Michael Svensson
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| Michael Svensson | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Svensson | |
| Date of birth | November 25, 1975 | |
| Place of birth | Värnamo , Sweden | |
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | |
| Playing position | Centre Back | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Unattached | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1993-1995 | Skillingaryds IS | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1995-1998 1998-2001 2001-2002 2002-2007 |
IFK Värnamo Halmstads BK Troyes Southampton |
78 (5) 23 (1) 67 (4) |
| National team | ||
| 1999- | Sweden | 25 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Michael Svensson (born 25 November 1975) is a Swedish professional football player who plays as a central defender. He was released by Southampton in summer 2007, and played in the F.A. Cup final in 2003, losing 1-0 to Arsenal.
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[edit] Early career
Svensson started his career in his home country, playing for various Swedish clubs including IFK Värnamo and Halmstads BK. He began to be noticed by bigger clubs when Halmstads BK won the Swedish championship in 2000.
He was transferred to Troyes in 2001 and then moved to Southampton in 2002.
[edit] Southampton
Svensson arrived at Southampton just after being a member of Sweden's squad at the 2002 World Cup. He immediately struck up a rapport with Claus Lundekvam at the centre of the Saints defence. He is a tough tackling, no nonsense centre-half but likes to play the ball out of defence and get forward to help out in attack.
Svensson holds the honour of scoring the last ever competitive goal at Maine Road on 11 May 2003, won by Southampton 1-0.
Due to a serious knee injury sustained at the end of the 2003-04 season, he missed the entire 2004-05 season. He returned to action in October 2005 but, after only seven games, he broke down again and remained out of action for the remainder of the 2005-06 season. Killer, as he is nicknamed by the fans, failed to return to full fitness in time for the start of the 2006-07 championship season due to a kick in the knee during an Aldershot reserves game in the 2006 pre-season. Since then, he has flown to Germany to continue treatment with FC Bayern Munich doctor Hans Müller-Wolfhart[1] On 23 May 2007, it was announced that Svensson would undergo further surgery in an attempt to save his career. The procedure will put him out of action for at least a year throwing a major question mark over his future. By then it will be the best part of four years since he played regularly[2] His contract with the Saints expired on 30 June 2007, and was not renewed as Southampton face up to the financial realities of a third season in the Championship.
Southampton hope that Svensson will return in the Summer of 2008 and Svensson himself has stated he wouldn't want to play for any other club. He is believed to have had 'Last resort' surgery on his knee. Should this not work, the Swede will be forced to retire.
In April 2008, a DVD about Michael Svensson's career is launched. Michael tells about his career from the start at School where he started as a motorcross racer and to his pro debut, move to Troyes and Southampton, the world cup and all his memories about that great team built by Gordon Strachan and his perfect partnership with Claus Lundekvam reaching a top 8 in Premier League, Cup Final and playing in Europe.
[edit] International career
He made his debut in the Swedish national team on August 17, 1999 against Austria. He was a member of the Swedish squad for the 2002 World Cup, where he was not played. He has 25 caps for his country.
[edit] Honours
- FA Cup finalist 2003
[edit] References
- ^ Killer question. saintsfc.co.uk. Retrieved on December 21, 2006.
- ^ D Day for Killer. saintsfc.co.uk. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Michael Svensson career stats at Soccerbase
- Michael Svensson Fans Interview
- Michael Svensson Autobiography DVD
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