Marcus Berg

Marcus Berg

Berg with Hamburger SV
Personal information
Date of birth17 August 1986
Place of birthTorsby, Sweden
Height1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current team
Panathinaikos
Number9
Youth career
Torsby IF
2002IFK Velen
2003–2004IFK Göteborg
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2005–2007IFK Göteborg53(21)
2007–2009Groningen56(32)
2009–2013Hamburger SV54(6)
2010–2011→ PSV (loan)25(8)
2013–Panathinaikos48(28)
National team‡
2004–2005Sweden U198(3)
2006–2009Sweden U2119(8)
2008–Sweden28(7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 April 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 April 2015

Marcus Berg (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈmarkɵs bærj]; born 17 August 1986 in Torsby) is a Swedish football striker who plays for Greek team Panathinaikos. In Sweden he is nicknamed Svarte-Marcus ("Black Marcus") due to scoring a lot of goals in the junior teams, in reference to Filip "Svarte-Filip" Johansson.

Club career

Youth years

Berg started to play for a local club Torsby IF in 2002. After that, he moved to IFK Velen in 2003. He also had an ambition to join Manchester United at the age of 19.

IFK Göteborg

After spending two years in the youth team, in the season 2005, Berg was promoted to the regular squad and played for IFK Göteborg in the Allsvenskan. During the time playing for IFK Göteborg, he played alongside his older brother Jonatan.

Berg played for IFK Göteborg until the 2007 summer and put forth an attracting performance throughout his final season, as he maintained a high scoring efficiency throughout the league matches. Göteborg won the league that season and Berg received a standing ovation upon leaving the field after the 5–0 away victory over Kalmar FF where Berg scored, which was his last for the club because of his suspension for the game against Djurgårdens IF.

Berg with Groningen

Groningen

On 10 August 2007, Dutch side FC Groningen signed Berg for a reported £2.5 million[1] to replace the departing AFC Ajax-bound Luis Suárez.

Berg had a good debut season in the Netherlands. Although he was not the top scorer in the Eredivisie in 2007–08, he scored 18 goals for Groningen, helping the Dutch outfit to a seventh place finish.

In the 2008–09 season, Groningen remained top of the Eredivisie table after five games played. Berg had a good display as well.[2] He managed to score 13 goals in 15 matches. He also scored four goals in a December game against Roda JC.

Hamburg

On 17 July 2009, Hamburger SV confirmed that Berg had signed a five-year contract with the club.[3][4] The official FC Groningen website mentioned it was a record fee paid for a Groningen player. Dagblad van het Noorden, a Dutch newspaper, stated that Berg swapped clubs for €10.5 million. The contract also mentioned that a friendly match will be played between Groningen and Hamburg in the summer of 2010 or 2011 in the Euroborg, the main stadium of Groningen. Although initially the fee of €9.5 million was too high for Hamburg, Berg's desire of moving to Bundesliga persuaded Groningen to complete the transfer. In his first Bundesliga game for Hamburg, playing at home against Borussia Dortmund, Berg scored his first goal for the club in the 72nd minute, just 182 seconds after coming off the bench, a record in the club's history. Despite the promising start, his debut season in the Bundesliga would not become a success, with Berg only scoring three additional goals in 30 appearances.

PSV Eindhoven

On 17 July 2010, PSV Eindhoven and Hamburger SV agreed a loan deal[5] with the result that Berg plays for PSV Eindhoven the 2010–11 season.

Return to Hamburg

After returning from his loan spell at PSV, Berg only made 13 appearances the 2011–12 Bundesliga due to injuries and continued lack of form, scoring once. On 9 November 2012, Hamburger SV Athletic supervisor Frank Arnesen stated that the club had to sell five players to raise funds after having invested heavily in new players in the previous summer (including Dutch star Rafael van der Vaart). One of these five players was said to be Marcus Berg.[6] After these news, Berg was linked with a return to his former club IFK Göteborg.[7]

Panathinaikos

On 4 July 2013, it was revealed that Berg had travelled to Athens, in order to sign with Panathinaikos. On 8 July 2013, Panathinaikos announced that Berg had signed a contract with the team for four years.[8] On 18 August 2013, in his debut appearance, Berg scored his first goal with Panathinaikos, as his team won the game against Panetolikos. On the first derby of the year against PAOK FC, Berg scored Panathinaikos' goal and lost a penalty, as his team lost with a score of 2–1. On 2 March 2014, Berg was the MVP in the 3–0 away victory against Olympiacos with one goal and one assist for Danijel Pranjić. This was the biggest away victory in the history of the Eternal Rivals. The following week, he scored a hat-trick when Panathinaikos defeated Aris 4–1 at home.[9]

On 26 April 2014, in the Greek Cup final against rivals PAOK, Berg scored a hat-trick, leading Panathinaikos to a 4–1 victory, who won the Greek Cup as they had done in 2010. On 11 January 2015, Berg scored his second hat-trick in 5-0 home win against Ergotelis in the Superleague Greece. On 26 January 2015, Marcus signed a one-year extension contract, until 2018[10]On 8 March, at Panathinaikos-PAOK meeting, Marcus scored his third hat-trick in 4-3 home win.[11] On 30 March 2015, after 2 and a half years, Marcus scores his 7th international goal on friendly match against Iran.[12]

Style of play

Berg is renowned for his heading ability, first touches, and being able to shoot and pass with both his right and left foot.[13] He is also known for his tactical dribbles and scoring from unusual angles. Berg scored 15 goals in his first season in the Eredivisie, having only played 25 matches due to having a back-strain injury.[14] In his second season for Groningen, he scored 13 goals in the first 15 matches and was by then the second highest goalscorer in the league. He also showed his scoring ability in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, which he scored a record-breaking seven goals in four matches. His excellent performance earned him the player of the tournament award.

Career statistics

As of 15 March 2015
Club Season League Cup* Europe** Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
IFK Göteborg 2005 143108441278
2006 22421611454411
2007 17143400612619
Total 5321651452479738
Groningen 2007–08 25155310003118
2008–09 31177900003826
Total 5632121210006944
Hamburg 2009–10 30410136004410
Total 30410136004410
PSV (loan) 2010–11 25831132004111
Total 25831132004111
Hamburg 2011–12 131110000142
2012–13 110110000121
Total 241220000263

Panathinaikos

 2013–14 29155700614023
2014–15 17133165002619
Total 46288865616642
Career Total 2349132284718308339145

(* Includes Svenska Cupen, KNVB Cup, Eredivisie Play-offs and DFB-Pokal)

(** Includes Royal League, UEFA Intertoto Cup, UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League)

International goals

Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1. 10 June 2009 Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden  Malta 4–0 4–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2. 14 October 2009 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden  Albania 2–0 4–1 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
3. 29 May 2010 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden  Bosnia and Herzegovina 4–2 4–2 Friendly
4. 7 September 2010 Swedbank Stadion, Malmö, Sweden  San Marino 6–0 6–0 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
5. 8 February 2011 GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus 2–0 2–0 Friendly
6. 11 September 2012 Swedbank Stadion, Malmö, Sweden  Kazakhstan 2–0 2–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
7. 31 March 2015 Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden  Iran 2–0 3–1 Friendly

Honours

IFK Göteborg
Panathinaikos

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Groningen Swoop for Berg". sportinglife.com. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  2. ↑ "Kommt Schweden-Knipser Marcus Berg für vier Jahre?" (in German). Hamburger Abendblatt. 8 July 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  3. ↑ "Hamburg clinch Berg deal". Sky Sports. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
  4. ↑ "Marcus Berg joins Hamburger SV". DFL. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
  5. ↑ "PSV land Berg on loan from Hamburg". UEFA.com. 21 July 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  6. ↑ "Arnesen: Hamburg must offload five players". goal.com. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  7. ↑ "IFK Göteborg vill köpa tillbaka Berg" (in Swedish). aftonbladet.se. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  8. ↑ Συμφωνία με Μπεργκ (in Greek). 8 July 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  9. ↑ http://www.superleaguegreece.net/game/1314249
  10. ↑ http://prasinanea.gr/football/article3268940.ece
  11. ↑ http://www.sport24.gr/football/omades/Panathinaikos/ta-xat-trik-toy-mpergk.3346527.html
  12. ↑ http://www.sport24.gr/football/omades/Panathinaikos/skorare-meta-apo-dyomisi-xronia-o-mpergk-me-thn-ethnikh-soyhdias.3388681.html
  13. ↑ "HSV-Neuzugang Eljero Elia lobt Schweden-Stürmer Marcus Berg" (in German). bild.de. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  14. ↑ "HSV macht Verpflichtung von Stürmer Berg perfekt" (in German). NDR. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2010.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marcus Berg.