Summer Newsletter 2018
Check out our events in the most recent newsletter for Nordic Northwest!
Check out our events in the most recent newsletter for Nordic Northwest!
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
8800 SW Oleson Rd.<br />
Portland, OR 97223<br />
NON-PROFIT ORG.<br />
U.S. POSTAGE<br />
PAID<br />
PORTLAND, OR<br />
PERMIT NO. 4185<br />
NORDIC HERITAGE NIGHT<br />
with THE PORTLAND THORNS!<br />
LEARN MORE ABOUT SOCCER IN THE NORDIC COUNTRIES!<br />
The <strong>2018</strong> FIFA World Cup begins in Russia on June 14 th , with Denmark, Iceland and Sweden competing from<br />
the Nordic region! NNW is celebrating by teaming up with our local women’s team, the Thorns, for a Nordic<br />
Heritage Night at Providence Park. Our members will get discounted tickets to the game on Friday, July 6 TH<br />
against the Utah Royals.<br />
Iceland jumped above the five other “Nordics” in men’s world soccer rankings at 28 TH place in 2014. In 2016,<br />
Iceland ranked 22 ND , and for this year’s World Cup, it is the smallest nation ever to qualify for a FIFA final<br />
tournament! Many attribute the island’s success to the re-focus on coaching, specifically by Swede Lars<br />
Lagerbäck since 2011. Higher coaching certifications are required at all levels and players said Lagerbäck<br />
brought more professionalism to the team. After five years of coaching, the last two with co-manager<br />
and native Icelander Heimir Hallgrímsson, Lagerbäck stepped down leaving Hallgrímsson as the solo head<br />
coach for the 2016-18 team.<br />
Norway is on the opposite end of this spectrum in terms of its team leadership. Norway’s global soccer<br />
image has been struggling in the face of major losses in the last two decades. It is not to say that there is a<br />
lack of talent on the Norwegian men’s team. Two Norwegian players who graduated to the senior team,<br />
Ole Selnæs and Mats Møller Dæhli, along with other younger players on the team, are not old enough to<br />
remember the last time Norway qualified for the World Cup in 1998, the nation’s soccer hey-day.<br />
As the tournament begins, Iceland is definitely the team to watch. Norway has had to watch from the<br />
sidelines as its two biggest rivals, Denmark and Sweden, consistently qualify for championships. We will be<br />
cheering them all on! Background image, <strong>2018</strong> Iceland Men's Team, from Getty Images, courtesy of FIFA. •
Change language