On Tuesday evening, she struck with a dream goal - her first in the national team. But the road until Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, 25, is now ready for her first championship has not been entirely easy.
At the age of 15, she moved away from home, has been badly injured and ended up outside. But football has always been the biggest.
- Many people are shocked when I say that I do not have a high school education, says Rytting Kaneryd, who also talks about the early partying, that her relationship is not a coincidence and the dream of moving abroad.
When Johanna Rytting Kaneryd did not get a place in Peter Gerhardsson's squad for the Olympics last summer, her disappointment was enormous.
She was one of the players who "was on the edge", but was left out.
Despite that, she felt comfortable when confederation captain Peter Gerhardsson was to present the EC squad at the beginning of June.
- This time I felt safe and secure in myself what I had performed on the football field recently. I couldn't have done anything differently.
- If I hadn't been selected, it would have been like that, but then I've done everything in my power, the last selection I didn't feel the same.
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd was selected for this summer's EC, her first championship with the A national team.
The way there, it's like no other player's.
Of course, it started as it often does, Rytting Kaneryd and her twin brother were trained by father Dan at home in small Kolsva in the municipality of Köping.
But it was during an elite camp in Halmstad a number of years later that the unexpected happened, when 14-year-old Johanna Rytting Kaneryd caught the eye and was recruited by the then big club Tyresö, filled with star players.
At the age of 15, she moved from home to Stockholm.
- I remember entering the dressing room and seeing Marta, Caroline Seger and all the other big stars in Tyresö. I didn't really understand that I would be there playing with them.
- It was tough not having someone who wasn't quite my age. I was very lonely, but I could not refuse such an offer. It was truly a dream.
"I was afraid of losing myself"
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd smiles when she thinks back to the first time Tyresö.
- It was a really big step. I remember that I hardly wanted to go to the practices because I didn't want to lose myself. It was mixed feelings, in a way really cool but at the same time very tough.
But it wasn't just the football environment that was new, in Stockholm Johanna Rytting Kaneryd moved in with a family she had never met before. She finished the ninth grade and started high school in her new hometown.
- It was extremely tough to move away from home so young. Luckily I had a family that took care of me, they became like a second family. There were children in that family and they became like my siblings.
- I think it was a key for me to be able to cope with it, and that I got into it so quickly. But it was obviously very scary to go from having the security of my family, who I am super close to, to something new and unknown. I remember crying several times when I was going to bed.
- In many ways, it was a completely new world to move from small Kolsva to a big city. I was alone and forced to grow up fast.
When we meet for the interview, it is at BK Häcken's training facility at Hisingen in Gothenburg, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd has a serious bruise under one eye. She was elbowed in the face during a match a few days earlier.
But in terms of damage, that bluebell is no worse than a small mosquito bite.
At the age of 25, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd has pulled the cruciate ligament twice, the first time as a 16-year-old while in Tyresö.
- It was a very difficult period. In retrospect, I wish I had understood that it is okay to ask for help. But I wasn't really safe in the group and so much younger than everyone else, I don't want to disturb or be in the way.
The rescue was Annica Näsmark, then a physiotherapist in Tyresö, now in the national team.
- Without her, I would never have made it through. She has something special, you can't put your finger on it.
Rytting Kaneryd was back on the football field already after eight months, but had ended up far from the fine room with the big stars in Tyresö.
- I wasn't even in the squad on Tyresö's website.
After that, Älta IF in division two became the next club for Rytting Kaneryd.
- I went from having played with world stars to not just going down a notch, but several. In a way, it was nice to shine a little again and feel that I was included. But in another way it was also a fear, thoughts swirled in his head like; "do people even know who I am anymore?" "Do people know that I actually play?".
But in 2016, the door to the women's league was opened again when Djurgården signed her.
There, Johanna Rytting found Kaneryd back and developed so much that a new big club signed her - Rosengård.
It was just a mistake.
At the last training session with Djurgården, the day before the move to Malmö, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd pulled her cruciate ligament again.
- I obviously couldn't have had a worse start in a new club, I started with a long-term injury.
Once back, Rytting Kaneryd had difficulty getting a place in Rosengård, in December 2020 she was bought off by Kopparbergs Göteborg.
However, she didn't have time to join before the chaos broke out, first the club was shut down but after many intensive tours, Kopparbergs Göteborg became part of Häcken's business and also changed its name.
- It was a very special situation and I received no information at all, the only little I heard was what my teammates told me.
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd looks out over the training facility and smiles.
- But it turned out well in the end. It's top class in Häcken, I don't even think that many clubs out in Europe have it this good.
The move to the current club also meant other things.
- I took a pay cut. But I wanted to prioritize getting playing time and getting back to the national team, and I have succeeded in that goal. That I'm worse off financially, that's something you have to accept. But it's clear that it doesn't feel quite optimal because I might be in better shape than ever - but earn less.
But the mildly tortuous road there from moving away from home as a 15-year-old, suffering severe injuries and ending up in the freezer to now being ready for her championship has given her perspective.
- The way I've gotten through it has made me damn strong. And there was never ever a doubt that I would come back from the injuries. I don't know if it's because I moved away from home early, left my family and bet everything on football. But this is what I wanted to do.
- Football is the only thing I know and am good at.
"I haven't finished high school"
The early elite investment in football caused the school to suffer. After completing ninth grade in Stockholm, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd started high school - that's how it went.
- I had seven F's, not because I was that bad, but I had a lot of abscences. And then I dropped out of school. Many people are shocked when I tell them that I do not have a high school education. But I chose to prioritize football and invest in it instead of school. I usually say that I will make up for it and study at komvux, but I have never found the right opportunity.
- The only thing I want to do now is play football, and then it has felt a bit unnecessary to study something that I don't even know if I want to work with. I'll take it then.
The move away from home as a 15-year-old and the choice to spend all my time on football also meant something else.
- I must have missed things that my friends from home did, missed a lot of parties and other fun. But I have never doubted that I have made the right choice.
- And I managed to try those things at an early age, drinking alcohol and all that.
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd laughs.
- In Kolsva and other small towns it is probably common to do it a little earlier.
As often as she returns to her love of football, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd mentions the support from her family.
- I talk to dad every day, he calls from the car at four when he finishes work. And then we talk for an hour. There will be a lot of football, it is both his and my biggest interest. He watches all my matches and can come up with analyzes on different situations. Dad is my very own analyst.
"No coincidence that we are together"
And then boyfriend Anton Salétros, also a soccer player, right now in Norwegian Sarpsborg.
- I don't think it's a coincidence that I got together with a football player. We talk a lot about football, I need to talk both when things have gone well and when things have gone bad. I don't know if I could have coped with having a boyfriend who is not interested in football.
- I am his biggest supporter and he is my biggest supporter.
Then there is one more thing the couple is discussing right now.
- Anton is in the same position as me now with an expiring contract. And we argue with each other about what is the next step for both of us.
Because there is no doubt that Johanna Rytting Kaneryd is looking towards Europe.
- I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to it, I feel ready to take the next step in my career. I have always dreamed of playing in a top club in Europe. If I can reach that dream already now, I want to take that chance.
And it is a league that attracts extra.
- The English one is most attractive. But it is clear that there are other leagues that are growing and exciting too, Spain and Italy for example.
- But it is to England that I want most.
Have you received any offers?
- Yes, a few absolutely.
When the European Championships in England begin next week, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd has a sense of anticipation.
- It's my first championship and just getting to experience it feels fun. But it's clear that I hope to get some playing time so that I can show what I'm about.
- I feel in better shape than ever.
By the way, if Johanna Rytting Kaneryd felt decently calm when Peter Gerhardsson was to present the European Championship squad at the beginning of June, she didn't mind what her boyfriend Anton did.
Several days before the selection, he had put a note in the drawer in the bedside table by her bed.
- When I was selected, he called and told me to look in the box. There was a note that said "congratulations on the EC place".
Last Tuesday evening, when Sweden faced Brazil in the EC general repet at the Friends arena, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd made her twelfth A international match.
She had to jump in with barely half an hour left in the match.
After 65 seconds on the pitch, the 25-year-old scored her first national team goal.
25 notes
·
View notes
Siblings Nildén play the European Championships this summer: "Something you dreamed of"
First, Amanda Nildén was selected in the EC squad.
Then little sister Matilda Nildén got the call that she is playing the European Championships with U19.
- It was completely crazy actually, says Amanda Nildén to Fotbollskanalen.
Amanda Nildén has had an incredible debut season with Juventus. Among other things, they have taken a triple when they won the league, and two cups. In addition, they reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time. And Nildén has gained a lot of trust from head coach, Joe Montemurro - something that has led to her being able to show herself for in turn a place in Peter Gerhardsson's squad for the European Championships.
For little sister Matilda Nildén, the start of the season has gone all the worse - and despite eleven straight losses, the 17-year-old was a leading player for AIK. Something that in turn also gave the 17-year-old a place in the U19 national team's squad for the European Championships.
- It was completely crazy actually. She sent a text message the next day where she wrote that she would also play the European Championships, so it was great fun for her of course, says Amanda Nildén to Fotbollskanalen.
Big sister Nildén has only made three A-national matches and during the World Cup qualifier earlier in April she became ill - then a concern also grew if she had had time to show herself enough before this summer's championship, according to national team captain Peter Gerhardsson and assistant Magnus Wikman .
- I felt it was the last chance and it was a bit of a disappointment. But oh the one who gives up, she says and continues:
- I have tried not to think about the squad being taken out, but when my name was included, it was a huge relief and joy that was absolutely incredible. It's something you dreamed of.
You do not come a bit like a joker - how do you shoulder that role?
- I try not to think about it so much. Once I get the chance to play and in training, I always do my best. The snack outside I stay away from.
Do you feel that you are starting to be given in the national team?
- You should never be too comfortable, but when you are here in a European Championship, you just have to find your place in the team and the group. You should not relax too much but you have to do the hard work.
11 notes
·
View notes