Women in Europe: Emily Sonnett wins Sweden's Damallsvenskan

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Nov 8, 2020

Emily Sonnett won the 2020 Damallsvenskan when her Swedish club, Kopparbergs/Goteborg FC, clinched the league title with a 7-0 win over Linkoping on Saturday.

The U.S. national team defender moved on loan from the Orlando Pride in August and has appeared in nine matches, making eight starts. Sonnett won the NWSL Shield with the Portland Thorns in 2016 and the NWSL championship with the Thorns in 2017. She helped Sydney FC win Australia’s W-League in 2018.

Sonnett was traded from Portland to the Pride prior to the start of the 2020 NWSL season. Orlando did not compete in the NWSL Challenge Cup due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

The only other Americans who won the Damallsvenskan in the last decade are Meghan Klingenberg (Tyreso) in 2012 and Hallie Mace (Rosengard) in 2019.

The COVID-19 mink outbreak in Denmark forced the Gjensidige Kvindeliga, the elite Danish women's league, to shut down with two rounds left in the first stage.

FC Thy-ThistedQ and Fortuna Hiorring are located in the North and West Jutland region, which has been hit hard by the outbreak. Fears of the spread of a mutant virus contracted from mink has quickly escalated into an international crisis.

The United Kingdom has implemented a ban on foreign nationals traveling from Denmark, making no exemptions for elite athletes. The ban threatens UEFA Nations League matches and UEFA Champions League matches after the international break.

Danish soccer authorities decided to postpone the final two rounds until the spring because half the matches in the eight-team league would have to be postponed.

Koge, which regularly starts five Americans, is tied for first place with Brondby.

Shannon Simon scored the go-ahead goal in Aland United's 3-1 title-clinching win at Honka on the final day of Finland's Naisten Liiga.

The goal was the first of the season for Simon, who played at the University of Washington. Aland United went into the final day of the season in a tie with TiPS, which had to settle for a 1-1 draw with KuPS.

Ashley Riefner, who is in her fifth season in Finland, also started for Aland United, which already won the Finnish cup title in August.