Susan Varli was the next big thing. Her hypnotic feet had illuminated Swedish club football. She scored twice against Norway on her debut for the U-23s. She made a list of the 10 biggest prospects in the women\u2019s game alongside the likes of Mana Iwabuchi, Sydney Leroux, Dzsenifer Marozsan, Lieke Martens, Kristie Mewis and Alex Popp.<\/p>\n
Then Susan the realist entered into debate with Susan the artist. Varli had completed an engineering degree and just finished a master\u2019s in physics. She was earning a pittance in boots. She could make good money designing plans in offices. At 22, she quit the sport.<\/p>\n
Regret has plagued Varli even since. The women\u2019s game exploded into a lucrative occupation for its stars. Sweden transformed themselves from efficient into exhilarating. Furthermore, they seized back-to-back Olympic silvers and FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup\u2122 bronzes.<\/p>\n
Susan was thrilled for her nation and her former team-mates Magdalena Eriksson and Olivia Schough, but the realisation that she would never play in a global finals hit her hard. Then came a life-shaking announcement.<\/p>\n
Susan had got married, been encouraged to give futsal at try by her husband, and become Sweden\u2019s leading markswoman. The news that the first FIFA Futsal Women\u2019s World Cup\u2122 would take place in 2025 would give her the chance to realise her dream.<\/p>\n
One of the most thrilling and deadliest pivots on the planet, the 33-year-old discusses quitting football, her love of Ronaldinho, going to Qatar to play alongside Neymar, and the Swedes\u2019 aspirations of appearing at the historic tournament next year.<\/p>\n
Can you tell us how you got into 11-a-side football and why you quit at such a young age?
\nSusan Kiryo: I started playing when I was a kid, outside with the boys. Street football, three against three. I\u2019m Swedish, I was born here, but my background\u2019s Syrian. My parents are from the Middle East, so it was a bit difficult for them. A girl playing football, it wasn\u2019t common. We struggled a little bit, but when I was 13 I finally got to play for a team. I was pretty successful. I got to the highest league in Sweden early. I played there for five, six seasons. I played for Hammarby against Caroline Seger, Marta, Ramona Bachmann. I also played for the U-23 national team, but I quit pretty early. I was 21 years old. Back then you couldn\u2019t earn enough money to get by just through football. I\u2019d finished my studies and started to work. I\u2019d done my master\u2019s in physics and was an engineer. I chose a different career and now I regret it. Women\u2019s football exploded just after that.<\/p>\n
You mention regrets. Is that how you felt watching Sweden at Australia & New Zealand 2023?
\nDefinitely. I was one of the best players in Sweden back then. I played alongside Magdalena Eriksson, Olivia Schough. I was thinking how amazing it must be to be them, playing in a World Cup in front of these huge crowds. I think I would have been there if I\u2019d continued playing. Of course I had regrets watching the World Cup, but it was great to see how well Sweden did. Sweden have grown so much. When I was playing, the Swedish game involved a lot of long balls and running. Now they pass it around a lot more. It\u2019s more enjoyable to watch and I would have loved to play with that style. To be honest, I was shocked at the level and style of play at the World Cup. I knew it had improved, but it had improved so much. I think Sweden, England and Brazil, even though they went out in the group stage, were really good to watch. I think last year was the best World Cup ever.<\/p>\n
How did you get into futsal?
\nMy husband was one of the ones who really pushed me into it. He loves watching football. He\u2019s a huge Liverpool fan. We watches a lot of football every weekend. When I quit football, 11 years ago, he wasn\u2019t in my life. When he heard futsal was starting up in Sweden, a few years later, he said I should give it a shot. I\u2019ve been in the national team since it started, around five years ago. My husband supports me a lot, he\u2019s at every [club] game, he tries to come to the national-team games too. I couldn\u2019t do it without him. To be honest, I think my style of play is suited to futsal. I come from street football. I love having the ball, dribbling. Now I work as an engineer and play futsal.<\/p>\n
You mention your artistic style of play\u2026 who were your inspirations?
\nI love Ronaldinho. When I was young, I was always watching his clips. I tried to copy everything he did. I remember one summer I spent the whole time on the balcony. I was desperate to do the round the world. I didn\u2019t quit until I\u2019d mastered it (laughs). Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still my favourite player. He\u2019s also been a big inspiration for me.<\/p>\n
You got the chance to meet and play alongside another superstar in 2022\u2026
\nThat was a dream. I love Ronaldinho, but Neymar is one of the best as well. There was a competition on Instagram. You had to do some skill, post it and tag Neymar. I was like, \u2018I\u2019ll try, who knows?\u2019 He picked seven people from the whole world and I was one of them. I couldn\u2019t believe it! I was supposed to go to Brazil in 2020. COVID came, it got postponed, got postponed again, and in 2022 I got to go to Qatar instead. It was amazing. I was there for a week. Everything was so professional. We had a mixed tournament \u2013 boys and girls. On the last day I got to be on Neymar\u2019s team. I got the assist for his winning goal. The feeling was unbelievable. Afterwards, backstage, we got to meet him. People stop me on the streets and say, \u2018You\u2019re the girl who met Neymar\u2019. I knew it would be a dream and it surpassed my expectations.<\/p>\n
If it was anybody other than Neymar you\u2019d have taken the shot on yourself, right!?
\n(laughs) I wouldn\u2019t have passed! To be honest, in the national team, I score a lot, but I get almost as many assists as I do goals. At my club, we have everything written down: goals and assists. My stats are almost the same. I get a lot of pleasure out of setting up goals, but I can\u2019t deny it\u2019s always nice to score.<\/p>\n
How did you feel when it was announced there would be a FIFA Futsal Women\u2019s World Cup in 2025?
\nI\u2019d been dreaming about it for such a long time. I always said that I didn\u2019t want to retire before I\u2019d played in the World Cup or the Olympics. But I\u2019m turning 33 soon, I don\u2019t know how long I\u2019ll have left. I always thought, \u2018I\u2019ll retire and then they\u2019ll announce a World Cup\u2019. So I was really, really happy. We\u2019re desperate to be a part of it. Qualifying won\u2019t be easy but we\u2019ll give it everything we have.<\/p>\n
Sweden recently gave Spain a really close game. How far do you think Sweden are off the best teams in the world?
\nYou don\u2019t win anything on paper. Look at Brazil at the [Women\u2019s] World Cup. They had a really good team but went out in the group stage. When we play how we can, we can beat anyone. Ok, Spain and Portugal are really, really good. They have a lot more experience. After them, I\u2019d say we\u2019re up there with Italy. I\u2019d say we\u2019re at least top five in Europe and I think we\u2019re getting better and better. We\u2019ve been trying to develop our style of play, to play the Brazilian way. I can\u2019t say we\u2019re there yet, but I think we\u2019re getting there.<\/p>\n
How did it feel to be named Swedish futsal player of the year for the first time in January?
\nI have very high goals. When I do something, I want to be the best at it. Since I started playing futsal, I\u2019ve been at the top every year, for the national team and at club level. I\u2019ve never been injured for long. I\u2019m a really good player. I know I have that confidence. I had been nominated a few times, but for whatever reason didn\u2019t get it. I think it was my time. I was very happy. I think it\u2019s a dream for every sportsperson to get that kind of prize.<\/p>\n
Who do you rate as the best players in the world?
\nIt’s difficult to say because we\u2019ve never played against a team from outside Europe. I\u2019ve watched some games, but it\u2019s not the same when you watch them on TV or stream them online. I know Brazil have a lot of good players. I\u2019ve played against Spain and Portugal and I\u2019d say they have some of the best players in the world. But if you ask me, I\u2019d say I\u2019m one of the top players in the world. I don\u2019t see that many players who have my skill on the ball and ability to read play.<\/p>\n
Finally, can you tell us about your typical day?
\nI wake up around 8:30, start my Teams meetings. I work, eat lunch, go to the gym, which is only around 50 metres from my home. I go back to work in the afternoon. Sometimes I go into the city, do some minor things. Then I have training in the evening. I like to visit my mum when I can, get a coffee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Susan Varli was the next big thing. Her hypnotic feet had illuminated Swedish club football. She scored twice against Norway on her debut for the U-23s. She made a list of the 10 biggest prospects in the women\u2019s game alongside the likes of Mana Iwabuchi, Sydney Leroux, Dzsenifer Marozsan, Lieke Martens, Kristie Mewis and Alex […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":963318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20966],"tags":[9648,27192],"class_list":["post-963317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fifa-news","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=963317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/963318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=963317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=963317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=963317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}