Sarah Grahn has been appointed goalkeeper at Damskrona for several years. When the WC squad was introduced, the veteran wasn’t there. Now open that this could be the end.
She’s been involved for many years, but somewhere it may have an end as well, says Sarah Grahn.
At the end of August, the Ice Hockey World Cup begins in Denmark. When national team captain Ulf Lundberg introduced the squad, veteran goalkeeper Sarah Grahn was missing.
“Of course it’s disappointing, but I was aware of that, so it wasn’t a huge surprise, but it’s always disappointing not to be selected,” says Sarah Grahn.
Sarah Grahn was for many years the number one guard in the Women’s Crowns Championship. The 33-year-old Lulia goalkeeper, who made his debut for the national team in 2006, has played nearly 200 major international matches. But she missed the Olympics earlier this year due to the coronavirus.
I wasn’t selected for sporting reasons, Lundberg said, I’m simply not good enough, so he gave it to me, says Sarah Grahn.
do you agree?
“I don’t usually talk about being good and so on, but in three goalkeepers I should be able to do that, so I don’t really agree with that,” she says.
Of course they ask.
Sarah Grahn isn’t the only veteran player missing from the squad. Even her two Lulia teammates, who crowned Sweden champions this year, Joanna Valmann, 32, and Emma Norden, 31, were under pressure ahead of the World Cup.
– Of course they ask why, there are quite a few of us Luleå seasoned, so we had a discussion about this – the how and why. I finished getting gold from SM and that was the last time he saw me, so that must have been what he based his decision on, says Sarah Grahn.
Confederate captain Ulf Lundberg insists that the tingling is back on the sports field and that it’s a tough competition. He points out that the last medal won by women was in 2007 and that a generational change is taking place.
– I’m glad that you really want to be a part of women’s crowns and that you yearn for them. I spoke to Sarah before the press conference and she described what she said herself, it’s sports basics and I know they’ve been around for a very long time, but you borrow the national team jersey and then you give it back. I don’t close any doors to future choices, says Ulf Lundberg.
After Sarah Grahn was not selected for the WC squad, the goalkeeper had trouble seeing herself in the national team jersey again in the future.
– She’s been involved for many years, but somewhere it may have an end too, she says.
Have ideas emerged to withdraw from the national team?
– Both yes and no, it’s been so fast the past few days, so I didn’t think about it much, but of course the thought struck me. If I am not selected to participate in a course, I find it difficult to see myself being selected for more tournaments. This may be the end, Sarah Grahn says.