Sweden’s Isak Sedin is ‘living the dream’ playing soccer for La Salle

La Salle soccer player Isak Sedin’s resting facial expression is one of musing and reflection, not dissimilar to an atypical depiction of a Greek philosopher.

When teammate Luis Puchol is regaling the tales of how the two first met and how much they’ve grown, Sedin nods thoughtfully, wordlessly ... until Puchol is asked what he wants people to know about the Swedish midfielder.

Sedin can’t help but crack a little half-smile and remark, “Loud singer.”

It’s then agreed that while he may be a loud singer, he’s a good one. “If you want someone that knows how to sing, get to meet him,” Puchol laughs. “He’s definitely a great dancer too, but he just shows it at home, he’s a bit shy.”

In a strange way, that’s a pretty perfect introduction to Sedin. He’s talented, he can perform, but he’s not cocky about it. (Unless you challenge him to a game of SingStar. Then he’s quite confident that nobody can beat him.)

“I know what I’m good at, and I know that I do what I do, and I show that I have qualities that can be useful for the team,” Sedin said.

Puchol was more ready to sing his teammate’s praises when speaking about playing with him, saying of the midfielder who wears the team’s No. 10 jersey, “Oh, I love it! He’s really passionate, he brings that passion and that grit to [the game]. We know him really well, so we have a really good chemistry — not only me, but our housemates as well — so it’s awesome. He’s always got a positive attitude, always trying to encourage the teammates, so it’s definitely great to have him with us.”

Sedin grew up in a town up in northern Sweden, “in a smaller city, maybe 30,000 people, and most people know everyone. In that area you walk to school from when you’re 9 years old, you bike around with your friends, you have no worries. And we played a lot of soccer, a lot of football.”

Proficient in both floorball and Alpine skiing, he had a choice when high school came around.

“When you start high school, you get to choose if you want to play soccer as a subclass, or floorball...I was really good at that. Then I started to go a year in Swedish university, but the university was an hour away from my house, so I would have to go up there for school and back home to play soccer. It was, like, a two-hour trip every day, which is not too bad, but a bit annoying.”

In Sweden, he felt he couldn’t have the best of both worlds. That’s where La Salle came in.

“I wanted to have an education, and I wanted to play soccer,” Sedin said. “And here, you get to do both in the same place.”

The transition from Sweden to the United States wasn’t as jarring as one might expect. While some international players have a difficult time adjusting to the endlessly unpredictable Philadelphia weather, Sedin wasn’t fazed. “Sweden is ... kind of cold compared to here. But it’s not as cold as people imagine. Just to get that cleared up.”

There were also a number of European players coming into the team at the same time as him to give some sense of familiarity in otherwise uncharted territory.

“I’m used to being in new environments, so meeting new people is not super difficult,” he explained. “Then I got here, and I had a couple of guys from Europe as well — [Puchol] and Franc [Gamiz Quer]— and we bonded pretty quickly, even though they would speak Spanish without me! Puchi is the best with English, though, for sure…”

Puchol recalled their first meeting quite fondly, saying, “As soon as we started talking to him, practicing, getting to know him, it was very easy. He was very open to us, he was really easy to talk to.”

Puchol also emphasized Sedin’s growth over the pair’s three years at La Salle so far.

“It’s actually very interesting,” Puchol said. “You feel like you meet your real friends, the friends you’ll bring to the end of your life in university. I’ll definitely take him forever, and it’s really interesting because, as freshmen, I see myself as a little kid, and how much we’ve matured and how much better we know each other. It’s great.”

And for all intents and purposes, life at La Salle is great for Sedin. In his team bio, he described coming to the university as “a dream come true,” elaborating by saying, “[It’s] living with people who want to do the same thing as you. You wake up, you have breakfast with your mates, you go practice together, you go to class together, and then you do anything you want at night.”

He added: “That is the dream by the way, to be able to do that later, but without the school part. Wake up, have breakfast with your friends, practice with them, go to the gym with them, then going home and doing whatever. That’s living the dream, and we’re pretty close to it.”

Sedin has started eight matches for the 5-10 Explorers heading into Saturday’s season finale at George Mason. Currently a junior, he has his sights set on playing soccer as a career after he graduates. He has some connections back home that he would love to work with again, and maybe even bring Puchol, Gamiz Quer, and the other housemate, Carlos Mora, with him.

“Carlos and Franc already went to Sweden, and maybe Puchi will as well!” he said.

Wherever soccer takes the next Frenkie de Jong (as Puchol puts it, and Sedin agrees — ”I would punch him if he didn’t say that!”), Sedin can be content in knowing that while he may describe himself as humble, his abilities don’t go unrecognized and are well-respected by those around him.

“He’s serious when he needs to be serious and funny when he needs to be funny,” Puchol said. “He pushes you to be a better person and better player...we love having him in day-to-day life.”