If you're crazy about football, so is she. For Magdalena Eriksson, it seems that being a full-time professional in one of Europe's biggest clubs wasn't enough.
When Bayern Munich's chief scout contacted her a year ago and asked if she wanted to become a scout for the men's team, she agreed.
"You don't have every afternoon off like you used to. It's more taxing on the brain, but I think it's fun. And I love watching football, I watch so much football that I don't know how many minutes of football I watch a week," says the veteran midfielder about the new extra challenge.
“Good buzz at the checkout”
As a scout for Bayern Munich's men's team, she focuses on South America. However, it is a part-time job alongside her playing career.
Do you have a second income?
Haha, yes, now there's a good buzz at the cash register, says Eriksson.
No, I'm just kidding. I'm not getting any huge extra income, and it's clear: I'm still a football player and that's my main profession.
Last fall, the 32-year-old announced that she was quitting the Swedish national team. Last Saturday, in connection with the World Cup qualifying match against Serbia in Solna, she was given a send-off.
The setting there made her long to return.
It's of course very sad and strange and odd to see the girls together and I'm not there. But once I made the decision, I felt it was the right one.
Playing a few more seasons
Her history of injuries was behind the decision. New knee problems in the fall led her to make that decision.
My body, above all, feels a lot better now. It's a rhythm that I feel I can handle, these two-week periods that we have where you get to focus on your body and building it back up rather than constantly breaking it down. That means a lot. So it's definitely a rhythm that I feel I can keep for a few more seasons.
She doesn't know what will happen after that. But football scouting is an attractive profession, and also an untapped area in women's football, she says.
It has been incredibly interesting to gain insight into a completely new activity that doesn't yet exist in women's football. Because right now all the resources go to the most important positions. But soon I think scouting will become huge in women's football too.
