Svensson playing for Elfsborg |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anders Svensson | ||
| Date of birth | 17 July 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Gothenburg, Sweden | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Elfsborg | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1980 | Guldheden | ||
| 1980–1990 | Hestrafors | ||
| 1990–1993 | Elfsborg | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1993–2001 | Elfsborg | 155 | (38) |
| 2001–2005 | Southampton | 127 | (10) |
| 2005– | Elfsborg | 157 | (24) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1999– | Sweden | 123 | (18) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 October 2009. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Anders Svensson (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈandɛʃ ˈsvɛnsɔn]; born 17 July 1976 in Göteborg, Sweden) is a Swedish international footballer playing for IF Elfsborg. He is a playmaker or left midfielder well known for his passing and set piece abilities.
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Svensson was born in Gothenburg to parents Bertil and Gun Svensson. Svensson has three brothers, the olders one Thomas, Kristoffer and the youngest one Marcus. His father Bertil was his coach at Guldhedens.[1] He grew up watching English football on television.[2] In 1980, Svensson played for Hestrafors IF where he played for ten years.[1]
Svensson began playing football at Guldhedens IK when he was around five. He played at Guldhedens IK for ten years, until he moved to Borås, where he began to play for IF Elfsborg.
As his role on the pitch is that of an offensive midfielder, although at Southampton he also played on the left of midfield. He made his breakthrough while playing for IF Elfsborg in the late 1990s before moving to English side Southampton in 2001.
Svensson moved to Southampton on 14 June 2001 for a £750,000 transfer fee.[3] In England, he was a key player for Southampton however near the end he was rarely a starter in Gordon Strachan's starting-11. He played for Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup final against Arsenal however Southampton lost 1–0.
During his time for the Saints, Svensson made 140 appearances. Despite chairman Rupert Lowe allegedly offered a new contract,[4] Svensson turned down the offer to return to his former club IF Elfsborg.[5]
He rejoined Elfsborg in 2005, where he is currently the captain.[6]
In 1996, he debuted in the Under 21 team. In 1998, he played in the U-21 championships along with Jörgen Pettersson, Yksel Osmanovski, Daniel Andersson and Fredrik Ljungberg.[1]
He debuted for the Swedish national side against South Africa in 1999.
He is known to be a very good free-kick taker, which he showed in the Football World Cup 2002 in South Korea/Japan, where he scored a fabulous free kick goal against Argentina which effectively eliminated the opponent in the group stages. He set up the opening goal for Henrik Larsson against Senegal through an in-swinging corner. He nearly scored a golden goal in extra time but his shot from inside the box was unfortunately denied by the post. He played for Sweden in the Euro 2004 as well the World Cup 2006.
However, he found form for the national team during the Euro 2008 Qualifying stage. He played 11 games with 2 goals and 1 assist which lead Sweden to the Euro 2008. During Euro 2008 Svensson played every minute of every game, but did not find form. His frustration showed giving a few free kicks away on their last game in the tournament. After Henrik Larsson retired and Ibrahimovic declares that he is unsure about his future in the national team, Anders Svensson was the team captain for Sweden in a friendly against Italy (0-1). After Ibrahimovic returned to the national team in the summer of 2010 Svensson was named co-captain, even though Ibrahimovic is the official captain on the pitch.
National Team
Svensson enjoyed a two year relationship with model Anine Bing while playing for Southampon.[7] The pair met in London where she was modeling at the time.
Svensson married to Emma Johansson in July 2007 at Thorsborgs.[8]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Henrik Larsson |
Sweden Captain 2009–2010 |
Succeeded by Zlatan Ibrahimović |
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