Sweden captain Östberg retires
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
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Sweden captain Frida Östberg has retired from football after winning 78 caps and scoring two international goals having helped her nation into Tuesday's UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ draw in Helsinki.
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World Cup final
The 30-year-old Umeå IK defender won 78 caps and scored two goals for Sweden, helping them to the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup final and also played in China last year, as well as at UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2005™ and the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. She bowed out of football tonight with Umeå's 6-0 UEFA Women's Cup quarter-final win against Arsenal LFC. Östberg follows in the footsteps of club-mate Hanna Ljungberg, who retired from international football last month.
Dennerby tribute
National coach Thomas Dennerby, whose side are top seeded in Tuesday's UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ draw in Helsinki, said: "Frida has been a very valuable player for the Swedish national team. We hope that her relentless desire has been transferred itself to the young players who now have to take over."
