WPS All-Star Game to Feature Swedish Power Umea IK
June 30, 2009 - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) News Release
SAN FRANCISCO, CA & UMEà , SWEDEN (6/29/2009) - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) announced today that Swedish Champions Umeå IK will play in the WPS All-Star Game on August 30 to conclude the 2009 WPS Season. The 2009 All-Star Game is being played at The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in Fenton, MO, on August 30th with kick-off scheduled for 5:30pm ET/4:30pm CT. The game will be televised live nationally on Fox Soccer Channel and regionally on select Fox Sports Net affiliates (check local listings), starting at 5:00 p.m. ET with a half-hour pre-game show prior to kick-off.
"Our league is part of the bigger growth of the women's game at the global level and we wanted to acknowledge that by bringing in a club from outside the league to play in the U.S.," said WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci. "Umeå IK has a great history and is one of the leading women's club teams in the world, so they are a great fit as the opposition for our WPS All-Stars."
The game is being played eight days following the WPS Championship, featuring a team of 18 WPS All-Stars, who will be selected through mix of voting (starting 11) and at-large selections by the head coach and the WPS Commissioner.
"It is of course a great honor for Umea to have been chosen as the opposition in the first WPS All Star Game" says Umeå IK Club Director Britta à kerlund. "Considering the players we will play against, the atmosphere that surrounds the game and the fact Umeå IK has been chosen, highlight the strength of Swedish women's football has on the international stage."
With three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Marta currently tied for the lead in WPS in scoring, it's likely that Umeå will have to defend against their former teammate and star forward Marta of the Los Angeles Sol.
UmeÃ¥ IK striker and former Swedish International Hanna Ljungberg is looking forward to the challenge: "It is going to be very exciting to play against the best players of WPS, many of them world class players, who during 90 minutes will be playing on the same team. Naturally, we look forward to play against Marta, but also hope that I will get the chance to have some tough one-on-ones with Frida Ãstberg."
Umeå IK is one of the top women's clubs in partnership with PUMA. The global sportlifestyle brand is also a founding sponsor of WPS and the official sport and lifestyle apparel, footwear and equipment supplier of WPS, including the official WPS Match Ball. Detailed information about the All-Star Game program will be announced at a later date.
Women's Professional Soccer Stories from June 30, 2009
- WPS Weekly - WPS
- Sky Blue FC Trades Shaner to Sol for Draft Pick - Sky Blue FC
- Sol Trades for Christie Shaner - Los Angeles Sol
- WPS All-Star Game to Feature Swedish Power Umea IK - WPS
- Red Stars Host Wambach, Washington Wednesday Night - Chicago Stars FC
- Athletica Surprises Sky Blue FC with Late Goal - Sky Blue FC
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