The League Cup P16 final is a match between Mjällby AIF and Djurgården – but also between two coaches who once stood on the same side.
– It will be fun to welcome him to Strandvallen, says Mjällby’s Daniel Nilsson about fellow opponent Hannes Grönblad.
Hannes Grönblad is in his sixth season at Djurgården’s academy, but before he became a coach, he was a player. Yes, even the team captain in Kristianstads FF’s boys’ Swedish P17 team. The coach there was none other than Daniel Nilsson.
When an injury got in the way, Nilsson insisted that Grönblad should stay in football, and a few years later he kept the UEFA B course that the latter followed.
– It’s great that it went well for Hannes and that he got the development he got as a coach, says 45-year-old Daniel Nilsson, who himself has been in Mjällby AIF’s academy since 2020.
And he seems to be a person that Hannes Grönblad looks up to:
– Daniel is a big reason why I became a coach. He inspired me with his coaching but also pushed me to invest in this.
But back to the match: Mjällby has had a strong start to the season and leads P16 Allsvenskan Södra. In the League Cup, they had the results on their side in the last round of the playoff group and were thereby able to pass IFK Göteborg and Kalmar FF, who cruised in their meeting.
– But we had won over both at the same time, so in the end it felt quite fair, reasons Nilsson.
How would you describe the team you coach?
– I think we have a Mjällby identity: we work hard for each other and have also worked to set different behaviors in the group. We want to guide each other, push and reinforce each other’s actions. It is a strong group that has developed its way of taking on challenges together and adapting to the game. After all, we strive to develop players who can think football and make decisions both individually and collectively.
But the final challenge will not be easy. Visiting Djurgården has won the majority of this year’s matches and also scored plenty of goals.
– In terms of performance, it has been a bit up and down, but we have still managed to influence the opponents offensively and defensively to our advantage and have achieved very good results in all competitive matches. We have a very talented team where individual skill is high. We try to combine that with actions that go in line with what Djurgården stands for: hard-working iron stoves, says Hannes Grönblad.
The final will be played on Wednesday 1 May, with kick-off at 12.00, on Strandvallen’s A-field.
– It will be an even match, I’m sure of that, says Grönblad.
The final is shown live here!
