Pia Mariane Sundhage (, born 13 February 1960) is a Swedish

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

and former professional

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

. She is the head coach of the Brazil women's national team. As a player, Sundhage played most of her career as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and retired as the top scorer for the Sweden national team, but she also had stints playing as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and a sweeper. Sundhage was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the United States women's national team from 2008 to 2012 and led the team to two

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medals and a silver medal at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. Her success led to her winning the 2012

FIFA World Coach of the Year The FIFA World Coach of the Year was an association football award given annually to the football coach who is considered to have performed the best in the previous 12 months. It was awarded based on votes from coaches and captains of internatio ...

. Sundhage later became the head coach of her native

Sweden women's national football team The Sweden women's national football team ( sv, Svenska damfotbollslandslaget) represents Sweden at international women's association football competitions and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association. History The Swedish team has be ...

from 2012 to 2017, winning an Olympic silver medal in 2016.

Club career

Sundhage started with IFK Ulricehamn as a youth player and eventually moved to Falköpings KIK in 1978. She then joined

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 ...

from 1979 to 1981. Sundhage played 1982 to 1983 with

Östers IF Östers Idrottsförening, commonly known as Östers IF or simply Öster, is a Swedish sports club located in Växjö, specializing in football, and playing in the second tier of Swedish football, Superettan. The club has previously also compet ...

, scoring 30 times in her first season with the club and chipping in 35 more in her second season. 1984 saw a move back to Jitex BK, while 1985 saw Sundhage split time between

Stattena IF Stattena IF is a Swedish football club located in Helsingborg. The club played two seasons in the Allsvenskan in 1927–28 and 1929–30. Background The original club Stattena was one of the two clubs which in 1907 formed Helsingborgs IF. The ...

, S.S. Lazio (where she scored 17 times), and Jitex BK. She played the 1986 season with

Hammarby IF DFF Hammarby IF Fotbollförening, commonly known as Hammarby IF, Hammarby Fotboll or simply Hammarby ( or, especially locally, ), is a women's football club from Stockholm founded in 1970. Hammarby play their home games at Hammarby IP (also called ...

, before she moved back to Jitex BK from 1979 through 1989. Sundhage finished her career with Hammarby IF DFF, playing from 1990 until she retired in 1996. She won four

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 ...

championships, all with Jitex BK, as well as two additional

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 compe ...

with the club. She also won two Svenska Cupen with Hammarby IF DFF.

International career

Sundhage made her first appearance for the Sweden national team as a 15-year-old in 1975, eventually amassing 146 caps and scoring 71 goals for her country. Her 71 goals gave her joint-lead with

Lena Videkull Lena Mari Anette Videkull (born 6 December 1962) is a Swedish former association football forward who won 111 caps for the Sweden women's national football team, scoring 71 goals. Videkull can be seen in the Sveriges Television documentary te ...

for the most in the Swedish national team history, a record which has since been surpassed by both

Hanna Ljungberg Hanna Carolina Ljungberg (born 8 January 1979) is a Swedish former football player, who played the position of forward. She played for the club side Umeå IK and for the Swedish national football team. She debuted for Sweden, at age 17, on 6 Febr ...

and

Lotta Schelin Charlotta Eva Schelin (born 27 February 1984) is a Swedish former professional footballer who most recently played as a striker for FC Rosengård of the Damallsvenskan. She made her debut for the Sweden national team in March 2004 and was app ...

. She participated for Sweden in the 1991 (a third-place finish) and 1995 editions of the FIFA Women's World Cup and the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. She won, and was the top scorer, in the 1984 UEFA Women's Championship. Her image appeared on a Swedish postage stamp in 1988. In 1989 Sundhage scored the first goal in a women's match at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, as Sweden beat

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

2–0 in a curtain–raiser for the

Rous Cup The Rous Cup was a short-lived football competition in the second half of the 1980s, contested between England, Scotland and, in later years, a guest team from South America. Overview The Rous Cup arose from the ashes of the British Home Cha ...

. In 2000, Sundhage finished sixth in the voting for

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

Women's Player of the Century.

Coaching career

Pre-United States

Sundhage got her start in coaching as a

player/manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

when she was with

from 1992 to 1994. She then took assistants jobs with

Vallentuna BK Vallentuna BK is a Swedish football club located in Vallentuna. Background Since their foundation in 1919 Vallentuna Bollklubb has participated mainly in the lower divisions of the Swedish football league system. The club currently plays in D ...

(1998 to 1999) and AIK Fotboll Dam (2000) before moving across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

to become an assistant with

Philadelphia Charge The Philadelphia Charge was an American women's professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Villanova Stadium on the campus of Villanova University near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History ...

of the new

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Un ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. She eventually was hired on by

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...

as the head coach, winning the league title and being named the 2003 WUSA Coach of the Year in the process. Once the WUSA folded however, it was back to

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

to take on further coaching positions. Her relationship with the Boston Breakers led United States Women's national team captain

Kristine Lilly Kristine Marie Lilly Heavey (; born July 22, 1971) is an American retired soccer player. She was a member of the United States women's national team for 23 years and is the most-capped football player in the history of the sport (men's or wome ...

and fellow USWNT player

Kate Markgraf Kathryn Michele Markgraf (; born August 23, 1976) is the General Manager of the United States women's national soccer team and a retired American professional soccer defender. She previously played for the Chicago Red Stars in the WPS, the B ...

joining her in the Swedish

when Pia coached

KIF Örebro DFF KIF Örebro DFF is a Swedish women's football club based in Örebro. Founded in 1980 as the women's football section of multi-sports association Karlslunds IF, the club's first team currently plays in the Damallsvenskan, the top level of the wome ...

from 2005 to 2006, after a brief stint with

Kolbotn IL Kolbotn Idrettslag is a sports club from Kolbotn, Norway. Since 1960, the club has been organized in semi-autonomous sub-sections. The club runs basketball, amateur wrestling, association football, sport gymnastics, disabled sports, handball, o ...

in 2004. Lilly said she "wanted to play for Pia again." Sundhage served as an assistant to

Marika Domanski-Lyfors Marika Susan Domanski-Lyfors (born 17 May 1960), Marika Susan Domanski, is a Swedish 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 Ch ...

for the China Women's national team during the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.

United States women's national team

Pia Sundhage was announced as the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's Association football, soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four FIFA Women's World Cup, Wom ...

head coach on 13 November 2007. She became the seventh head coach in the U.S. team's history and the third woman. Lauren Gregg was in charge for 3 games in 2000,

April Heinrichs April Dawn Heinrichs (born February 27, 1964) is an American former soccer player and coach. She was among the first players on the United States women's national soccer team, and was captain of the United States team which won the first ever ...

led the squad from 2000–2004 and won the

2004 Summer 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), ...

, while Sundhage served as a scout for the United States during the 2004 Olympics. Association football at the 2012 Summer Olympics 007

While at the helm of the United States, Sundhage won the 2008 Algarve Cup and gold medals at both the

2008 Summer 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 Na ...

and the

2012 Summer 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 ...

. She was on the verge of winning the 2009 Algarve Cup, but the United States lost out to Sundhage's native

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

on penalties. However, she did win the

2010 Algarve Cup The 2010 Algarve Cup was the seventeenth edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place between 24 February and 3 March 2010. It was won by the United States who defeated World and ...

a year later, defeating World and European Champions

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 ...

3–2 in the final. She coached the women's team to the final of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, where the team advanced to the final for the first time since 1999. However, they were upset by

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, losing 3–1 on penalty kicks. A year later, Sundhage coached the USWNT to another gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, defeating Japan 2–1 in a Women's World Cup final rematch, with

Carli Lloyd Carli Anne Hollins (; born July 16, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist (2008 and 2012), two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion (2015 and 2019), two-time FIFA Player of the Year ...

scoring both goals. On 1 September 2012, Sundhage announced she was stepping down as the U.S women's head coach having expressed a desire to seek opportunities in her native Sweden. Sundhage announced she would coach the U.S. team's games on 16 and 19 September on the team's Olympic victory tour before officially resigning. "I have days where I think, 'What am I doing?' and there are other days where I'm like, 'I'm all up for this next challenge'" Sundhage said upon announcing her departing the US women's national team.U.S. coach Pia Sundhage steps down
ESPN.com. Retrieved 1 September 2012. She coached her last game against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

as part the team's Olympic victory tour on 19 September, defeating them 6–2. With this final win Sundhage was able to leave the team with a 91–6–10 win–loss–tie record that included two Olympic gold medals and a second-place finish at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.U.S. Women's National Team Provides Head Coach Pia Sundhage with 6-2 Victory in Final Match in Charge
, ussoccer.com. Retrieved 21 September 2012.

Sweden women's national team

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 ...

announced early 2 September 2012 that Sundhage signed a four-year contract that starts on 1 December. The announcement came hours after Sundhage's match as coach of the U.S. women's team, an 8–0 win in a friendly match against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

; the first of a series organized to celebrate the winning of gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Sundhage replaced Thomas Dennerby, who resigned after Sweden failed to reach the semifinals in 2012 Olympics. "I have long dreamed of becoming Sweden coach and now I am so happy" Sundhage said. Sundhage's first major tournament as coach of the Sweden team was the 2013 European championship, which Sweden hosted; Sweden lost 0–1 in the semi-final to Germany, which won the championship. After the UEFA Women's EURO 2017 tournament, in August 2017, Sundhage left the women's national team. In November 2017, the Swedish Football Association announced the appointment of Sundhage as the new Sweden women's national under-17 football team head coach. Sundhage took over her new duties on 1 January 2018.

Brazil women's national team

In July 2019, Sundhage accepted an invitation from the

Brazilian Football Confederation The Brazilian Football Confederation ( pt, Confederação Brasileira de Futebol; CBF) is the governing body of football in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country ...

(CBF) to become the new coach of the

Brazil women's national football team The Brazil women's national football team ( Portuguese: ''Seleção Brasileira Feminina de futebol'') represents Brazil in international women's football and is run by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). It has participated in eight ed ...

Personal life

In January 2010, Sundhage mentioned in a Swedish TV interview that as a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

she has not felt any

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

as a coach. "There has been no problem for me to be openly gay as head coach in the U.S.," said Sundhage.

Career statistics

Matches and goals scored at World Cup and Olympic tournaments

Matches and goals scored at European Championship tournaments

International goals

Managerial statistics

All competitive league games (league and domestic cup) and international matches (including friendlies) are included.

Honours

Player

Jitex BK *

: 1979, 1981, 1984, 1989 *

: 1981, 1984 Hammarby IF DFF * Svenska Cupen: 1994, 1995 Sweden * FIFA Women's World Cup: third place 1991 *

UEFA European Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years, is the main competition in women's association football between national teams of the UEFA confederation. The competition is the women's equivalent ...

: 1984; runner-up 1987, 1995; third place 1989 * European Competition for Women's Football: third place 1979 (non-official competition) * Women's Nordic Football Championship: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981; runner-up 1982 *

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 an ...

: 1995 * Cyprus Tournament: 1990, 1992 * North America Cup: 1987 Individual * European Competition for Women's Football top scorer: 1984 * European Competition for Women's Football best player: 1984 *

top scorer: 1982, 1983 * Women's Nordic Football Championship top scorer

Managerial

United States Women *

Olympic Gold Medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

: 2008, 2012 * FIFA Women's World Cup: runner-up

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 celebrate ...

* Four Nations Tournament: 2008,

: 2008, 2010,

Sweden Women * 2016 Olympic Silver Medal Brazil Women *

Copa América Femenina The Copa América Femenina (''Copa América Feminina'' in Portuguese; previously the ''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol Femenino'' (''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol Feminino''), usually shortened to ''Sudamericano Femenino'' (''Sul-Americano ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Individual * FIFA World Women's Coach of the year: 2012; finalist 2010, 2011, 2013 * Best FIFA Women's Coach: finalist 2016 * 2003 WUSA Coach of the Year

Awards

Sundhage was awarded the

Illis quorum ''Illis quorum'' (''Illis quorum meruere labores'') ( English: "For Those Whose Labors Have Deserved It"), is a gold medal awarded for outstanding contributions to Swedish culture, science or society. The award was introduced in 1784 by King Gu ...

in the eighth size by the Swedish government in 2021.

References

;Match reports

External links

*
US Soccer coach profileSweden coach profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sundhage, Pia 1960 births Living people 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup players 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players Expatriate women's footballers in Italy FIFA Century Club Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Lesbian sportswomen LGBT association football players LGBT sportspeople from Sweden United States women's national soccer team managers 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup managers 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup managers Olympic footballers of Sweden Swedish socialists Sweden women's international footballers Swedish women's footballers Hammarby Fotboll (women) players Damallsvenskan players Serie A (women's football) players S.S. Lazio Women 2015 players People from Ulricehamn Municipality Women's association football forwards Swedish women's football managers Swedish expatriate football managers Hammarby Fotboll (women) managers UEFA Women's Championship-winning players Sweden women's national football team managers Brazil women's national football team managers Female association football managers Olympic gold medalists for Sweden American Olympic coaches Women's United Soccer Association coaches Sportspeople from Västra Götaland County Recipients of the Illis quorum