Anja Mittag wanted to try something new - a new adventure, a new challenge. For that reason, she has left Sweden after three extremely successful years with FC Rosengard scoring 62 goals in 69 appearances. She won numerous titles, and enjoyed many incredible moments, but the 30-year-old has decided to move to Paris St. Germain – a metropolis as opposed to the small district of Malmö.
Her next journey though sees her return to near her hometown. On Friday (16:00 CEST) in Halle, the first match of the European Champions qualification takes place against Hungary. Mittag was born in Chemnitz, just one hour’s drive away. "I am looking forward to playing a match near my home," said the 127-time capped Germany international. The last time this happened was almost three years ago when they drew 1-1 against France.
"We are favourites and don’t want to show any weaknesses."
They face Hungary, a largely unknown opponent. "We are of course taking the match very seriously," said Mittag."To be honest, I don’t know much about Hungary. I am interested to see how good they are. It’s clear though that we’re favourites and we don’t want to show any weaknesses. Our goal has to be to qualify emphatically for the tournament in Holland in 2017. Our strongest opponent will probably be Russia." This is all speculation though, there is no doubt that the focus at the moment is on Hungary.
Anja Mittag was a particular point of discussion when the players met up over the last few days. Her transfer to Paris is still recent news. There are many questions that she will have to answer. How are you enjoying the French capital so far? Have you had the opportunity to see the old town yet? Have you been sightseeing? Shopping?
"I haven’t seen much of Paris yet"
"I haven’t actually seen much of Paris itself yet, there hasn’t been much time," said the 30-year-old striker. She wants to change this though, and will explore further when she has fully settled in. "We have trained a lot in the last few weeks," she explained. "Whenever we have had free time, I usually had citizenship issues to sort out, or French lessons to attend."
Communication is still the most pressing issue. Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, the pregnant Lira Alushi and defender Josephine Henning are the other three Germans at the club. They are her most important points of contact at the moment. Her vocabulary is improving with every lesson however, and her integration within the team is accelerated. Whatever the case, Anja Mittag is not someone who requires a great deal of time to connect with people.
Battle for the league with Olympique Lyon?
In terms of football, Mittag has had one small set back. After two impressive victories to start the season, PSG were only able to draw 0-0 at home to Montpellier last Sunday. Olympique Lyon, their biggest rivals in terms of the league, were therefore able to build themselves a small lead.
"Our goal is of course to stay neck and neck with Lyon for as long as possible," said Mittag. "It’s clear though, that we will need a bit of time. We have gone through a period of transition this summer in terms of the squad, but expect to at least finish second and to re-qualify for the Champions League. Anything extra would be a bonus."
In order to judge their chances of challenging for the league, one has simply to look at last year’s table. The Parisian women came second, recording 20 wins and two losses with a goal difference of 88:9. There was however one team who did better. Namely Olympique Lyon, who had an incredible record: 22 games, 22 wins, 147:6 goals. It is this dominance that PSG, who reached the final of the Champions league last season, are hoping to break. No small task, but they have the opportunity to do so - the perfect situation for Anja Mittag.
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Anja Mittag wanted to try something new - a new adventure, a new challenge. For that reason, she has left Sweden after three extremely successful years with FC Rosengard scoring 62 goals in 69 appearances. She won numerous titles, and enjoyed many incredible moments, but the 30-year-old has decided to move to Paris St. Germain – a metropolis as opposed to the small district of Malmö.
Her next journey though sees her return to near her hometown. On Friday (16:00 CEST) in Halle, the first match of the European Champions qualification takes place against Hungary. Mittag was born in Chemnitz, just one hour’s drive away. "I am looking forward to playing a match near my home," said the 127-time capped Germany international. The last time this happened was almost three years ago when they drew 1-1 against France.
"We are favourites and don’t want to show any weaknesses."
They face Hungary, a largely unknown opponent. "We are of course taking the match very seriously," said Mittag."To be honest, I don’t know much about Hungary. I am interested to see how good they are. It’s clear though that we’re favourites and we don’t want to show any weaknesses. Our goal has to be to qualify emphatically for the tournament in Holland in 2017. Our strongest opponent will probably be Russia." This is all speculation though, there is no doubt that the focus at the moment is on Hungary.
Anja Mittag was a particular point of discussion when the players met up over the last few days. Her transfer to Paris is still recent news. There are many questions that she will have to answer. How are you enjoying the French capital so far? Have you had the opportunity to see the old town yet? Have you been sightseeing? Shopping?
"I haven’t seen much of Paris yet"
"I haven’t actually seen much of Paris itself yet, there hasn’t been much time," said the 30-year-old striker. She wants to change this though, and will explore further when she has fully settled in. "We have trained a lot in the last few weeks," she explained. "Whenever we have had free time, I usually had citizenship issues to sort out, or French lessons to attend."
Communication is still the most pressing issue. Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, the pregnant Lira Alushi and defender Josephine Henning are the other three Germans at the club. They are her most important points of contact at the moment. Her vocabulary is improving with every lesson however, and her integration within the team is accelerated. Whatever the case, Anja Mittag is not someone who requires a great deal of time to connect with people.
Battle for the league with Olympique Lyon?
In terms of football, Mittag has had one small set back. After two impressive victories to start the season, PSG were only able to draw 0-0 at home to Montpellier last Sunday. Olympique Lyon, their biggest rivals in terms of the league, were therefore able to build themselves a small lead.
"Our goal is of course to stay neck and neck with Lyon for as long as possible," said Mittag. "It’s clear though, that we will need a bit of time. We have gone through a period of transition this summer in terms of the squad, but expect to at least finish second and to re-qualify for the Champions League. Anything extra would be a bonus."
In order to judge their chances of challenging for the league, one has simply to look at last year’s table. The Parisian women came second, recording 20 wins and two losses with a goal difference of 88:9. There was however one team who did better. Namely Olympique Lyon, who had an incredible record: 22 games, 22 wins, 147:6 goals. It is this dominance that PSG, who reached the final of the Champions league last season, are hoping to break. No small task, but they have the opportunity to do so - the perfect situation for Anja Mittag.
