With up to nine Australians aiming to compete in top level domestic Nordic competitions in 2020, Beyond 90 will be keeping readers up to date with how our players and the teams they are playing in are faring.
The weekend saw the commencement of the Norwegian Toppserien, and with a handful of Aussies signed up to play, this week is a suitable point from which to commence a 2020 Nordic football wrap.
The other 2020 Nordic competitions of interest are Sweden’s Damallsvenskan league, and Iceland’s Urvalsdeild Kvenna league, both of which will also be included in this wrap.
One game per week is televised live on Norwegian free to air TV, with the opening game of the season available to stream via NRK TV. This match was between two highly fancied teams: Karly Roestbakken‘s LSK Kvinner were playing away to Rosenborg. (If you have a translate browser extension, subtitles and commentary are available in English. Roestbakken is also interviewed this week as part of the coverage).
To watch all games in the league, follow the instructions in the Beyond 90 Season 2020 preview.
After alternating in pre-season training games between right wingback and defensive holding midfield, Roestbakken settled into wingback for the opening game, playing out the entire 90 minutes there. She played with energy in a game that was played at high tempo in cool and damp conditions, and contributed as much in attack as she did in build-up and defence.
LSK Kvinner looked as if they were headed for a 1-0 win when a goalkeeper error with ten minutes to go brought Rosenborg back into the game. The game finished as a 1-1 draw.
Teagan Micah played a key role in Arna-Bjørnar‘s 1-0 win over RØA, diving low to block a close range shot in the early part of the game, then being tidy in her work as shot stopper for the remainder of the game after her team took a one goal lead.
Micah’s efforts were recognised by the official Toppserien Facebook account, making the team of the week. W-League fans will also recognise Canberra United’s Elise Thorsnes in the team of the week, after she scored for Avaldsnes in their victory.
Katrina Gorry posted on Instagram that she has arrived in Norway for her season with Avaldsnes, and is expected to be available as early as their Round 2 game. There’s no sign yet that fellow Matilda Clare Polkinghorne has departed Australia to join her at Avaldsnes, but this surely cannot be too far away.
Nikola Orgill‘s Kolbotn finished the round off, playing out a scoreless draw at right wingback against Klepp. Orgill played until the 63rd minute but looked untroubled by the groin strain which saw her sit out her team’s final pre-season training game. The substitution looked planned and precautionary, so she will hopefully be better for the run.
Matilda Tameka Yallop is still clearly in Klepp’s thoughts for their 2020 campaign, with Klepp posting a happy birthday message to Yallop two weeks ago. The message in the post included the following translated sentiment “…Tameka is an important and experienced player in the group … She is a very technical and determined player who we look forward to bringing home to Norway.💚”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBfzhcljnAJ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Round 1 results
(teams with Australian players in the squad are shown in bold)
| Rosenborg | 1 – 1 | LSK Kvinner |
| RØA | 0 – 1 | Arna-Bjørnar |
| Avaldsnes | 5 – 2 | Lyn |
| Sandviken | 3 – 2 | Vålerenga |
| Klepp | 0 – 0 | Kolbotn |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Avaldsnes | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | Sandviken | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Arna-Bjørnar | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | LSK Kvinner | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Rosenborg | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Klepp | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Kolbotn | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Vålerenga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
| 9 | RØA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 10 | Lyn | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 0 |
The Swedish Damallsvenskan 2020 season is a week ahead of the Toppserien: the second round was played on the weekend. The sole Australian in the competition is Matilda Elise Kellond-Knight, who was employed at left half in Kristianstads‘ Round 1 game, but lined up in her more customary role at 6 (holding defensive midfield) this week.
Unfortunately the outing was a short one for Kellond-Knight as she was substituted in just the seventh minute, with at least one tweet remarking on a possible knee issue, but this is yet to be substantiated.
Kristianstads were to lose 1-0 in this game against Rosengård.
Round 2 results
| Växjö | 1 – 1 | IK Uppsala |
| Eskilstuna | 1 – 1 | Göteborg |
| Kristianstads | 0 – 1 | Rosengård |
| Djurgårdens | 1 – 1 | Umeå |
| Vittsjö GIK | 1 – 2 | Linköping |
| Piteå | 1 – 1 | Örebro |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Linköping | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | Rosengård | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | Göteborg | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | IK Uppsala | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Piteå | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | Örebro | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Eskilstuna | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Djurgårdens | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 1 |
| 9 | Umeå | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 1 |
| 10 | Växjö | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 1 |
| 11 | Vittsjö GIK | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
| 12 | Kristianstads | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 0 |
Laura Hughes played 84 minutes of Thróttur Reykjavík’s 2-1 away victory against FH Hafnarfjörður in their Round 5 game, marking her team’s first competition win this season.
Hughes will likely soon have Aussie company in the Icelandic competition, with the recent news that Melbourne Victory’s Angie Beard has signed for crosstown rivals KR Reykjavík.
After a really strong W-League season with Melbourne Victory, reports out of Iceland say defender Angie Beard has joined KR Reykjavík. https://t.co/NYkTqAcE2o
— Anna Harrington (@AnnaHarrington) July 2, 2020
Finally, if you are feeling in the need of some inspiration, look no further than the story of the new Iceland national team crest below. Four mythical beast protectors which are key to the rich cultural history of the nation are represented as one in the crest, for your ‘Wow’ moment of today :
Our new national team crest. pic.twitter.com/6Bk17WeO5u
— Knattspyrnusambandið (@footballiceland) July 1, 2020
Round 5 results
(Only 2 games played this round)
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Valur R | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 15 | 15 |
| 2 | Breiðablik | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 9 |
| 3 | Fylkir | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | UMF Selfoss | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 5 | Þór/KA | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| 6 | Stjarnan | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | -5 | 6 |
| 7 | Thróttur | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 9 | -1 | 4 |
| 8 | ÍBV | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 11 | -6 | 3 |
| 9 | FH Hafnarfjörður | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 10 | -9 | 0 |
| 10 | KR Reykjavik | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 12 | -11 | 0 |
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