Fotboll, Football, Football, Fotboll Weekend Continues

SWEDISH FACT-OF-THE-DAY:

Export company Electrolux specializes in vacuum cleaners and refrigerators.

Friday it was a Finja IF fotboll match, Saturday it was Hässleholm Hurricanes' football game and Sunday it was the marathon trip to Denmark to watch a Kronborg Knights' football game.

Today Ryan and I decided to complete our madcap four day sports weekend with a train ride east to Sölvesborg.

We arrived in Sölvesborg about an hour before the scheduled departure of the special commuter bus from the train station which would take us to Strandvallen Stadium, a.k.a., "The Great Wall" for tonight's Allsvenskan game between Örebro and our beloved Mjällby side.

But first it was. . . FIKA TIME!

Kristinas Konditori

Only a few minutes walk from the train station, I remembered it well from my previous trip to Sölvesborg.

Ursula

Ursula is the very friendly lady who was running Kristinas Konditori tonight. One would never guess by her pleasant demeanor that she was really working for the "Evil One" by selling devilishly good fika!

The People of Sweden vs. Kristinas Konditori

Exhibits A and B

Ursula tempted us with these incredibly delicious treats.

We were powerless.

On to "The Great Wall"

It was a gorgeous, warm Summer evening, perfect for a crucial Allsvenskan match by the Baltic Sea.

Let's set up the game story. First you must remember that Mjällby is the Allsvenskan feel-good story of the 2010 season.

MAIF had earned their way back into Sweden's top fotboll division after an absence of over 20 years. Predicted to finish near the bottom of the 16 team Allsvenskan table, they had been in the top four all the way to the World Cup break.

Unfortunately, in the four games since the World Cup break our lads were a lackluster 0-2-2. This string of non-winning efforts had dropped MAIF into fifth place, six team points (3 team points for a win, 1 for a tie) behind tonight's opponent Örebro SK.

Had the bubble burst?

Örebro SK

10-2-6 = 32 team points

at

Mjällby AIF

7-5-6 = 26 team points

Part of the 3,558 fans in attendance

Örebro fans at the far end

Let the game begin!

Mjällby is wearing their home gold jerseys, Örebro is in white

Header

Corner Kick

Sprint!!!

INCOMING!!!

Defense!

Shot to the mouth

Nipple pinch?

Jump!

It was halftime and the score was 0-0.

Nil-Nil, who would have guessed?

It was time to do two things.

First, take my brand new MAIF scarf out of my backpack and wear it in the second half to jolt the team's Mojo back to life.

Secondly, I needed to finally meet MAIF team photographer and blogmaster, Lena Sandberg.

With Lena and my Mojo changing scarf

Lena loves her MAIF side and takes her passion to the next level by being the team's voice and eyes through her blog and photography.

It was great to finally get a chance to meet her after e-mailing and blogging back and forth.

You can find Lena's MAIF blog at http://askadaren.blogspot.com/

Anticipation

MAIF on the attack

The Fotboll Ballet

MAIF Head Coach Peter Swärdh, made his first substitution of the game at about the 68 minute mark, #10 Marcus Ekenberg, an attack specialist entered the match.

Good move Peter!

Ace Substitute Marcus Ekenberg

Breaks Away. . .

Ekenberg sets up the ÖSK goalie. . .

Ekenberg Shoots. . .

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!!!!!!!!

"Celebrate Good Times, Come On!"

She was pumped to see Mjällby out front 1-0

IT'S OVER!!!

The final score was 1-0 in favor of the good guys. The scarf did indeed change the team's Mojo and MAIF now trails Örebro SK by only three team points in the Allsvenskan table.

If MAIF can overtake Örebro SK, a team that they have beaten all three times they've met this year by a combined 6-0 score, and get back into any of the top four Allsvenskan spots they would qualify for European team championship tournaments next year.

It would be a truly amazing accomplishment.

GO MAIF!!!

THE MOJO IS BACK!!!