VÄXJÖ, Sweden – Defending champions Djurgårdens IF sent a message to Swedish football Tuesday, one its own players also took to heart.

By Chipp Reid
April 15,2003

Kim Källström, Niclas Rasck, Samuel Wowoah and Johan Elmander all scored to lead Djurgården to a season-opening 4-0 victory over Östers in front of 13,215 at Värendsvallen.
Samuel Wowoah
The defending league and Swedish Cup champions dominated the match for long stretches, although they looked completely average in other periods. The four goals were certainly good news for head coach Sören Åkeby, but he was less than happy with how his side played at times.

- We started off shaky. We were tense in the first eight, ten minutes, Åkeby said.
- After the first goal were loosened up some. Still, we were a bit tight until we got to 2-0.

Källström ended DIF’s case of the jitters when he scored on a penalty kick in the 19th minute. Referee Martin Ingvarsson awarded the penalty after Östers defender Fredrik Bild knocked Mikael Dorsin down in the penalty area. Källström’s goal marked the fourth-straight year in which he’s scored in the season-opening match.

Djurgården doubled its lead eight minutes later when defender Niklas Rasck got credit for a goal that came off a deflection. The play again involved Östers’ Bild, who got in the way of a low cross Rasck sent into the area. Bild redirected the blast past Östers goalkeeper Björn Stringheim for a 2-0 DIF edge.

The quick two-goal edge woke up Östers, which began to attack DIF goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson. Dani Hamzo tested the Swedish international several times as Djurgården once more fell into a spell of less-than-inspired play.

- We got a bit nonchalant after the 2-0 goal, said DIF captain Magnus Karlsson.
- Even after we scored we were scrambling a bit. Östers kept coming up at as, and that surprised us a bit.

Östers did continue to battle, but Isaksson was always right there. He collected four saves as Östers fired 14 shots at goal in the match.

The second half was a different story as both teams came out looking to attack. Djurgården simply had more weapons in its arsenal. Samuel Wowoah put Östers deeper in the hole with his first goal of the season at the 51-minute mark. Wowoah grabbed hold of a loose ball, stepped around Östers defender Joakim Karlsson and fired the ball home for a 3-0 lead. Swedish international forward Johan Elmander completed the rout when he scored two minutes from time.

- We played much better in the second half, Åkeby said.
- We were very stable on defense and it bodes well for us for the rest of the season.

Despite falling behind 3-0, Östers continued to look for ways to attack. Åkeby said that allowed his side to do what it does best.

- We got to play football, he said.
- It’s always good when the other team wants to play football, and Östers deserves praise for that.

Östers head coach Jevgenij Kouznetsov had nothing but praise for his counterpart.

- The better team won,” Kouznetsov said.
- We came out and tried to create as many chances as we could, but Djurgården was the better team today.

The match marked the debut of Johan Arneng in a Djurgården uniform and was also the first official game with Stefan Rehn behind the bench as an assistant coach. Arneng came to Djurgården over the winter to replace Rehn, who retired after last season. Åkeby said the former Liverpool starlet performed well in his debut.

- Johan played a good match, Åkeby said.
- He plays a simple and direct game and he also takes responsibility in the midfield.

The victory extended Djurgården’s league winning streak to five games, dating back to October of last year.

Chipp Reid
creid@spray.se

Lineups:
Östers: Björn Stringheim – Mikael Thomasson, Johan Mattsson, Joakim Karlsson, Fredrik Bild – Johan Svensson, Denis Velic (Ludwig Ernstsson, 65), Patrik Karlsson, Atiba Hutchinson – Dani Hamzo, Kaspars Gorkss.

Djurgården: Andreas Isaksson – Patrik Eriksson Olsson, Mikael Dorsin, Magnus Karlsson, Niklas Rasck – Kim Källström, Johan Arneng, Andreas Johansson – Johan Elmander, Babis Stefanidis (Yannick Ngabu Bapupa, 89), Samuel Wowoah (Rene Muzola Makondele, 80).

Scoring
1-0: Kim Källström (1), 19'
2-0: Niklas Rasck (own goal) (1), 27'.
3-0: Samuel Wowoah (1), 51'.
4-0: Johan Elmander (1), 88'.

Shots at goal: Östers 14, Djurgården 14.
Saves: Östers (Stringheim) 4, Djurgården (Isaksson) 4
Corner kicks: Östers 2, Djurgården 5
Yellow cards: Östers: Mikael Thomasson. Djurgården: Johan Arneng, Kim Källström.
Red cards: None.
Referees: Martin Ingvarsson, Fredrik Nilsson, Peter Martinsson.

Attendance: 13,215.