LTA’s Italian National Team Goalkeeper, Anna Maria Picarelli, has just completed a highly successful three-weeks loan spell with Kristianstads DFF (KDFF) in Sweden’s Top League.

American born Picarelli who will now return to California powerhouse Ajax America in the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) was contracted to step in when KDFF was left with no experienced keepers for almost a month due to injuries. The unorthodox keeper proved an instant hit by saving a penalty from Sweden’s best player and a perennial WPS target Therese Sjögran albeit KDFF narrowly lost to the League leading LdB FC from Malmo. Picarelli went on to feature in two more games with KDFF (who also boast LTA’s New Zealand international Kirsty Yallop in their ranks), both of which were wins, and she left the Sweden’s south coast outfit in the highest ever third place in the Damallsvenskan table behind LdB FC and Göteborg FC.

“Sweden was a fantastic experience,” Picarelli said. “The soccer there is treated as it should be, very professional and very competitive.  KDFF is a great club that suited me as a player because it is not the team everyone expects to be at the top but is making its mark in the Swedish League, and I am grateful to have been a part of that.”

Picarelli, who has been capped 18 times by Italy will next feature for Le Azzurre on June 19th and June 23rd in crucial FIFA Germany 2011 Women’s World Cup qualifiers at home to Slovenia and away to Finland.

The 23-year-old all-action midfielder joins the Southern Sweden outfit following the 2010 Cyprus Women’s Cup final appearance where New Zealand National Team won their group and narrowly lost to Canada in the championship match. Yallop, who has already earned 36 senior national team caps (9 goals), had an outstanding 2009 club season winning two National League Championships with Auckland in her native New Zealand and with Pali Blues of California in the USA W-League.

She becomes currently the only Football Fern and the first LTA Agency represented player in Swedish Top Division. In KDFF, she joins an ambitious young team led by the former Icelandic Champion and Cup Winning coach with FC Valur Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir. “Kirsty is a highly skilled player with impressive international experience. She played at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and captained New Zealand at the 2006 FIFA U20 World Cup in Russia. Additional advantage is that we can use her in several different positions in midfield. We are very happy with her signing,” said Gunnarsdóttir.

During the official presentation to the press, Kirsty Yallop explained why she chose Sweden as the next step in her career: “The Swedish league is one of the three best in the world. I see it as a new and exciting challenge to play here. Now I get to play against quality opposition in every match.” “I am very happy here already. Kristianstad is a nice city, I have wonderful teammates, and our coach is great,” she added.

Kirsty Yallop made her Swedish debut in the 1:0 pre-season win over Danish powerhouse Brøndby IF.

See the video summary of Kirsty’s first impressions of Sweden and her goals for the upcoming season here: