Joachim Björklund

Joachim Björklund
Personal information
Full name Joachim Björklund
Date of birth 15 March 1971 (1971-03-15) (age 40)
Place of birth Växjö, Sweden
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position Centre back
Youth career
Öster
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1989–1990 Öster 6 (0)
1990–1992 Brann 56 (0)
1993–1995 IFK Göteborg 46 (0)
1995–1996 Vicenza 33 (0)
1996–1998 Rangers 59 (0)
1998–2001 Valencia 57 (1)
2001–2002 Venezia 18 (0)
2001–2004 Sunderland 57 (0)
2004–2005 Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 (0)
– Total 335 (1 )
National team
1992–2000  Sweden 79 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Joachim Björklund (born 15 March 1971 in Växjö, Sweden) is a former Swedish professional footballer. For many years he formed a successful central defensive partnership with Patrik Andersson for the Swedish national team. Björklund was selected for the UEFA Euro 1992,[1] 1994 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000. He was also a member of the Swedish squad that competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. His maternal uncle is Tommy Svensson, the Sweden national football team manager from 1991 to 1997.

Contents

Playing career

Taking the leap from junior team obscurity to becoming a star in Brann, he was later sold to IFK Göteborg.[2] There, his side achieved a surprise 3-1 victory over Manchester United in the group stage of the 1994-95 Champions League. At the end of the following season, he was transferred to Vicenza,[2] and the following year to Rangers,[2] where he won a Scottish league championship medal before moving to Valencia for £2.5million. He spent three years at Valencia before moving to Venezia in Italy, where he was employed for just one season.

Björklund joined Sunderland at the start of the 2002–03 season for £1.5million,[3] but was unable to prevent them from being relegated. 2003–04 was better, as he helped Sunderland finish third in Division One and reach the FA Cup semi final. But his services were no longer required by manager Mick McCarthy and he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers, who had just been relegated from the Premier League.[4][5] He left the club and retired after just one injury-hampered season that restricted him to just 5 appearances in total as the club failed to win an immediate return to the top flight.[6]

Working career

Having finished his playing career, he now works as a scout for Valencia. He is mainly scouting the Nordic countries for players. He also works for Swedish Canal+, covering La Liga football.[7]

References

  1. ^ Courtney, Barrie (22 June 2004). "European Championship 1992 - Final Tournament - Full Details". rsssf.com. RSSSF. http://www.rsssf.com/tables/92e-full.html. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  2. ^ a b c Bjäreborn, Christoffer (19 June 2001). "Monaco vill ha Joachim Björklund" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/article25572.ab. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  3. ^ "Black Cats snap up Bjorkland". The Daily Telegraph. 28 January 2002. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2428997/Black-Cats-snap-up-Bjorkland.html. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  4. ^ "McCartney's new deal". news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 24 May 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/3742995.stm. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  5. ^ "Wolves sign Bjorklund". news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 5 August 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/w/wolverhampton_wanderers/3539564.stm. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  6. ^ Cooper, Scott (6 May 2005). "Wolves Defender Set To Retire". thefootballnetwork.net. http://www.thefootballnetwork.net/main/s115/st72592.htm. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  7. ^ Magnusson, Oskar (24 August 2010). "Björklunds nya jobb: tv-expert" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/sportitv/article7666022.ab. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 

External links