1.
Stockholm
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The city is spread across 14 islands on the coast in the southeast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago and the Baltic Sea. The area has settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC. It is also the capital of Stockholm County, Stockholm is the cultural, media, political, and economic centre of Sweden. The Stockholm region alone accounts for over a third of the countrys GDP and it is an important global city, and the main centre for corporate headquarters in the Nordic region. The city is home to some of Europes top ranking universities, such as the Stockholm School of Economics, Karolinska Institute and it hosts the annual Nobel Prize ceremonies and banquet at the Stockholm Concert Hall and Stockholm City Hall. One of the citys most prized museums, the Vasa Museum, is the most visited museum in Scandinavia. The Stockholm metro, opened in 1950, is known for its decoration of the stations. Swedens national football arena is located north of the city centre, Ericsson Globe, the national indoor arena, is in the southern part of the city. The city was the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics, and hosted the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics otherwise held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Stockholm is the seat of the Swedish government and most of its agencies, including the highest courts in the judiciary, and the official residencies of the Swedish monarch and the Prime Minister. The government has its seat in the Rosenbad building, the Riksdag is seated in the Parliament House, and the Prime Ministers residence is adjacent at the Sager House. After the Ice Age, around 8,000 BCE, there were already a number of people living in the present-day Stockholm area. Thousands of years later, as the ground thawed, the climate became tolerable, at the intersection of the Baltic Sea and lake Mälaren is an archipelago site where the Old Town of Stockholm was first built from about 1000 CE by Vikings. They had a positive impact on the area because of the trade routes they created. Stockholms location appears in Norse sagas as Agnafit, and in Heimskringla in connection with the legendary king Agne, the earliest written mention of the name Stockholm dates from 1252, by which time the mines in Bergslagen made it an important site in the iron trade. The first part of the name means log in Swedish, although it may also be connected to an old German word meaning fortification, the second part of the name means islet, and is thought to refer to the islet Helgeandsholmen in central Stockholm. Stockholms core, the present Old Town was built on the island next to Helgeandsholmen from the mid 13th century onward. The city originally rose to prominence as a result of the Baltic trade of the Hanseatic League, Stockholm developed strong economic and cultural linkages with Lübeck, Hamburg, Gdańsk, Visby, Reval, and Riga during this time
2.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
3.
Midfielder
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A midfielder is an association football position. Midfielders are generally positioned on the field between their teams defenders and forwards, some midfielders play a disciplined defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are otherwise known as defensive midfielders. Others blur the boundaries, being mobile and efficient in passing, they are commonly referred to as deep-lying midfielders, play-makers, box-to-box. The number of midfielders on a team and their assigned roles depends on the teams formation, most managers assign at least one midfielder to disrupt the opposing teams attacks, while others may be tasked with creating goals, or have equal responsibilities between attack and defence. Midfielders are the players who typically travel the greatest distance during a match, central or centre midfielders are players whose role is divided roughly equally between attack and defence. When the opposing team has the ball, a midfielder may drop back to protect the goal or move forward. The 4–3–3 and 4–5–1 formations each use three central midfielders, the 4−4−2 formation may use two central midfielders, and in the 4–2–3–1 formation one of the two deeper midfielders may be a central midfielder. The term box-to-box midfielder refers to central midfielders who have abilities and are skilled at both defending and attacking. These players can track back to their own box to make tackles and block shots. A good box-to-box midfielder needs good passing, vision, control, stamina, tackling and marking in defence, left and right midfielders have a role balanced between attack and defence, similar to that of central midfielders, but they are positioned closer to the touchlines of the pitch. They may be asked to cross the ball into the penalty area to make scoring chances for their teammates. Common modern formations that include left and right midfielders are the 4−4−2, the 4−4−1−1, the 4–2–3–1, a notable example of a right midfielder is David Beckham. Defensive midfielders are players who focus on protecting their teams goal. These players may defend a zone in front of their teams defence, defensive midfielders may also move to the full-back or centre-back positions if those players move forward to join in an attack. Sergio Busquets described his attitude, The coach knows that I am an obedient player who likes to help out and if I have to run to the wing to cover someones position, great. A good defensive midfielder needs good positional awareness, anticipation of play, marking, tackling, interceptions, passing and great stamina. A holding or deep-lying midfielder stays close to their teams defence, a player in this role will try to protect their goal by disrupting the opponents attacking moves and stopping long shots on the goal. The holding midfielder may also have responsibilities when their team has the ball and this player will make mostly short and simple passes to more attacking members of their team but may try some more difficult passes depending on the teams strategy
4.
Molde FK
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Molde Fotballklubb is a football club from Molde, Norway, that currently plays in the Tippeligaen, the Norwegian top division. Founded on 19 June 1911, Molde was originally known as International, Molde are three-time league champions and four-time Norwegian Cup winners, and have finished 2nd in the league a further seven times. Molde is one of only two Norwegian clubs to have participated in the UEFA Champions League and its home matches are played at Aker Stadion, which has a maximum capacity of 11,800. The stadium was inaugurated in 1998, and was a gift from the local businessmen Kjell Inge Røkke, the club was formerly based at Molde stadion, which hosted the clubs record attendance of 14,615. Moldes supporter club is called Tornekrattet and were started after the 1994 Cup Final victory, until the beginning of the 1970s, the club mainly played in local lower division leagues, except for a short visit in the Hovedserien in the 1957–58 season. In 1974 Molde was back in the top division and finished second in the league, Molde also finished second in the league in 1987, when the club lost the championship to Moss in the decisive match of the season. The club was the first professional club of former Manchester United player Ole Gunnar Solskjær, in his first season as manager, which also was the clubs centenary season, Molde won the league championship for the first time. The next season Solskjær and Molde retained the championship, Today the club has approximately 900 members and around 55 teams in three departments. Molde FK was founded on 19 June 1911 by a group gathered by Klaus Daae Andersen, the same year, on 5 August, the club played its first competitive match. The match away against Kristiansund ended 2–2, the rising interest and activity in football in neighbouring towns caused the club to change its name to Molde Fotballklubb in 1915. Jan Fuglset, Torkild Brakstad, and Harry Hestad, amongst others, the club played in local lower leagues, except for a short visit to the top division in the 1957–58 season. In 1970, Molde was promoted to the tier and played there for three seasons until its promotion to the First Division with a 5–1 win against Sogndal Fotball in Sogndal on 16 September 1973. Molde shocked the clubs in their first season of the Norwegian First Division. Before the last match, Molde would win the league if they beat Sarpsborg, both Molde and Viking won their last match, so Molde won the silver medals, one point behind Viking. Since then, Molde has generally stayed in the top division and has one of the nations leading clubs. The club has produced a number of national team players. Between 1978 and 1984, Molde did not play on the level in two consecutive years. Molde was relegated from the First Division in every even-numbered year, in fact, Molde and Brann did not play at the same level these years, as Brann were promoted when Molde was relegated and the other way around
5.
AIK Fotboll
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Competing in Swedens first tier, Allsvenskan, the club was formed in 1891 in Stockholm City Centre and the football department was formed in 1896. League champions eleven times, winning their latest championship title in 2009, the club holds the record for having played the most seasons in the Swedish top flight. In addition, AIK is the club that has finished top three in Allsvenskan the most times in the current century, AIK is the only side from the Stockholm urban area to have qualified for the group stage of a UEFA competition. The club reached the quarter-finals of the 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners Cup, qualified for the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League group stage, the club is affiliated with the Stockholm Football Association. The name was chosen to reflect that the club was open for everyone, putting football into practice in 1896, AIK were runners-up in the championship only two years later, in 1898. AIK won its first Swedish championship title in 1900, beating Örgryte IS in the final, in 1901, AIK won another title, after a walk-over win against Örgryte IS team II. At the turn of the century, Swedish league football was dominated by Örgryte, however, in the period of 1898–1901 AIK won the championship twice and were runners-up three times. In 1899 the team faced Djurgårdens IF for the first time, AIK did not participate in the Swedish championships of 1902 and 1903, which meant these were played only with teams from Gothenburg. In 1902, AIK instead competed in Svenska bollspelsförbundets tävlingsserie, a competition open only to clubs from Stockholm. AIK competed with two teams in the first year of the competition, finishing fourth and last, as a result, the weaker AIK side was relegated, making the first team the only one from AIK in the highest division. The competition was played until 1909, with AIK winning it in 1908 and 1909, two years after the start of the tävlingsserie,1904, twelve teams participated in the championship, one of them being AIK for the first time since winning it. AIK went through to the semi-finals, where they were beaten by archrivals Djurgårdens IF, in 1905, AIK went just as far, this time being beaten by IFK Stockholm. AIK competed in the three times in 1906–1910 without any success, but in 1911 they won the championship for the third time after beating IFK Uppsala in the final. After that, AIK were eliminated in the semi-finals of 1912 and 1913, in 1915, AIK were again defeated by archrivals Djurgården in the semi-finals. In 1916, however, AIK came back and defeated future rivals IFK Göteborg in the semi-finals, in 1917, Djurgården mirrored AIKs achievement, winning against Göteborg in the semi-finals and then beating AIK with 3–1 in the final. Another couple of years passed by without any success for AIK, until 1923, from the years 1910 to 1924, a championship called Svenska Serien was played. AIK didnt win it, but were runners-up a couple of times, the status of this championship status increased in the beginning of the 1920s and it became more important than the Swedish championship. In 1924, Svenska Serien was replaced by the current highest league, the first years, the championship were dominated by teams from Gothenburg and by Hälsingborgs IF
6.
AFC Eskilstuna
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Athletic Football Club Eskilstuna, also known simply as AFC Eskilstuna, is a Swedish football club located in Eskilstuna. The club has previously known under the names FC Café Opera and Väsby United before switching ownership. During the 2016 season it was again decided that they would switch their name, identity. Choosing to move to Eskilstuna, about 110 kilometers west of Stockholm and they currently compete in Allsvenskan, the first tier of Swedish football, and play their home matches at Tunavallen. AFC Eskilstuna are affiliated to Södermanlands Fotbollförbund, FC Café Opera was created in 1991 by Italian born restauranteer Alessandro Catenacci who named the club after Café Opera which he owned. They started out in division 8 of the Swedish football league system, Football Club Väsby United was formed in 2005 when the two Stockholm clubs FC Café Opera United and Väsby IK FK merged. The new club replaced FC Café Opera United in the Superettan making it the youngest club competing at this level, Väsby United was a feeder club to AIK who participated in the second and third divisions of the Swedish football league system. The club played in Division 1 Norra which is the tier of Swedish football when they became AFC United. AFC United was founded when FC Väsby United increased their cooperation Division 3 club Athletic FC in late 2012 and they played their home matches at Skytteholms IP in Solna until the end of the 2016 season. During the 2016 season the management decided to uproot and leave Solna and move to Eskilstuna. They also changed their name to AFC Eskilstuna, as of 13 January 2017 Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, as of 13 January 2017 Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, Division 1 Norra, Winners,2014 Runners-up,2007,2011 Superettan, Runners-up,2016 AFC United – Official Website
7.
Sweden national under-17 football team
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The Sweden national under-17 football team is the football team representing Sweden in competitions for under-17-year-old players. The Swedish U17 team came into existence following the realignment of the UEFA European Under-16 Championship, Sweden U17s head coach for Team 1998 is Roland Nilsson and the team captain is Dennis Hadžikadunić. The head coach for Team 1999 is Magnus Wikman and the captain is Joseph Colley. Until 2013, Sweden had never qualified for a FIFA U-17 World Cup or a European Under-17 Championship, in the 2013 UEFA European Under-17 Championship they got to the semi-finals where they were knocked out on penalties by Russia. In the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup they finished in place after beating Argentina with 4–1 in the third-place match. Valmir Berisha scored three goals in the match and thus became the top scorer of the tournament, *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks. **Includes both qualification phase and final tournament of UEFA European Under-17 Championship, ***Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. ****Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil, *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks. **Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won, ***Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil. All records updated as of 25 March 2015, players in bold text are still available to play for the Swedish U17 team. Players in bold text are available to play for the Swedish U17 team. The following players were called up for the 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship Qualification, caps and goals updated as 5 October 2016
8.
Sweden national under-21 football team
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The Sweden national under-21 football team is the football team representing Sweden in competitions for under-21 year old players and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association. Swedens home ground is Swedbank Stadion in Malmö and the team is led by Håkan Ericson, the Swedish U21 team came into existence, following the realignment of UEFA European Under-23 Championship, which changed to be a Under-21 competition in 1978. Sweden made their first European Under-21 Championship appearance in 1986, in 2015, Sweden became champions for the first time. They finished second in 1992 and they reached the semi-finals in 1990 and 2009. Oscar Hiljemark is the most capped player for the Swedish U21 team, ola Toivonen is the best goalscorer for Sweden U21, having scored 13 goals between 2006 and 2009. *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks, **Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. ***Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil, the following 21 players were called up for the friendly matches against Serbia on 24 March 2017 and against Czech Republic on 27 March 2017. Caps and goals updated as of 28 March 2017, the following 30 players have also been called up to the Sweden U21 squad and remain eligible. Players in bold text are available to play for the Swedish U21 team. Players in bold text are available to play for the Swedish U21 team
9.
Eliteserien (football)
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Eliteserien is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the primary football competition. Before 1937, there was no league competition in Norway, only regional leagues. Starting in 1937–38, the regional leagues in Southern Norway were aligned into eight districts. There were plans at the time to merge the district leagues into a competition, but because of World War II. This format was in place from the 1948–49 season until 1960–61, the 1961–62 season became a transitional season, where the 16 top-flight teams were placed in a single group, playing a season that lasted 18 months. Officially still known as Hovedserien, the 1961–62 season became known as Maratonserien because of its unusual length. In 1963, a top division containing ten teams was introduced. The league was expanded to 12 teams in 1972, in 1990, the league was renamed Tippeligaen, after Norsk Tipping which has been the main sponsor of the league since then. However, unofficially the league was known as 1. And ahead of the 1991-season it was decided to let the second league of Norwegian football inherit the name 1. Divisjon to help Tippeligaen establish as a brand, in 1995, Tippeligaen was expanded to 14 teams, and in 2009 it was further expanded to 16 teams. Starting with the 2017 season the league will be called Eliteserien after NFF decided to drop the sponsor name from the name of the league after the 2016 season. An important note is that teams from Northern Norway were not allowed to gain promotion to the top division before 1972, in 1979 teams from Northern Norway were given the same promotion rights as the rest of the country. During the course of a season, each plays the others twice, home and away, for a total of 30 games for each club. The season starts in March and lasts until early November, rounds played during the weekends are broken up into one game on Fridays, two games on Saturdays and five games on Sundays. For the final two rounds, all games start simultaneously so that no club may gain an advantage by knowing the results of other games in advance of kicking off their own. The 16 May round, which is played the day before Norways Constitution Day,17 May, is one of the most anticipated rounds of the season
10.
2011 Tippeligaen
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The 2011 Tippeligaen season was the sixty-seventh season of top-tier football in Norway. The competition began on 20 March 2011 and ended on 27 November 2011, Rosenborg were the defending champions, having secured their twenty-second League Championship on 24 October 2010. At the end of the season, Sarpsborg 08 and Start were relegated to the 2012 First Division, there was no two-legged promotion playoff this season. On 30 October 2011, Molde became champions after their only remaining challenger, Rosenborg, the trophy is their first ever league championship. Kongsvinger and Sandefjord were relegated at the end of the 2010 Tippeligaen season after finishing in the two places of the league table. Sandefjord ended a two-year tenure at the highest football level of Norway and they were replaced by 2010 First Division champions Sogndal and runners-up Sarpsborg 08. Sogndal returned to the Tippeligaen after a hiatus, while Sarpsborg 08 made its debut at the Norwegian top-level league. Hønefoss as 14th-placed Tippeligaen team had to compete in a playoff with the First Division teams ranked third through fifth for one spot in the 2011 Tippeligaen. This spot was taken by Fredrikstad, who defeated Hønefoss 8–1 on aggregate in the playoff finals, in turn, Hønefoss had to return to the First Division, also after just one season. Updated to games played on 27 November 2011.2 Stabæk is qualified for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League via Fair Play rankings, = Champion, = Relegated, = Promoted, = Eliminated, = Play-off winner, = Advances to a further round. Last updated,27 November 2011 Source, rsssf. no Updated to games played on 27 November 2011. Source, NRK Sport 1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column. Colours, Blue = home team win, Yellow = draw,2011 in Norwegian football 2011 Norwegian First Division
