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Christian Tiffert (l) and Johansson will be supporting different sides next week when Germany host Sweden.
Adam Johansson will be one of the few Sounders who may play in front of an even bigger crowd this month than the 65,000 who packed into CenturyLink Field for the Cascadia Derby.
On Tuesday Johansson’s Sweden will face the mighty Germans in the 74,064 capacity Olympia Stadion in Berlin for a vital Group Three World Cup qualifier. Both sides currently have a 100% record although they have played just three games between them.
Before they meet on Tuesday, they both have an away game. Germany head to Dublin to play the Republic of Ireland. Johansson’s Swedes fly to the slightly less salubrious Tórsvøllur stadium in the Faroese capital of Torshavn which holds just 6000.
We asked Johansson about the joys of a multi-national club locker room when international events send varying loyalties pulsing through the clubhouse.
Prost Amerika: Obviously you have too wildly different games against two wildly different opponents coming up, the Faroe Islands and Germany. How do you prepare for two such vastly different opponents?
Adam Johansson: I think the first game we just have to win. We’re playing away. It’s actually harder than anything to play there. They play on turf. The weather is usually kind of bad; a lot of rain and a lot of wind. It’s going to be tough but we definitely need to win that game. We ARE going to win that game.
We are the favourites in that game. And then, we meet probably one of the best teams in the world. We meet Germany away. That’s going to be really tough but, I mean, if we can get a point there, that’s really good for us.
Prost Amerika: Are you looking forward to telling your Swedish teammates that you play in front of over 60,000 people in MLS soccer in Seattle?
Adam Johansson: That’s very nice actually. They don’t know that much I think about the MLS yet but I spoke to a lot of them yesterday and last time when I was there, and they were surprised that we had that attendance. It’s magnificent to play soccer here.
Prost Amerika: Is it an incentive to you personally that if you beat the Germans Sigi Schmid will have to look you in the eye?
Adam Johansson: Ha ha. That would be nice actually. (laughs) Coming home from that. That would be perfect!
Prost Amerika: Has he said anything about it?
Adam Johansson: No he hasn’t. He just wished me good luck.
Prost Amerika: On the subject of banter, last week the Europeans beat the Americans in the Ryder Cup, did you have some fun with that?
Adam Johansson: I did. But actually I didn’t see it which would have been nice because I stayed with Parke. On the first day when they were playing, we were down a lot and Parke was really happy. It would have been nice to be at a hotel and see them win. We were on the road then.
Prost Amerika: Will you be talking to any of your Swedish colleagues about life in MLS and would you recommend it to them?
Adam Johansson: Yes. Definitely. I recommend it a lot. I have another Swedish teammate here now, Christian Wilhelmsson (at LA Galaxy), so I think it’s getting bigger and bigger.
Upcoming Group Three Fixtures and Current Table
Friday October 12th
Faroe Islands v Sweden
Kazakhstan v Austria
Ireland v Germany
Tuesday October 16th
Faroe Islands v Ireland
Austria v Kazakhstan
Germany v Sweden
| GROUP THREE TABLE | ||||
| POS | TEAM | P | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Germany | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | Sweden | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Ireland | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Austria | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 5 | Kazakhstan | 2 | -3 | 0 |
| 6 | Faroe Islands | 1 | -3 | 0 |
More Sounders v Timbers Coverage:
Three and Easy for Classy Sounders
Cascadia Tactical Talk: Dummy Undoes Timbers Defense
Relive Sunday’s Derby with Action and Fanshots Galleries / Caption Competition
Stewards Were Told to Provoke Us Claim Timbers Fans
Special Olympic Athletes Enjoy Their Own Cascadian Derby
The Ross Fletcher Article: Calling GOAL Differs Across the Globe
Osvaldo Alonso is ‘improving every single day’
Andy Rose’s Message to England – I say ‘Come out and see it to believe it’
Tiffert: The best game since I’ve been here
5 Comments
You should have asked him if he as ever played in front of sheep. At the stadium in Torshaven sheep have a great view of he pitch from the fields right next to the stadium. I guess they (sheep) like the excitement. You know there are more sheep in the Faroes than people.
Regardless, the stadium in Torshaven is a great soccer experience unlike any other stadium in Europe. It is a blast to watch soccer there, think intimacy of Husky stadium..
It is not a surprise that most folks here have never heard of the Faroes. What is even more amazing is that a country of only 50,000 people actually has a futbol league. Futbol crazy you could say. Yes, Adam is going to play in a country where there are less people than he played infront of last weekend.
For at least two hours I am going to hate on Adam. Go Faroe Islanders!,
Have you actually been to the stadium there? I’d love to hear about if you have.
I love your statistic that he played in front of more people than the entire population of the Faroes. I’m amazed I missed that and am grateful for you supplying it. Thanks
Yes, been there done that. Watched a UFEA cup game, Torshaven vs the champions of Iceland. Faroes won!
We almost took down the Swedes!
Sheep do really have a view of the field and they do watch, curious little ******s. The field is intimate, you are right on top of the action. The locals are real lound and like to admonish the other players as much as their own. This game in particular is a grudge match as are the games vs Iceland. My wife is 50% Faroese and has at least 50 relatives there. Must root for family heritage 🙂
One more crazy Faroe soccer fact.
The stadium in Torshaven was built a few decades ago, after the famous near defeat of Germany. The country decided to invest in soccer facilities all over the islands.
At that time they put a grass field in Torshaven. The turff was imported from Europe and along with the grass came bees. Yes, bees hitched a ride on the grass. Now there are bees in the Faroes.
Near victory over Germany causes a soccer frenzy and truff is imported for a new field. Bees for the first time ever are a part of the Faroe island ecology. (:
Going to get in touch. I’d love to hear more about this. Did you get any pictures?