Pia Mariane Sundhage (Swedish pronunciation:[ˈpîːaˈsɵ̂nːdˌhɑːɡɛ], born 13 February 1960) is a Swedish football manager and former professional player. Currently, she is coaching Switzerland.[5] As a player, Sundhage played most of her career as a forward and retired as the top scorer for the Sweden national team.
Sundhage started with IFK Ulricehamn as a youth player and eventually moved to Falköpings KIK in 1978. She then joined Jitex BK from 1979 to 1981. Sundhage played 1982 to 1983 with Östers IF, scoring 30 times in her first season with the club and chipping in 35 more in her second season. 1984 saw a move back to Jitex BK, while 1985 saw Sundhage split time between Stattena IF, S.S. Lazio (where she scored 17 times), and Jitex BK. She played the 1986 season with Hammarby IF DFF, before she moved back to Jitex BK from 1979 through 1989. Sundhage finished her career with Hammarby IF DFF, playing from 1990 until she retired in 1996.
She won four Damallsvenskan championships, all with Jitex BK, as well as two additional Svenska Cupen with the club. She also won two Svenska Cupen with Hammarby IF DFF.
International career
Sundhage made her first appearance for the Sweden national team as a 15-year-old in 1975, eventually amassing 146 caps and scoring 71 goals for her country.[6] Her 71 goals gave her joint-lead with Lena Videkull for the most in the Sweden national team history, a record which has since been surpassed by both Hanna Ljungberg and Lotta Schelin.
Pia Sundhage was announced as the United States women's national team head coach on 13 November 2007.[9] She became the seventh head coach in the U.S. team's history and the third woman. Lauren Gregg was in charge for 3 games in 2000, April Heinrichs led the squad from 2000–2004 and won the 2004 Summer Olympics, while Sundhage served as a scout for the United States during the 2004 Olympics.
United States women's national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics
She coached the women's team to the final of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, where the team advanced to the final for the first time since 1999. However, they were upset by Japan, losing 3–1 on penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw.[10] A year later, Sundhage coached the USWNT to another gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, defeating Japan 2–1 in a Women's World Cup final rematch, with Carli Lloyd scoring both goals.[11]
On 1 September 2012, Sundhage announced she was stepping down as the U.S women's head coach having expressed a desire to seek opportunities in her native Sweden. Sundhage announced she would coach the U.S. team's games on 16 and 19 September on the team's Olympic victory tour before officially resigning. "I have days where I think, 'What am I doing?' and there are other days where I'm like, 'I'm all up for this next challenge'" Sundhage said upon announcing her departing the US women's national team.[12] She coached her last game against Australia as part the team's Olympic victory tour on 19 September, defeating them 6–2. With this final win Sundhage was able to leave the team with a 91–6–10 win–loss–tie record that included two Olympic gold medals and a second-place finish at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.[13]
Sweden women's national team
The Swedish Football Association announced early 2 September 2012 that Sundhage signed a four-year contract that starts on 1 December. The announcement came hours after Sundhage's match as coach of the U.S. women's team, an 8–0 win in a friendly match against Costa Rica; the first of a series organized to celebrate the winning of gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Sundhage replaced Thomas Dennerby, who resigned after Sweden failed to reach the semifinals in 2012 Olympics.[14] "I have long dreamed of becoming Sweden coach and now I am so happy" Sundhage said.[15] Sundhage's first major tournament as coach of the Sweden team was the 2013 European championship, which Sweden hosted;[16] Sweden lost 0–1 in the semi-final to Germany, which won the championship. In the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Sweden advanced from their group after 3 consecutive draws (including a scoreless draw with eventual champions USA, but lost 4-1 to Germany in the Round of 16.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Sundhage's Sweden started slow, following up an opening 1-0 win over South Africa with a 1-5 loss vs the hosts (and her future employers), Brazil. However, a scoreless draw against China enabled Sweden to advance to the quarterfinals on a tiebreaker, where her team faced her former USA squad. Deploying defense-first tactics[note 1] and very physical play,[18] Sweden neutralized the top-ranked American attack, capitalized on a breakaway at 61', and held on through extra time to win in a penalty shootout. The victory marked the first instance of the USA being eliminated before reaching the medal rounds at the Olympics. Sweden would go on to a rematch with Brazil in the semifinals, which they would also win in penalties after a scoreless draw. With a 2-1 defeat to Germany in the Gold Medal match, Sweden won their first Olympic medal in women's football.
After a disappointing quarterfinal exit in the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 tournament, in August 2017, Sundhage stepped down as coach of the women's national team, a move which had been announced the previous Fall.[19] In November 2017, the Swedish Football Association announced the appointment of Sundhage as the new Sweden women's national under-17 football team head coach. Sundhage took over her new duties on 1 January 2018.[20]
In January 2010, Sundhage mentioned in a Swedish TV interview that as a lesbian she has not felt any homophobia as a coach. "There has been no problem for me to be openly gay as head coach in the U.S.," said Sundhage.[22]
Career statistics
Matches and goals scored at World Cup and Olympic tournaments
Key (expand for notes on "world cup and olympic goals")
Location
Geographic location of the venue where the competition occurred
Lineup
Start – played entire match onminute (offplayer) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time
offminute (onplayer) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time
(c) – captain
Min
The minute in the match the goal was scored. For list that include caps, blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal.
Assist/pass
The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information.
penalty or pk
Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.)
Score
The match score after the goal was scored.
Result
The final score.
W – match was won L – match was lost to opponent D – match was drawn
(W) – penalty-shoot-out was won after a drawn match
(L) – penalty-shoot-out was lost after a drawn match
aet
The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation
pso
Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parentheses; the match was tied at the end of extra-time
Orange background color – Olympic women's football tournament
Blue background color – FIFA women's world cup final tournament
^Official Results: Football. Vol. 12. Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. 1996. p. 14. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
^Sweden's defensive setup also drew angry postgame remarks from Hope Solo, Sundhage's former longtime goalkeeper at the USWNT, which resulted in an end to Solo's international career.[17]
^The 1984 European Championship was won by Sweden on penalty kicks when both legs ended 1-0.[23]
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pia Sundhage.
