Maria Josefina Karlsson De Cecco (born 8 February 1985) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

former footballer. Her last club was AS Saint-Étienne of France's

Division 1 Féminine The Division 1 Féminine, shortened as D1 Féminine or D1F, and currently known as D1 Arkema for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in France. Run by the French Football Federation, the league is contested by twel ...

, where she played as a defender. Karlsson De Cecco currently works as CEO and agent for the global football agency CMG, representing players and coaches within women's football.

Club career

Karlsson De Cecco played for Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC (2002–2008) and

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 ...

(2009–2010). After signing for Linköpings, Karlsson De Cecco was known as Maria Karlsson II, or Maria "Kalle" Karlsson due to the presence of senior teammate and namesake Maria "Kia" Karlsson. Karlsson De Cecco made 154 appearances in the

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

, the highest level of women's football in Sweden. She won a League, Super cup and Cup

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

with Linköping in 2009. She also played in the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

in 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2015. In January 2011 Karlsson De Cecco became the first Swede to sign for a club in the new FA WSL. After a successful trial, she signed a deal to play for

Doncaster Rovers Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admin ...

while living at the

Ramada Jarvis Ramada Jarvis was a chain of 4 star and 5 star hotels mostly located throughout the mainland of the United Kingdom, with a few managed internationally. The group's 42 hotels in the UK and five overseas went into liquidation in 2011 after exper ...

hotel in Doncaster. At the end of the English season Karlsson returned to Sweden, signing for

Jitex BK Jitex BK, more commonly known as just ''Jitex'', is a football club in Mölndal, Sweden, that competes in Elitettan, the second tier of Swedish women's football. The club was founded January 21, 1971 and previously played in the Elitettan, Sw ...

. After six Damallsvenskan appearances and one goal, in November 2011 Karlsson De Cecco revealed she had departed Jitex and was considering a contract offer from Italian club Bardolino Verona. She signed a six-month deal to commence on 1 January 2012. After moving on to

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

, Karlsson De Cecco transferred to French

team AS Saint-Étienne in August 2015.

International career

Karlsson De Cecco won a total of 57 caps with Sweden at youth level. These comprised eight caps at Under–17 level, 24 at Under–19 level and 25 at Under–21/23 level.

References

External links

The FA SuperLeague site

Footofeminin profile
* *
archive

Maria Karlsson De Cecco - CMG
1985 births Living people Footballers from Gothenburg Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. players Swedish women's footballers Swedish expatriate women's footballers Women's Super League players Expatriate women's footballers in England Expatriate women's footballers in Italy Expatriate women's footballers in France Swedish expatriate sportspeople in England Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Swedish expatriate sportspeople in France Damallsvenskan players BK Häcken FF players Jitex BK players Linköpings FC players Serie A (women's football) players A.S.D. AGSM Verona F.C. players SSD Brescia Calcio Femminile players AS Saint-Étienne (women) players Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders {{Sweden-women-footy-bio-stub

Club career

International career

See also

References

External links