Marika Susan Domanski-Lyfors (born 17 May 1960), Marika Susan Domanski, 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 ...

football coach and former player. She was head coach of the Sweden women's national football team from September 1996 until June 2005 and also coached the

China women's national football team The China women's national football team (, recognized as China PR by FIFA) represents the People's Republic of China in international women's football competitions and is governed by the Chinese Football Association. China women's team won si ...

during 2007. She is nicknamed Mackan.

Playing career

As a

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 ...

player Domanski-Lyfors won two League Championships (1981 and 1984) and three Swedish Cups (1981, 1982 and 1984). All of Jitex's regular players except left-back Domanski-Lyfors were

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

at international level, because national team coach Ulf Lyfors did not rate her as a player. Marika disputed Ulf's judgement, but forgave him to the extent that the two were later married and had son Joakim.

Managerial career

Domanski-Lyfors was manager of

Tyresö FF Tyresö Fotbollsförening is a Sweden, Swedish association football, football club in Tyresö, a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Stockholm County. The club was founded in 1971 and is primarily known for its main women's team, which compe ...

from 1989 to 1993. Her own nine-year spell in charge of the senior Sweden women's national football team was considered a success. During her first international game as Swedish head coach, Sweden won against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, 1–0, in

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

on 9 October 1996. The team were runners-up in

UEFA Women's Euro 2001 The 2001 UEFA Women's Championship was the eighth UEFA Women's Championship, a competition for the women's national football teams and member associations of UEFA. It took place in Germany between 23 June and 7 July 2001. It was won by Germany w ...

and the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, beaten by

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the final of both competitions. After returning to a role with the Sweden women's national under-21 team, Domanski-Lyfors accepted an offer to become head coach of the

in March 2007. She oversaw an improvement in the team's results and guided the hosts to the quarter finals of 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 th ...

. At the tournament, the Chinese hosts engaged in surveillance and intimidation of first round opponents

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. Domanski-Lyfors and her assistant

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 a ...

were unaware of the incidents and Danish coach

Kenneth Heiner-Møller Kenneth Heiner-Møller (born Kenneth Heiner Christiansen; 17 January 1971) is a Danish football manager and former player. He is the former manager of the Canadian women's national team. In 1994–1995 he played for Ferencvárosi TC in Hungary, ...

absolved them of any blame, although he refused to shake hands after the match. The Chinese wanted Domanski-Lyfors to stay on for the 2008 Olympics, but she decided against extending her contract. In November 2007 she was appointed a technical director of the

Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association ( sv, Svenska Fotbollförbundet, SvFF) is the governing and body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues – Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women – and the men's and women's nat ...

(SvFF).

In popular culture

Marika Domanski-Lyfors can be seen in the 2013 Sveriges Television documentary television series '' The Other Sport''.

Personal life

Domanski-Lyfors was married to Ulf Lyfors until his death in February 2022.

References

External links

Profile
at

1960 births Living people Swedish women's footballers 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup managers 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup managers 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup managers Jitex BK players Örebro University alumni China women's national football team managers Sweden women's national football team managers Damallsvenskan players GAIS players Swedish women's football managers Tyresö FF managers Swedish expatriate football managers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate football managers in China Women's association football defenders Female association football managers Footballers from Gothenburg {{Sweden-women-footy-bio-stub