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Gothenburg FC were able to celebrate the club’s first Swedish Championship gold with a medal ceremony in front of the nearly empty stands. Now, like last year’s champion Rosengård, they aim for the Champions League in December. But for Gothenburg, it will be without Emma Berglund.
Gold celebration in Gothenburg! Goalkeeper Jennifer Falk cheers alongside, among others, Rebecka Blomqvist and Emma Berglund, both partially obscured by the trophy the team just received.
Göteborg FC did their job and also won the last game of the damallsvenskan: 3-1 against Vittsjö. Gold was already assured last weekend, when they beat Linköping 7-0.
Karl-Erik Nilsson, president of the Swedish Football Association, presented the Swedish Championship trophy and gold medals after the match. But no public (except family members) were allowed in to experience the great and happy moment at the Valhalla sports ground near Scandinavium.
The team party scheduled for Sunday has also been canceled.
However, the season is not over because the Swedish Championship gold has been awarded. The Champions League, to which Gothenburg has qualified with second place in 2019, will play the round of 16 this year in December.
Gothenburg is one of the lower-ranked teams, starting with a home game on December 9 or 10, with a home return on December 15 or 16.
The champion team will have a new team captain in the next CL matches. Emma Berglund does not get a new contract and made her last game for Gothenburg in celebration of the Allsvenskan gold.
– As of today I am free, says Emma Berglund shortly after the medal ceremony.
She thinks that the Gothenburg team developed during the year. She is particularly impressed by what happened, mentally, when the team rebounded from the slump it had at the end of the summer.
– It was strong to get out of it, then back to having the favorite and then being able to show that we can handle it, says Emma Berglund.
Now she is eager to have both tendons operated in early December. The pain in the hamstring has been unsettling for the 31-year-old midfielder.
More golden heroes may be missing when Gothenburg enters the Champions League.
The national team midfielder Julia Zigiotti Olme will be operated on for hip problems.
– I have been injured for a year and have played with some syringes, says Zigiotti Olme.
Blomqvist was exuberantly happy after the medal ceremony. He declined to say anything about the future, but notes that he has had less playing time this year than before.
– I’m not happy with that, says Rebecka Blomqvist.
Finnish national team player Natalia Kuikka is also about to leave Gothenburg for Portland in the US league, according to GP:
If Gothenburg barks big and makes it all the way to the Champions League final, the team will have a home field in the final, which will be played in Gamla Ullevi on May 16.
Swedish teacher
The champion of recent years in damallsvenskan:
2010: FC Malmö (now Rosengård)
2011: FC Malmö
2012: Tyresö
2013: FC Malmö
2014: Rosengård
2015: Rosengård
2016: Linköping
2017: Linköping
2018: Piteå
2019: Rosengård
2020: Gothenburg FC
