In the summer of 2012, then US women’s soccer coach Pia Sundhage led the American team to Olympic Gold in London.  Soon after, Sundhage, who is openly gay, announced that she would be returning to her homeland Sweden to coach the Swedish women’s team. Capping off that exciting year, Sundhage attended FIFA's annual awards gala Monday night in Zurich, Switzerland, where she was named soccer’s 2012 women’s world coach of the year, according to the LA Times. American forward Abby Wambach was also honored as women’s world player of the year.

Sundhage has been known to serenade her players in the past, and she used her acceptance speech Monday to give them one last song.  After thanking her coaching and medical staff, Sundhage addressed her team, saying, "I look at Alex [Morgan] and Abby [Wambach] and all of their teammates, and I have one thing to say."  She then gave her rendition of Bob Dylan’s, "If Not For You."
In addition to winning Gold in the London Games, Sundhage led the Americans to a Gold Medal in 2008 in Beijing, as well as a somewhat disappointing second place finish in the 2011 World Cup.  She is the first manager of an American team to win a FIFA coaching award.

Image via Getty.

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