The Swedish national team had Sunday night to console themselves about their 2-1 extra-time loss to Germany in the Final of the FIFA Women's World Cup USA 2003.

On Monday, they boarded a plane at Los Angeles International Airport for a nearly 13-hour flight back to Sweden. Once in Stockholm, the players would say their last goodbyes to one another and head for home. On Tuesday, they will be back at practice, this time with their club teams. But the agony of their loss will not be that hard to forget.

"I think everyone right now feels really bad," said midfielder Frida Östberg. "It's hard enough to lose but to lose the way we did, especially when we don't feel like we deserved to lose, that's really hard."

Östberg, along with Hanna Ljungberg, Malin Moström, Sofia Lundgren, Anna Sjöström and Hanna Marklund, plays for Umeå IK, the three-time defending Swedish champions. The Swedish women's league, the Damallsvenskan, took a four-week break for USA 2003. Three games remain in the season, and 17 out of 20 players face matches that will decide which team wins the league title.

"We will just have to be ready. That's how it is," Östberg said. "I don't know how much we're thinking about playing on Thursday. We still have to get over today."

Östberg and her team mates, both club and international, said getting over Sunday would likely take more than just a plane ride home.

"It's going to take a while. I think this will take a long time to get over," Östberg said. "This is the kind of loss that stays with you and bothers you. Today we played our best and we lost. That's fine, but the way we lost makes it hard to take. At the same time, we have to get it over and get ready for our next game."

Moström said there was only one reason why she and her teammates would work to put the loss in the Final out of their minds quickly.

"We have to. We have to be prepared," she said. "The Allsvenskan keeps going on. We'll have some hard hours now, but we will relax and collect our minds."

The Swedish league might also give at least some of the players a consolation prize for USA 2003. Djurgården Älvsjö, home to Victoria Svensson, Jane Törnqvist, Linda Fagerström and Sara Johansson, holds a four-point lead over Umeå. Malmö FF, home to Malin Andersson, Caroline Jönsson, Karolina Westberg and four other players, trails Umeå by four points. Svensson said the tight race back home would give her and her Djurgården teammates a reason to put the Final out of their minds, at least for a little while.

"We have something to play for at home, for first place, so I don't think it will be a problem," Svensson said. "We have many good players at home so we'll see."

Svensson faces a Stockholm derby match on Thursday as Djurgården battles Hammarby. Umeå plays a tough Mallbacken side while Malmö plays Östers. Three days later, on 19 October, Djurgården meets Umeå in a clash in Stockholm that could decide the Swedish domestic championship. Östberg said as disappointed as the players are, they would be ready for their league ties.

"When we go home to Umeå, I think we'll be ready to play," Östberg said. "I'm not that worried about that. Everyone back at Umeå has been training while we've been over here, so they will be ready to play."

Östberg also said Sweden's performance at USA 2003 could spur interest in the Damallsvenskan. "I hope so," she said, "and I hope the Swedish people see everything we've done and see how well we have done. Unfortunately we didn't win today but hopefully people will see what we did and support us."

Ljungberg, however, was not quite ready to leave the Final and start thinking about a match in five days. Red eyed and tired, the Sweden and Umeå forward gave a weak smile and said, "That's Thursday. Right now, we're still thinking about the World Cup. Thursday will take care of itself."