Coming off bout of COVID, Sofia Jakobsson making quick adjustment to NWSL

The NWSL Challenge Cup will take a brief hiatus before resuming play next week. Once the competition resumes play, the San Diego Wave might be without one of their most talented players, Sofia Jakobsson. Jakobsson is currently with Sweden as she has been summoned to the national team to help them qualify for next year’s Women’s World Cup. Sweden will play two qualifying matches within the next two weeks, as they will take on Georgia on April 7th and the Republic of Ireland on April 12th.

Soon after she returned to Sweden, Jakobsson gave an interview to the Swedish football site, Fotbollskanalen. The interview took place shortly after the Wave’s last match against Angel City FC.

Here’s what she had to say about her decision to leave Bayern Munich and join the San Diego Wave.

Though Sofia is happy with her move to the Wave, she also admits that her move to San Diego got off to a rough start.

“I must admit that it feels great that the move could happen. I have more playing time and confidence, and it feels very nice. The start [to the move] was not exactly as I imagined it would be. I got the coronavirus soon after I had landed and had to be quarantined for nine days.”

During her spell in Bavaria, she only played five matches in five months. However, with the Wave, she played three matches in three weeks. The last match she played was the Wave’s 4-2 victory over Angel City.

“I already felt that in the first match [against Angel City] that we were the better team. And when we played them again for the second time, I felt that we were going to win today. It was great that we could take all three points.”

How does it feel to be summoned to the national team with more game time than before?

“It feels great, as previously, it wasn’t ideal [to play for the national team] when you haven’t trained a lot. It feels much better now, as I’ve played three games and have practiced more. It feels like I’m coming into the team with much more confidence.”

Jakobsson has been off to a strong start in her NWSL tenure, and although her bout with COVID meant she missed the end of preseason for San Diego, her play on the field hasn’t looked like she did. The forward has quickly taken to slotting in where she’s needed in the field, and getting stuck in with a tackle every now and then while also serving as a wide playmaker at times has given Wave FC much-needed fluency on the field.

It’s just the beginning, though, and with Jakobsson getting some rhythm on the field ahead of the Euros this summer, with Sweden in a group with defending champs the Netherlands, she’ll hope to be in top form in the coming weeks. And that should help San Diego Wave.

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