Alexander Östlund

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Alexander Östlund
Personal information
Full name	Jan Alexander Östlund
Date of birth	November 2, 1978 (1978-11-02) (age 29)
Place of birth	Åkersberga, Sweden
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Right back
Club information
Current club	Southampton
Number	2
Youth clubs
	IFK Österåker
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1994-1996 1997 1998 1998-1999 1999-2002 2003-2004 2004-2006 2006-	AIK IF Brommapojkarna AIK Vitória S.C. IFK Norrköping Hammarby IF Feyenoord Southampton F.C.	22 (2) 13 (2) 24 (1) 00 (0) 77 (3) 45 (0) 33 (0) 44 (0)
National team2
2004-2006	Sweden	21 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:37, 05 April 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 22 July, 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Jan Alexander Östlund (born 2 November 1978 in Åkersberga) is a Swedish football player, currently playing as a right back for Southampton F.C., having joined from Feyenoord Rotterdam on January 30, 2006.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Sweden

Östlund started playing for hometown club IFK Österåker. At the age of 16 he was drafted for AIK Fotboll, where he played as a striker. He scored the club's last goal of the 1998 season, which meant AIK won Allsvenskan, the Swedish championship. He had a loan period at Birmingham City but was not offered a contract, being subsequently transferred to IFK Norrköping and converted into a defender.

[edit] Feyenoord

In July 2004, Östlund signed with Eredivisie's Feyenoord Rotterdam, playing his first match against Vitesse Arnhem.

[edit] Southampton

His nickname is "Salle", although the fans of Southampton have been calling him "Jesus" due to his flowing locks and beard, and he emerged as a cult hero for his hard tackles and marauding runs. On the final day of the 2005-06 Championship season, replica number 2 shirts flew out of the club shop, as Saints fans could be heard in matches chanting "Jesus is our right-back".

For the early part of the 2006-07 season he was in and out of the side but towards the end cemented his right-back position. He has always given whole-hearted commitment to the team and provided a more than useful option which allowed Chris Baird to move into the centre of the defence.

Östlund started 2007-08 well, having to compete for the No. 2 position with on-loan players Phil Ifil and Christian Dailly, who both departed from the team in January 2008.

[edit] International career

Östlund played for Sweden at the 2004 European Championship. Despite being a regular fixture in the international side, he was overlooked for the 2006 World Cup squad.

[edit] External links

• Alexander Östlund career stats at Soccerbase

v • d • e Sweden squad - UEFA Euro 2004 1 Isaksson • 2 Lučić • 3 Mellberg • 4 Mjällby • 5 Edman • 6 Linderoth • 7 Nilsson • 8 Svensson • 9 Ljungberg • 10 Ibrahimović • 11 Larsson • 12 Hedman • 13 Hansson • 14 Östlund • 15 Jakobsson • 16 Källström • 17 Andersson • 18 Jonson • 19 Farnerud • 20 Allbäck • 21 Wilhelmsson • 22 Wahlstedt • 23 Kihlstedt • Coach: Lagerbäck & Söderberg