In a cap and tinted glasses, Marika Domanski Lyfors followed the national team's Wednesday training from the side of a sun-bleached grass pitch at the sports facility Dario Ballotta in Fidenza a few miles outside Parma.
It was her third in Italy, since last week's announcement that she is back full-time in her position as national team manager for the first time since the spring's cancer diagnosis that she has a malignant brain tumor.
A long-awaited return, according to national team stars and veterans Kosovare Asllani and Sofia Jakobsson.
Aura and energy
When she's not here, it's like a puzzle piece is missing. Now she's here. It feels good. Everything is complete. She holds the positions. Her aura and energy spread, says Asllani.
The 35-year-old national team captain does not want to go into detail about how touched she is to have Domanski Lyfors back. But it shows on the midfielder that she is emotional.
I just get happy that she's here. That's the absolute most important thing. She's so cool and strong. This we will manage.
Precisely like Sofia Jakobsson, Asllani has long had 65-year-old Domanski Lyfors as the overall manager in the national team, even though national team captains have come and gone.
"Incredible experience"
Marika has always been there throughout my entire national team career and has meant incredibly much to so many people here. She has an incredible experience both as a coach and also in the position she has now, says the 35-year-old striker.
Domanski Lyfors has previously stated that she will never be fully cleared. When the national team gathered earlier in the week, she spoke to the player group.
It was incredibly fun and a relief to see her there with us. Of course, a bit emotional too in a way, that she can be with us like this a year later after the diagnosis. Fantastic, says Jakobsson.
