Sheffield. Winners can be helped by superb training facilities, physiologists and nutritionists.
Winners, however, aren’t built in the gym, but by a cooler deeper inside.
Caroline Seeger has experienced many disappointments. Now is the time to win.
“You will survive – so why not win?”
It’s not clear who coined the term, but author Tom Barto usually opens his seminars with a question before moving on to providing financial advice to the public.
At the luxurious Karden Park resort, in idyllic Cheshire, physiologists, psychological counsellors and dietitians flock to give the Swedish national team the perfect conditions to succeed in Euro 2022.
It is easy to stare blindly at the shiny surface. The women’s crew has gradually grown, today it is imbued with efficiency and is undoubtedly one of the first in the entire tournament. And union captain Peter Gerhardson adds that the team that owns the medical measuring equipment usually decides how many minutes each player can harvest.
But how many times have we heard that winners aren’t built in the gym?
How many winners are we then?
One of the national team and Caroline Seagers – The heaviest days happened almost a year ago. Yokohama was humid, the stands were empty due to the pandemic and high in self-confidence. Sweden has dominated the Olympic tournament and will “only” push Canada to win the first title since 1984.
There were a lot of players who took off in the penalty shootout alarmingly, but he will inevitably become the gold icon that has disappeared. If not even our captain – whom this national team can hardly do without – can make up his mind and hit a penalty in a tricky situation, well, how better are we then?
Anyone who has never lived in the vicinity of the 37-year-old does not understand how much Sweden is known to have a player like her. On the one hand, she is eloquent, always with a sparkle in her eye and an incredible charisma.
Plus, Caroline Seeger – after all these years – is still needed on the field. It became apparent in the international training match against Brazil where Natalie Bjorn (usually a midfielder) did a solid job in the physical game but left a lot to be desired.
Hero and Ghost Ruler
The memory that surfaced several times in connection with the 2019 World Cup revolved around a qualifying match in Ukraine’s Lviv the previous year. Victory sat injured in the stands and saw Sweden do their best under Peter Gerhardsson. It rained, the captain, who was clearly angry, shouted at someone on his way out.
In the airport departure hall a few hours later, a faint group with wet hair and wet eyes. Suddenly the sliding doors opened and Seger roared so furiously that you now had to get Fanim out and help unload all the stuff on the bus!
Everyone dropped what was in their hands and rushed towards the exit. I was doing it myself before I remembered my role in context.
Despite not achieving final victories, the Swedish national team came out at Bramall Lane in Sheffield on Saturday as the favorites for the European Championship. The Dutch national team rules as a hero and a ghost, by defeating Sweden in the quarter-finals in 2017 and in the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2019.
England’s Mark Parson, who changed countries with MP Sarina Wegman, has not yet shown much sign that gold will be defended. The slow back streak is referred to as the Achilles heel. On the other hand, Vivianne Miedema can do just about anything.
Built with a will, a dream, a vision
Winners don’t build in the gym, winners build with something deep inside them, a will, a dream, a vision.
Caroline Seeger survived the catastrophic failure in Japan. Now she is sitting on another podium, this time Bramal Lenz, 17 years after her first England Championship.
“The winner for me is the one who goes out and gives himself a chance,” says the captain, adding characteristically:
– Someone wins in a fair way.
When asked how to act in order not to let past defeats obscure her, she thought for a moment and then answered:
– Not harder than sunrise tomorrow either.
Regardless of Sweden’s result this summer, the players will wake up again. So why not win now?
