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The fall season of 2021 has just ended here in Fleury. Paris is decorated with Christmas lights. I’m waiting for Christmas time!

The first half of the European football season is now over, so, it’s in the “package”. The last game of the season, our 11th match was played last weekend in the French Women’s 1st League D1 Arkema. Our team of FC Fleury 91 defeated our local opponent GPSO 92 ISSY and now we are in the fourth place in the league! We started the Christmas holiday in good spirits.

During the season I have prepared carefully for the games. After the last game, I’m focusing to celebrate and preparing for Christmas. My sister game me a huge surprise for me – Johanna visited from Finland this weekend here in Fleury. And another big sister flew from New York to Paris to be with me several days. We went to Paris for a few days, after that we will travel to Finland together to celebrate Christmas with our family.

As you may all know, the the fall season went really well. Our team, FC Fleury 91 Feminine, played better and better one game at a time. Before Christmas break we are in fourth place in the D1 Arkema Leagua! Yes, just one point behind from third place, and that’s what we really wanted to be! During the fall season 2021, FC Fleury 91 Feminine, we won many good teams: Bordeaux, Soyaux, Montpellier, Reims, Saint-Etienne, Guingamp and in the final round also “local Parisienne team” the Issy. I also got a chance to play the rest of the games.

Everyday life goes better and better. My motivation is at a very good level. We have a good spirit in the team with very good coaches – especial thanks for them! As all may have the though that our success was even better than expected. The chances of qualifying for next year’s Champions League qualifiers are very good, and that give even more motivation for all of us.

After a busy start to the season, I am now feeling very good and I’m exploring to live in near Paris area and especially in the city of Fleury which is the small town of Chartres, whose cathedral is a historically significant and very famous visiting target to see.

However, the Christmas holiday will not be very long, as the new year is being prepared again in early 2022 – the season will start with the French Cup match in early January, on 9th of January 2022. See you all in Nice!

Until then, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Photo: PatriciaSports

The new football season 2021-2022 in France has begun. In fact, the season is already progressing well. Since the end of August, we have already played five rounds in the French Premier League, D1 Arkema. My new club, FC Fleury 91, is located near Paris, about 30 km south of Paris. On the edge of the Paris area, the environment is very peaceful – there is little to the atmosphere of a big city.

How did my season start in the new club, FC Fleury 91? Very well! I live in a nice quiet detached house area which is about a 15 minute drive from the workout center. We have good facilities for daily training and all the necessary facilities we need as professional athletes. The number of rehearsals is about the same as in other clubs, as I had in Lyon. The French D1 Arkema League is played almost every weekend and the games are shown on Canal + Sport TV every weekend. I have a little fewer trips and they are shorter – than last year, as there are four teams from the Paris region in the French league.

I moved to FC Fleury right at the beginning of August quite quickly as the season was just starting so I could get to know my teammates and still have time to practice before the series games start. For the first two games, I sat on the bench and watched closely as my new team played. In practice, I gave my all and enjoyed learning something new. The moment I got on the field, it was really exciting! Since then, I have had the opportunity to play in subsequent league matches as well as two practice matches.

The start of the first game was once and for all disastrous, sorry! Sad but true – at the very beginning of my first game, I myself caused a penalty kick to our opponent Bordeaux when I knocked down their attacker. The opponent succeeded in his penalty kick. I think I was so excited about my first game that I reacted too strongly to the situation. By playing you learn! Our team has had a strong team since the beginning and now it played great in this game. We finally won Bordeaux! The same team that played in the women’s UEFA Champions League just last week. What a great achievement from our FC Fleury team!

After the Bordeaux game, we also managed to beat Soyaux and Montpellier, both in very tight games. I was at the finish line and I did my best for the people of our team. I think our situation in the French league is now better than we used to believe: in October we had 3 wins, 2 losses, all against tough opponents! The ranking in D1 Arkema is very good at the moment: 4/12.

I think we can continue our good games. Six more laps before New Year’s Eve. There is a good feeling in our training, I have met other players and I feel very well now, thanks to the coaches of my team, especially the professional goalkeeper coach.

We are the FC Fleury 91 Feminine!

Photo: Nelson Fatagraf

The 2021–2022 season has already begun and FC Fleury 91 is doing well so far. It’s a good time to go back to recent events after a short break in the fall of 2021. A lot has happened since my last update.

After last season 2020-2021 at Team of Olympique Lyonnais Feminine I had a well-deserved summer vacation in Finland. Also, I had the opportunity to travel to South Africa and spend several days there with my friends and see their incredibly beautiful nature. I also traveled in Germany, Munich is my “second” hometown, I visited my old school, met my fellow students and my family friends – and yes, I went shopping!

After that, I had time to have a relaxing vacation in our summer cottage in Finland – the Sauna, swimming and training in nature are part of my summer things that I’d like to do. After the summer time, I flew back to Lyon, France in mid-July, where my OL’s team was preparing for a new season. This moment is always impressive and inspiring because it’s always a pleasure to meet new players who join the team. At the beginning of the preseason, we went to a training camp in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. The camp was very rewarding in every way. We also did a lot more at camp than anything related to football.

As is well known, Lyon has a tough competition and all the players represent the top of the world and almost all are players of the national team of their own country. So, I’m nearly the youngest goalkeeper in Europe at the moment who plays in one of the main European Football Counties – as you all know France + Germany + England + Spain! In that time I was on the OL team, I got quite a bit of playing time in the French D1 Arkema League. That’s why I had already been thinking with my Manager during the previous months about what could be the next step in my near future career to get me more playing time. Those few games I played with another OLF team gave me more confidence and experience, but my own goals were even higher to achieve a playing goalkeeper’s role in Europe.

The start of the season is a pretty exciting time for all players. In the French D1 Arkema League the football transfer window is still open till  end of August. My Manager was considering make new steps for me but everything were open in her table. Should I get a new contract for coming season 2021-2022 or not – She did some negotiations “behind the sea” and with the top European clubs as well. Nowadays, during the digital, as you know it’s very easy to reach right persons online meeting from different countries.

And finally I agreed to get a new contract! I was pleased to announced to play for FC FLeury 91 in the D1 Arkema League in France during the season 2021-2022.  This is the opportunity for me to develop my professional career as a playing goalkeeper what I was waiting for a long time.  And I was already on my way to Fleury!

My new club, FC Fleury 91 and previous club OLF, they both play the highest women’s league in France, the D1 Arkema League. FC Fleury 91 is located about 30 km south side from city of Paris. I was very kindly welcome to the team. Everything was done in a few days, all arrangements for a quick transfer went really well and I got all the necessary facilities what I needed to settle down to the new team and new city. French traffic is already a different matter, as you know I’m used to drive in “autobahn” in Germany. So, after living two years in Lyon, it was really easy for me to get used to drive in Paris.

Thank you my Club – FC Fleury 91 – Thank you my teammates!, You are all great – we are strong together!

As we all know, this past season has been very exceptional for sports all over the world. Miraculously, the football season has been able to continue quite normally despite all the challenges along the way. Hopefully, Covid-19 will gradually diminish so that we can resume to our normal lives again.

I have been spending my time in Lyon after we returned from Spain, the UEFA Champions League final tournament. However, during the Christmas holidays, I was able to pay a brief visit in Finland and meet my family members.

Our team Olympique Lyonnais Feminin was able to play the French league and other matches in a normal setting until March. We have practiced well all season, but otherwise lived very ascetically all the time. In practice, life has revolved between the training center and the home. In that sense, it has been a bit monotonous.
Then in March, several members of our team tested positive with the Covid-19 virus. All members of the team were in some way quarantined for a mandatory period. Right now, the situation looks better again. Thus, our quarantine is over, and we have already been able to train as a team for a few days.

Also, we are currently second in the French league after losing to our beloved enemy PSG in the fall round. In addition, a few matches have been either cancelled or postponed.
In the Women’s UEFA Champions League, we have made it into the final eight. Even after that, we went to Paris to play against PSG, winning the game 0-1. We are just getting ready for the second part of the two-part qualifier game. I hope, of course, that we will be able to continue in the Cup later on this season. In less than two months, the most important games of the season are ahead. I believe that our team will be able to reach its full potential after having overcome the past challenges together. So, the season is not over yet.