Today's Out Spotlight is a former soccer player (footballer) who started their career in their native Sweden and who is now leading the USA Women's Soccer Team into today's World Cup Final. Today's Out Spotlight is USA Women's Soccer Head Coach Pia Sundhage.
Pia Sundhage was born February 13, 1960, in Sweden. Most know for playing as a forward for the majority of her career, she had stints as a midfielder and as a sweeper.
Sundhage started playing soccer with the IFK Ulricehamn club at 14 as a youth player and eventually moved to Falköpings KIK club in 1978.
She then joined Jitex BK from 1979 to 1981 and then played two seasons in with the Östers IF club, scoring 30 times in her first season with them and 35 times in her second season. She went back to Jitex in 1984, and then split her playing time the following season between Stattena IF, S.S. Lazio (where she scored 17 times), and Jitex. Traded in 1986, she played with Hammarby IF DFF, before she went back to Jitex BK where played till 1989. She finished her career back with Hammarby playing seven seasons from 1990 until she retired in 1996 at the age of 36.
Sundhage has 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.
Sundhage made her first appearance for the Swedish National Team in 1974 at the age of 14, eventually amassing 146 caps and scoring 71 goals for her country of the course of her career with the national team. Her 71 goals gave her joint-lead with Lena Videkull for the most in the Swedish National Team history, a record which has since been surpassed by Hanna Ljungberg.
She played for Sweden in the 1991 and 1995 (a third place finish) FIFA Women's World Cup as well as played in the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 1984 she won the UEFA Women's Championship. Her image appeared on a Swedish postage stamp in 1988.In 2000, she finished sixth in the voting for FIFA Women's Player of the Century.
Sundhage got her start in coaching as a player/manager when she was with Hammarby club from 1992 to 1994. After retiring took assistants jobs with Vallentuna BK from 1998 to 1999 and with AIK Fotboll Dam before coming to the United States to become an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Charge in the newly established Women's United Soccer Association.
Following the Charge she was hired as head coach by Boston Breakers. She led the Breakers to win the league title. She was named the 2003 WUSA Coach of the Year for her work leading the team to the title.
After the WUSA league folded she returned to Scandinavia to coach.
Her relationship with the Boston Breakers led United States Women's National Team captain Kristine Lilly and fellow USWNT player Kate Markgraf to joining her in the Sweden. Lilly said she "wanted to play for Pia again."
She served as an assistant coach to Marika Domanski Lyfors for the China Women's National Team during the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.
On November 13, 2007 Sundhage was announced as the United States Women's National Team head coach. She became the first foreign born coach for the team, the seventh head coach in the U.S. team's history and the third woman.This was not her first job with the USA team, Sundhage served as a scout for the US during the 2004 Summer Olympics.
While at the helm of the US team, Sundhage has lead the team to win the 2008 Algarve Cup and the Gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. On the verge of winning the 2009 Algarve Cup,the USA team lost to Sundhage's native Sweden on penalties.Her sexuality was no secret among those in-the-know, and Sundhage said lived an out life, there was no need for a press conference. In January 2010, she publicly came out on Swedish television. In an interview with TV she Lasse Bengtsson, she said, “There has been no problem for me to be openly gay as head coach in the U.S.” and spoke of her girlfriend, Marie. Sundhage is the first openly gay coach of a team sport.
Good luck Coach Sundhage and the USA Women's Soccer!