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Rut Hedvig Lindahl (born 29 April 1983) is a Swedish professional
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...
who plays as a
goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...
for Swedish Damallsvenskan club
Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, ''Kungliga Djurgården'' (), is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum ...
and the Sweden national team. She previously played club football in Sweden for other Damallsvenskan clubs including
Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Associatio ...
,
Linköpings FC Linköpings Fotboll Club is an association football club from Linköping, Sweden. The club was established in 2003 when Kenty DFF women's football club decided to merge with the premier division ice hockey club Linköpings HC under the new name L ...
,
Kristianstads DFF Kristianstads DFF is a women's association football club from Kristianstad, Sweden. The club is affiliated to the Skånes Fotbollförbund. History The original club Wä IF played in from 1989 to 1994 in the Damallsvenskan. The club was reformed ...
and Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC as well as
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...
in the English
FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...
. Since making her international debut in 2002, Lindahl has accrued over 190
caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
for Sweden. On 3 August 2014, Lindahl played her 100th cap for Sweden against England. On 17 September 2015, Lindahl played her 113th cap and thereby broke
Elisabeth Leidinge Elisabeth Leidinge (born 6 March 1957) is a Swedish former association football goalkeeper who won 112 caps for the Sweden women's national football team. She is nicknamed Lappen. Leidinge can be seen in the Sveriges Television documentary telev ...
's record to become the most capped Swedish female goalkeeper. She has kept goal for Sweden at the UEFA Women's Championship, the FIFA Women's World Cup and the Olympic Games. Lindahl was the Swedish women's goalkeeper of the year in 2004, 2005, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. She won the 2015
Diamantbollen Diamantbollen, Swedish for the ''Diamond Ball'', an annual award for Sweden's best female football player. The award is currently awarded by the Swedish Football Association and Sydsvenskans newspaper, in conjunction with its male equivalent, '' G ...
, after being one of three nominations for Damallsvenskan's Most Valuable Player in 2014. In 2016, Lindahl was one of 5 nominees for Women's PFA Players' Player of the Year and was also picked for the WSL Team of the Year.


Early career

At the age of 13 Lindahl decided to focus on becoming a professional football player. Previously Lindahl had played both as a forward and a goalkeeper, but eventually concentrated on goalkeeping. Lindahl, who was raised in Marmorbyn, was selected to play on the Sörmland team. This was a temporary team for which the best age group football players in
Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västm ...
were selected to play. Lindahl's national team career began in 1998 when as a part of the Sörmland team she participated at an Elite Girls Camp in
Halmstad Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational city at the mouth of the Nissan river, in the province of Halland on the Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat of Halmstad Municipality and the capital of Halland County. The cit ...
. There she was selected for the Allstar Team, where the best football players born −83 participated. Each 15-year-old footballer was measured on a five-point scale. Lindahl received rarely awarded full marks; five out of five.


Club career

Lindahl started her club career at Gropptorps IF, outside Katrineholm in Södermanland, a boys' team. Lindahl then played for Torp IF, DFK Värmbol and Tunafors SK. She moved into the Damallsvenskan with Malmö FF Dam in 2001 after being scouted by Malmö and Sweden national youth team coach
Elisabeth Leidinge Elisabeth Leidinge (born 6 March 1957) is a Swedish former association football goalkeeper who won 112 caps for the Sweden women's national football team. She is nicknamed Lappen. Leidinge can be seen in the Sveriges Television documentary telev ...
. During her three seasons at Malmö, Lindahl faced strong competition from the national team goalkeeper at the time Caroline Jönsson. She finished the 2003 season on loan to IF Trion, then spent five seasons with
Linköpings FC Linköpings Fotboll Club is an association football club from Linköping, Sweden. The club was established in 2003 when Kenty DFF women's football club decided to merge with the premier division ice hockey club Linköpings HC under the new name L ...
, joining Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC in 2009. Despite 21 shutouts in 43 matches during two seasons with Göteborg, coach
Torbjörn Nilsson Torbjörn Anders Nilsson (born 9 July 1954) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Considered one of the best Swedish footballers of all time, he is best remembered for his time with IFK Göteborg with which he won ...
did not renew Lindahl's contract. Instead she moved to ambitious
Kristianstads DFF Kristianstads DFF is a women's association football club from Kristianstad, Sweden. The club is affiliated to the Skånes Fotbollförbund. History The original club Wä IF played in from 1989 to 1994 in the Damallsvenskan. The club was reformed ...
in time for the 2011 season. Lindahl signed for London-based
FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...
club
Chelsea Ladies Chelsea Football Club Women, formerly known as Chelsea Ladies Football Club, are an English women's football club based in Norbiton that competes in the Women's Super League, the top flight of women's football in England. Since 2004, the cl ...
in December 2014. After four "
clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...
s" in her first five games, Chelsea coach
Emma Hayes Emma Carol Hayes (born 18 October 1976) is an English professional football manager. She is currently the manager of FA WSL club Chelsea Women. She previously served as the head coach and director of football operations for Chicago Red Stars ...
hailed Lindahl as the best goalkeeper in the WSL. At the
2015 FA Women's Cup Final The 2015 FA Women's Cup Final was the 45th final of the FA Women's Cup, England's primary cup competition for women's football teams. The showpiece event was the 22nd to be played directly under the auspices of the Football Association (FA) and ...
, staged at Wembley Stadium for the first time, Lindahl kept goal in Chelsea's 1–0 win over
Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...
. It was Chelsea's first major trophy. In October 2015 she also started Chelsea's 4–0 win over Sunderland which secured the club's first
FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...
title and a League and Cup "
double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...
". In April 2019, Lindahl announced she would depart Chelsea at the end of the 2018–19 campaign after four seasons with the club. On 17 July 2019, Lindahl signed a one-year deal with
VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...
.


International career

Lindahl was on the U21 national team as of 1998 and subsequently progressed to the full Swedish women's national team. Despite her position as second goalkeeper at club level, Lindahl gained the confidence of the then national team coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors, which led to Lindahl's 2002 debut in the senior women's national team and a silver medal in the
2003 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial championship of women's national soccer teams organized by FIFA. It was held in the United States from September 20 to October 12, 2003, at s ...
. Lindahl has indicated that her senior international debut came in January 2002, a 5–0 win over England in a behind closed doors match in
La Manga La Manga (), or La Manga del Mar Menor (meaning "The Sandbar of the Minor Sea") is a seaside spit of Mar Menor in the Region of Murcia, Spain. The strip is 21 km long and 100 metres wide (average), separating the Mediterranean Sea from the ...
. Proud of her debut "
clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...
", she has expressed irritation at reports which sometimes confuse that match with Sweden's 6–3 win over England at the
Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...
six weeks later. After moving to Linköpings and securing first team football at club level, Lindahl began to compete more equally with Caroline Jönsson and Sofia Lundgren for appearances at international level. She understudied Jönsson at the
2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
. By the time of
UEFA Women's Euro 2005 The 2005 UEFA Women's Championship, also referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2005, was a football tournament for women held from 5 June to 19 June 2005 in Lancashire, England and Cheshire, England. The UEFA Women's Championship is a regular tourname ...
in England, Lindahl was Sweden's first choice goalkeeper and played in all three group games, as well as the
extra-time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
semi final defeat to rivals Norway. Incoming national team coach Thomas Dennerby retained Lindahl and she featured at both the
2007 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international association football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but t ...
and
2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...
in China and
UEFA Women's Euro 2009 The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, was played in Finland between 23 August and 10 September 2009. The host was appointed on 11 July 2006, in a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Berlin and the Finnish proposal won ove ...
in Finland. She remained Sweden's number one goalkeeper for the
2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...
in Germany, where Sweden came third, and the
2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. In September 2012, Lindahl suffered an
anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...
while playing for Kristianstad. She was recalled to new coach
Pia Sundhage Pia Mariane Sundhage (, born 13 February 1960) is a Swedish football manager and former professional player. She is the head coach of the Brazil women's national team. As a player, Sundhage played most of her career as a forward and retired as ...
's national squad in May 2013, ahead of
UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held in Sweden from 10 to 28 July 2013, became the most ...
in Sweden. During Lindahl's absence Kristin Hammarström had taken over the national team's goalkeeper position and remained in place as hosts Sweden lost 1–0 to Germany in the semi-final. In September 2014, Lindahl underwent elective double hip surgery for an impingement that she had been suffering from since late 2013. Although she had been in pain throughout the year, she played one of her best seasons. She chose the surgery as she was determined to play in the
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...
and did not want to risk her body failing during the tournament, if selected. Delaying the surgery would also have carried with it the risk of a double
hip replacement Hip replacement is a surgical procedure in which the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic implant, that is, a hip prosthesis. Hip replacement surgery can be performed as a total replacement or a hemi (half) replacement. Such joint replacement o ...
for Lindahl in the future. She was called back to the national squad for the
2015 Algarve Cup The 2015 Algarve Cup was the 22nd edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place on 4–11 March. Format Because of the number of competitive teams this year, the format was change ...
. At the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Lindahl was back as Sweden's first choice goalkeeper. In the team's 4–1 second round loss to Germany, she made several saves to prevent an even heavier defeat. In November 2015, Lindahl won the
Diamantbollen Diamantbollen, Swedish for the ''Diamond Ball'', an annual award for Sweden's best female football player. The award is currently awarded by the Swedish Football Association and Sydsvenskans newspaper, in conjunction with its male equivalent, '' G ...
, the award for Sweden's female player of the year.


Personal life

Lindahl suffers from vitiligo and has to apply high factor sunscreen before and during matches. She married her wife Sabine in 2011. They have two children together born in 2014 and 2017. Lindahl's father was a footballer for
IFK Norrköping Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollförbund and play their ...
in the 1970s. She speaks fluent
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
.


Honours

Linköpings FC *
Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams comp ...
: 2006, 2008 Chelsea * FA Women's Super League:
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
, 2017–18 *
Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...
: 2014–15, 2017–18 VfL Wolfsburg * Bundesliga: 2019–20 * DFB-Pokal: 2019–20 Sweden *
Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
: runner-up
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh c ...
,
2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
* FIFA Women's World Cup: runner-up
2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...
, third place
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...
,
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
*
Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...
:
2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...
,
2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
, third place
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 FIFA ...
,
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A ...


References


External links

* *
Profile
at SvFF * *
Hedvig Lindahl interview
with KeeperPortal.co.uk *
Hedvig Lindahl Official blog on Women's Soccer United
at
Chelsea FC Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. Th ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindahl, Hedvig 1983 births Living people People from Katrineholm Municipality Swedish women's footballers Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Sweden Sweden women's international footballers 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Kristianstads DFF players Damallsvenskan players BK Häcken FF players FC Rosengård players Linköpings FC players Swedish LGBT sportspeople Lesbian sportswomen LGBT association football players Chelsea F.C. Women players Women's Super League players Expatriate women's footballers in England Swedish expatriate sportspeople in England Swedish expatriate women's footballers FIFA Century Club Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Sweden Olympic medalists in football People with vitiligo Women's association football goalkeepers 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players VfL Wolfsburg (women) players Atlético Madrid Femenino players Primera División (women) players Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Södermanland County UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players Expatriate women's footballers in Spain Expatriate women's footballers in Germany UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players