Sofia Jakobsson on why she left Bayern Munich to join the San Diego Wave

The San Diego Wave made a huge statement by signing Sofia Jakobsson this past January. By signing the player, the team sent a sign of intent as they showed that they wanted to begin their NWSL adventure by hitting the ground running. Jakobsson is an experienced winger who has won a plethora of trophies, including the silver medal at last summer’s Olympics. Recently, she won the Algarve Cup with Sweden as they defeated Italy on penalties.

Before the tournament’s final, the forward was interviewed by the Swedish broadcaster SVT about why she chose to leave Bayern Munich and to join the San Diego Wave.

In fact, Jakobsson was only at Bayern for six months before making the leap to the NWSL expansion team, because she realized the German giant wasn’t quite what she was looking for.

“It did not turn out to be exactly what I had hoped for when I signed for Bayern Munich. I did not play as much as I would have liked to,” she said to SVT Sport.

Why is playing time so important to the 31-year-old? On a Swedish national team that narrowly missed winning the Tokyo Olympics, players have to be in peak form to get the call.

“I hope for more playing time so that I can be well prepared for the European Championships and for the next World Cup”, says Jakobsson and points out that she wants to build self-confidence as she gets to spend more time on the football field.

“It means a lot to have more matches in your legs. I see [my move to San Diego] as hopefully being a good choice.”

Seen as a big coup for Casey Stoney’s squad ahead of the club’s debut season, Jakobsson is looking forward to the “adventure” and optimistic her time in California will keep her in the Sweden reckoning.

“If I play good football, then I should be called up again. Hopefully, I will get to play a lot and do so.”

“I have also talked to the club and have told them that the national team is very important to me,” she adds

“I have a good dialogue with the Wave and the team has the same with the Swedish national team.”

The San Diego Wave are currently training for their first game of the upcoming NWSL Challenge Cup. Their first match will be on March 19th against Angel City. Jakobsson will soon join the rest of the team in San Diego and will begin training with them.

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