Charlotta Eva Schelin (born
27 February 1984),
usually called Lotta Schelin or
L8, is a Swedish
football player on the women's national team
and forward of Olympique
Lyon.
Her height, strength and offensive technique has had Denmark's
coach Peter Bonde comparing her to
Zlatan Ibrahimović. She credits her
older sister and teammate, Camilla Schelin, as well as famous
footballers
Thierry Henry and
Tina Nordlund, as important role models for
her.
Biography
Career
Schelin grew up in Kållered outside Gothenburg and began to play
football for Kållered's SK along with her sister, Camilla. She has
also played for Mölnlycke IF. She has also tried table-tennis and
track and field. When asked if she could do well in another sport,
she wanted to be able to snowboard. As a teenager, she had problems
with her spine and was advised to stop playing, but she recovered
through intensive strength training.
In 2001, when she was 17 years old, she debuted in the Premier
Division for Landvetter FC, currently
Göteborg FC, where she has
played over 100 Premier Division games and become the team's most
prominent player. After an injury in August 2002, she was out of
the Swedish Premier Division until June 2003. During her national
team career, that began in March 16, 2004, she played in the
Algarve Cup and continued with the team to
Athens.
She got her first injury in the groin during 2005, an injured
hamstring and a cold. As she began to recover, her importance as a
national team player increased.
After that in 2006, she was a key player in the bronze third place
match against France in the
Algarve Cup,
scoring the only goal of the game. Then after several decided games
in the road to the Women's World Cup in China, she won the
Diamond Ball (Sweden's Best Female
Footballer). She also won the Forward of the Year in 2006
(including having the most goals that season with 21) and Rookie of
the Year in 2004. She was Sweden's representative in FIFA: she went
to China in Wuhan April 22, 2007 to join the lot draw before the
World Cup.
Despite offers from other Premier Division clubs she has stayed in
Gothenburg, but has expressed an interest in playing in a
relaunched
Women's
United Soccer Association in 2009. Her current club chairman
Peter Bronsman, says that her playing abilities can earn her up to
100,000 Swedish kronas per month (roughly 15,000 USD).
After the
2008 Summer Olympics,
she was drafted by the French club,
Olympique Lyon. With this
transaction she is rumored to earn a salary of over 1 million SEK
($160,000 USD) per year.
Additionally, she was selected by St. Louis in the third round of
the
2008 WPS International
Draft, but she has declined the offer because of her contract
under Lyon.
Awards/Honours
- 56 Caps for Sweden National Team
- 22 Goals for Sweden
- 2004: Sweden Breakthrough Player of the Year
- 2006: Diamond Ball Winner, Forward
of the Year, Won the Swedish Premier Division, MVP of Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC.
- 2007: Played in FIFA Women's World Cup
- 2007: Most goals scored in Damallsvenskan: 26
- 2008: Played in 2008 Summer Olympics
References
External links
Wikis
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