Photo: Sounders.com

Woke up Friday feeling really disappointed after the game as it unfortunately developed as I predicted.

The rules here in the MLS motivates the away team in the first leg to play for a draw and not to play an offensive game which of course is not at all entertaining to watch. But that’s the rules we have to accept and hopefully we can offer a better game in Houston.

Anyway, we had a lot of chances to win the game with crossbar shots and goal line saves by the Houston goalie that we should have scored on but this was a real tight and typical playoff game and how football is sometimes.

There has been a lot of discussions and complaints about the refereeing after the game. I am just going to leave it as it is for now, but I am sure of that the people dealing with these kind of issues will do so in this case.

Looking forward to Houston!

//Freddie

We are proud to present the following news.

//Claes Elefalk, agent
CAA Sports

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PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK (Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009) – Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Freddie Ljungberg was voted Major League Soccer’s Player of the Month for October. Ljungberg recorded four assists while leading Seattle to a 3-0-0 record during the month, and a place a berth in the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Seattle entered the final month of the season with a 9-7-11 record and balanced precariously on the playoff bubble.  With Ljungberg leading the charge, the Sounders rallied for nine points finished as the third seed in the Western Conference bracket. Ljungberg is the first Swedish player to win MLS Player of the Month. As it is a regular-season honor, this is the last MLS Player of the Month in 2009.

After defeating the Columbus Crew 1-0 on Oct. 3, the Sounders traveled to Kansas City on Oct. 17 in need of a victory.  Down 2-1 early in the second half to the Wizards, Ljungberg led a Sounders attack that netted two goals in the final 25 minutes of play to capture the win and put Kansas City’s slim playoff hopes to bed. Ljungberg found a streaking Nate Jaqua in the middle of the penalty box in the 76th minute for the game-winner.

Seattle hosted FC Dallas on Oct. 24 in a do-or-die game for the Texas club. FC Dallas struck first when Atiba Harris fired a shot from 22 yards out that gave Dallas a 1-0 lead.  With the home crowd behind them, Seattle rebounded for two goals in the second half.  First Ljungberg wriggled out of pressure on the left flank and sent a cross to Fredy Montero, who slid to dish to Nate Jaqua for a tap-in goal. In the 85th minute, Ljungberg, the Swedish star recorded his second assist of the game when he found Brad Evans at the near post for a close range strike that sealed the victory.

Seattle finished the season 12-7-11 with 47 points and will face the Houston Dynamo on Thursday night at 10 p.m. ET (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes) in Game 1 of a Western Conference semifinal series. Ljungberg, who finished the regular season with two goals and nine assists, will look to break through a Dynamo defense that allowed a league-low 29 goals this season.  Ljungberg has recorded one assist in his three previous meetings with the Dynamo. Kickoff for the first game of the home-and-home series is tonight at 10:25 p.m. ET at Qwest Field.

The Major League Soccer Player of the Month is selected following the last regular season game of each month by a panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR). The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.

Its time for the quarterfinal tomorrow and its going to be a great occasion!

We played very well against Houston in the past and I think we have two wins and a draw, and in the draw we missed a lot of chances. They are a very very good side and probably dominated the Conference in the past which we want to change.

Houston always try to play some good football on the floor and that is always positive so I hope its going to be an enjoyable game to watch, but at the same time the playoffs in America is not played like in Europe where we have the Champions League and away goals count extra why Houston might sit back a bit and don’t see any point in going forward. We will see tomorrow how it develops.

For any Europeans out there reading this it might be of value to know exactly how the Playoffs work so check out “The MLS Cup Playoffs”. As you know the 2009 final will be played right here in Seattle.

I heard we sold 37 000 tickets in 30 minutes or so, which again shows what amazing fans the Sounders have.

//Freddie

Photo: Sounders.com

Last night we won against Dallas and I think it was a very good game, but our fans was amazing and it was a day to celebrate all of you. The only thing I can say is that you are world class whatever way you are looking at it!

Talking about the game, I think it is a difficult situation when you have one team fighting for “their life” to make the playoffs and another having already qualified as it is always going to be a little bit in your mind. But we deserved to win and once again proved that we have been playing well all season, and it is good to have the momentum going into the playoffs.

We started the game amazingly with some very good football then Dallas got a goal from a long distance shot that was a bit of a shock to the system because they had nothing before that, but at the same time I knew that we would come back as the whole team had confidence in themselves and kept calm. That also showed later on as we scored two great goals and won the game. I´m really happy that I was able to contribute to both of them.

A great result for the Sounders that we should celebrate, but you might have heard that in the dressing room after the game we hade no real celebrations going on, instead the whole team started to focus on the playoffs.

Thanks again to all of you amazing Sounders fans out there!

//Freddie

The game against Dallas tomorrow is the last game of the regular season, and we have already secured our Playoff spot.

But it is a bit of an awkward situation as it is easy to start thinking, “I don’t want to get injured because then I might miss the quarterfinal and Playoffs” and therefore not go in for the heavy tackles and not play with 100 percent effort, so if anyone has these kind of thoughts it’s important to get them out of their heads.

This is always mentally a difficult scenario for a team in our position especially when the League looks like this, with the team ahead of us on 46 points and Sounders on 45, and 2nd placed team plays against the 3rd placed team, which makes tomorrows game very important as we suddenly could become winner of the Conference and secure one more great win for the Sounders!

Its going to be a great day and I’ve heard that a lot of special things will be going on as it is the last regular game of the season.

//Freddie

We want to share some information with you in reference to that we have agreed a co-operation between ESPN Soccernet and Freddie, which is officially launched  today with the publishing of Freddies first column on ESPN Soccernet.

//Claes Elefalk, agent
CAA Sports

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PRESS RELEASE

Freddie Ljungberg Joins ESPN Soccernet

Soccernet.com today announced that internationally renowned soccer star Freddie Ljungberg will join host Derek Rae, and analysts Tommy Smyth and Janusz Michallik,as a regular guest on ESPNSoccernet Press Pass.

This exclusive program, which is aired five days per week since August 13th, gives millions fans across the world a chance to stay up to date on the latest global soccer news and expert opinion’s leading up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

In addition, Freddie will also be sharing his opinions and knowledgeable  by writing a column, which is rare and unique among top players in the world, twice per month for the site.

Currently playing in the U.S. for Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders FC, Ljungberg’s 15-year career in soccer will add invaluable contributions to the latest news on the pitch.  He began his professional career playing for Halmstad BK before joining Arsenal FC where he won the award 2002 Premier League Player of the Year and became a key player on the undefeated team that went on to capture the 2004 EPL title.  The Swedish native also participated in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup tournaments and the Euro 2000,  Euro 2004 and Euro 2008 for his home country’s national team.

His experience with fame and popularity as a model, fashion icon and product endorser, will also add new dimensions to discussions about the lives of players off the pitch as well.

Read Freddie’s column on ESPN Soccernet