WPS Sky Blue FC

Swedish National Team Forward Jessica Landstrom Signs

Published on November 30, 2009 under Women's Professional Soccer (WPS)
Sky Blue FC News Release


Somerset, N.J. (Monday, November 30, 2009) - 2009 Women's Professional Soccer Champion Sky Blue FC bolstered its attack today with the addition of Swedish National Team forward Jessica Landström. The Stockholm native comes to Sky Blue FC after recently completing this past season with Linköpings FC, winners of the championship in Damallsvenskan, the premier women's soccer league in Sweden.

"Jessica has a great physical presence on the field," Sky Blue FC head coach Pauliina Miettinen stated. "She is big and strong and will serve us well as a target player. I am confident she will fit right into our system of play."

Landström comes to Sky Blue FC after impressing Miettinen on a recent scouting trip.

"I got an opportunity to see Jessica at the Euros and in Sweden, and I was especially impressed with her tremendous work ethic," Miettinen continued. "She is one of those players who love to learn and spend extra time developing her game. Her coming to Sky Blue FC is a great fit for both of us."

Landström began playing at the national team level for her native Sweden with its U-21 and U-23 sides before debuting for the full national team against Denmark on November 8, 2007. She scored her first international goal in that match, and she now has 17 caps and four goals while playing in the national colors of Sweden. Her high level of play also led to her being named the Breakthrough Player of the Year at the 2008 Swedish Football Awards.

"WPS is the most interesting league in the world, so I am really looking forward to being part of it," Landström said of playing in WPS. "The best players in the world play and will play in WPS next year. I am a person who lives for competition and being constantly challenged, as well as consistently developing my game to play really good football. All of this I am going to do while I am playing for Sky Blue FC, so it was an important but simple decision."

The Swedish striker went on to comment on why Sky Blue FC is the right place for her.

"First of all, Sky Blue FC won the league this past year!" she exclaimed. "The team consists of strong characters and personalities and has still managed to play as a team. It is a team full of extremely good soccer players with a wide-range of competence."

Landström began her professional career in 2001 with Damallsvenskan club Djurg=E5rdens and remained with the team for four seasons. She next played two years with premier league side Hammarby IF DFF before signing with Linköpings FC, where she finished tied for fourth in scoring this past season.

"Our goal in the offseason was to make our team better. I feel we accomplished that with the addition of Carli Lloyd to the midfield and Daphne Koster and Ashleigh Gunning to the back line," Sky Blue FC General Manager Gerry Marrone remarked. "However, our strongest need was up front - to find a proven goal scorer. Jessica is the prototypical target: she can play with her back to the goal, is commanding in the air and a big physical presence. This season in Sweden, she was one of the leading goal scorers, and more importantly, scored some big goals in big games. We are very excited to have Jessica joining Sky Blue FC."

Standing nearly six feet tall at 5-11, Landström brings a commanding presence to the front line of Sky Blue FC. With her acquisition, the number of Swedish players in WPS expands to five, making Sweden second only to Brazil (with six) in international representation in the league.

UPCOMING OPEN TRYOUTS: Sky Blue FC recently announced a pair of open tryouts that will take place on December 15-16th and January 5-6th at Robbinsville Field House at 153 Manor Way in Robbinsville, New Jersey. Registration for each player combine is $75 and must be paid through the Sky Blue FC online registration that is listed below. The registration deadline for the December tryout is Thursday, December 10th, and the deadline for the January combine is Tuesday, December 29th. Hotel and additional information is also available on the online registration page.

Each session of the open tryouts will run from 1-5:30 pm, and the combines will include both tactical and technical training that will be led by the Sky Blue FC coaching staff. Players must arrive game-ready (cleats, no screw-ins) and be prepared to participate on both days of their respective combine.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Women's Professional Soccer Stories from November 30, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central