all the way to penalties.
Her career
Few CV’s in the women’s game can match that of legendary Swedish player, and current USA coach, Pia Sundhage. Aside from a brief stint in Italy, Sundhage played for nearly two decades in the Swedish league in an era when the Damallsvenskan could arguably claim to be the best in the world. Four league titles and four Swedish cups was just part of the success story for a player who featured in virtually every outfield position in her career. However it is for her international achievements for which Sundhage is most renowned, having amassed 146 caps and a then national record of 71 goals in a 22-year career for Sweden.
With a decade of coaching experience in her native Sweden, Sundhage assumed the reins of Boston Breakers in the US winning the league title in her first year stateside, duly being named 2003 WUSA Coach of the Year. After working as an assistant to compatriot Marika Domanski Lyfors with China at the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup™, the affable Sundhage landed the role of national team coach with world No1 ranked nation USA at the end of 2007. Success was almost immediate with USA claiming the gold medal at the 2008 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.
