A new study in Sweden has demonstrated that there is no such thing as a dumb soccer player. Astudy of elite soccer players — 57 male and 26 female soccer players from Sweden’s three top divisions — showed that they scored above average — compared to a nationwide sample — for “executivefunction” and their cognitive […]
sweden
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Lagom Part 1: 'Enough is no feast!'
[THE PITCH] I’ve gone on before about just how difficult the Swedish language is to learn. The pronunciation of a single word can take several tries, andstill, a subtle mistake results in a botched mess. My teammates laugh as I push my face forward, straining to mimic the movement of their lips. The Swedish people […]
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Snapshots from Sweden
Off The Post! In Sweden, it’s allll about the Fika. Fika is a social institution here; it means having a coffee break and a treat. The word “Fika” can serve as both a verb and a noun and has quite ambiguous connotations, so the Swedeshave fun with it. But it is a tradition central to […]
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Yanks advance in UEFA Women's Champions League
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Three Americans moved into the semifinals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League with wins. Goalie AlyssaNaeher earned her second shutout and Alex Singer also started for German club 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam in its 3-0 win at Russia’s Rossiyanka to advance,5-0, on aggregate. Gina Lewandowski started for 1. FFC Frankfurt in its 3-0 […]
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My Valhalla aha! Moment
[THE PITCH] Why is it that the minute the alarm goes off in the morning the bed feels so warm and cozy? The weight of the covers is secure but not oppressive.Sometimes I think I could lie in bed forever and be perfectly content, snug and safe… The morning of Feb. 15, however, was not […]
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Morgan hat trick powers USA to third
[ALGARVE CUP] Alex Morgan scored the first hat trick of her career to lead the USA to a 4-0 win over Sweden in the third-place game at theAlgarve Cup. It snaps a three-game winless streak against Sweden. Germany, which didn’t qualify for the London Olympics, beat Women’s World Cup champion Japan, 4-3, for the Algarve […]
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MLS preseason this week …
[SCOREBOARD] The Montreal Impact fell to the Houston Dynamo, 2-0, in the expansion team’s first exhibition game against an MLS team. The Dynamo won its fourthgame by shutout in four games on second-half goals by Colin Clark and Cam Weaver. The Columbus Crew fell to Malmo ofSweden, 2-1, in its first game of the preseason […]
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Seattle and San Jose sign international defenders
[MLS TRANSACTIONS] The Seattle Sounders signed Swedish international defender Adam Johansson from IFK Gothenburg to amulti-year contract. The San Jose Earthquakes acquired Honduran international defender Victor Bernardez, who spent three seasons with Belgian giant Anderlechtbefore playing for Lierse (Belgium) and Indios (Mexico) while on loan. The Houston Dynamo is the sixth stop for 24-year-old Nathan […]
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MLS preseason tournaments
[DATEBOOK] MLS clubs will play in four domestic tournaments that will conclude the weekend of March 3-4, one week before the 2012 First Kick. The tournamentswill be hosted by ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla., the Portland Timbers, USL PRO’s Charleston Battery and PDL’s FC Tucson. Two teams from Sweden, BK Hacken and […]
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Swedish club taps into college pipeline for Span
[AMERICANS ABROAD] You win some, you lose some. MLS beat out a number of Scandinavian clubs, including Sweden’s Djurgarden, for Akron’s Darren Mattocks, but it lost Virginia sophomore Cobi Span, who was projected to be a top 10 pick in the MLS SuperDraft. He was a second-team All-ACC selection in 2011, scoring seven goals and […]