Fredrik Ljungberg

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Personal information
Fredrik Ljungberg

Full name	Karl Fredrik Ljungberg
Date of birth	April 16, 1977 (age 29)
Place of birth	Vittsjö, Sweden
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Nickname	Freddie, Ljungan, Mr CK Pants
Position	Winger, Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Arsenal F.C.
Number	8
Youth clubs
1982-1994	Halmstads BK
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1994-98 1998-	Halmstads BK Arsenal	069 (10) 204 (46)
National team**
1998-	Sweden	062 (13)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:34, 7 October 2006 (UTC). ** National team caps and goals correct as of 2006-09-04.

Karl Fredrik Ljungberg (IPA: [ˈfreːdrɪk ˈjɵŋ:bærj]) (born 16 April 1977 in Vittsjö, Hässleholm) is a Swedish footballer who currently plays for Arsenal in the English Premiership. He is currently the club's longest-serving player, and captain of the Swedish national team.

1 Biography
2 Arsenal Career Statistics
3 Awards
4 Honours
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early career

Ljungberg joined Halmstad in Sweden as a youth player at the age of five. He played several other sports including Ice Hockey and Handball for which he was called up to the national squad. He made his senior debut for Halmstads on 23 October 1994 in the Swedish First Division against AIK. He went on to make 139 appearances and score 16 goals for the club. He won both the Swedish Cup and League title with the club.

[edit] Arsenal career

Ljungberg was signed by Arsenal F.C. in 1998 for £3 million. Arsenal's manager, Arsène Wenger, took the unusual step of authorising the signing of Ljungberg after watching him play for Sweden in their defeat of England on television, without seeing him play live. The match confirmed to Wenger that Ljungberg would cope against English opponents. Ljungberg passed the test without difficulty and made a sensational debut after coming on as a substitute scoring against rival club Manchester United.

Some of Ljungberg's best form came in the second half of the 2001-02 season, when Arsenal won their second Premiership and FA Cup double; Robert Pirès had recently been ruled out for months through a knee injury. Ljungberg came in and scored in most of Arsenal's remaining games, including a stunning finish in the FA Cup final against Chelsea. He endeared himself to Arsenal Supporters by having a bright red stripe in his hair.

He is most comfortable on either wing in midfield, though he can also play centrally in a 4-5-1 formation or as a second striker. Since the departure of Emmanuel Petit and Marc Overmars, Ljungberg has been a regular in Arsenal's starting lineup and has cemented his first team place. He has had to fight with constant injury problems and occasionally severe bouts with migraines; in 2005 a mysterious persistent hip injury led to fears he may have contracted cancer, which were unfounded. It transpired that he was suffering from blood poisoning caused by his large tattoos.^[1]

Despite a persistent ankle injury Ljungberg played for Arsenal in the 2-1 defeat by Barcelona in the Champions League Final in Paris on May 17, 2006.

[edit] International career

Ljungberg represented Sweden at U21 level. He received his first full cap for Sweden on 24 January 1998 against the USA. He has represented his country at Euro 2000, World Cup 2002, Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006, where his 13th goal for Sweden came in the 89th minute of the match against Paraguay. As of August 8, 2006, Ljungberg is captain of the Swedish national football team, taking over after Olof Mellberg.

[edit] Personal

He is also an underwear model for Calvin Klein.
He is widely known as 'Mr CK Pants' due to his high-profile modelling of the brand.
He is nicknamed "Freddie" in England and "Ljungan" in the Swedish national team.
He has a younger brother called Filip.
He currently resides in Hampstead, London, and in Halmstad when in Sweden.
He is a fan of English punk rock, and at school he was nicknamed "Sid", after Sid Vicious.^[2]
He is not related to Hanna Ljungberg in the Swedish womens' national team.
His favourite music artists include swedish pop quartet ABBA.
His favourite desserts are crème brûlée and chocolate mousse.

[edit] Arsenal Career Statistics

(correct as of 3rd September, 2006)

Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Arsenal	1998-99	16	1	?	5	-	-	-	21	1
	1999-00	26	6	?	3	-	14	2	43	8
	2000-01	30	6	?	5	1	13	2	48	9
	2001-02	25	12	-	5	2	9	3	39	17
	2002-03	20	6	1	4	1	8	2	32	9
	2003-04	30	4	7	5	4	9	2	44	10
	2004-05	26	10	9	6	2	6	2	38	14
	2005-06	25	1	4	3	0	9	1	37	2
	2006-07	1	0	-	0	0	1	1	2	1
	Total								304	71

[edit] Awards

1998 Swedish FA prizes for "Best Midfielder of the year"
1998 Swedish FA prizes for "People's player of the year"
1998 The fastest footballer in Europe
1998 Nominated for the Sexiest Men In The World
1998 6th in the Swedish handsome men contest
2000 Arsenal FC player Of The Month (January and February)
2000 Arsenal FC Dreamcast Player Of The Season competition came 2nd
2000 AFCi Awards "Most Improved Arsenal Player" for the 1999-2000 season
2000 2nd in AFCi Awards "Arsenal Player Of The Season"
2002 Guldbollen
2006 Guldbollen

[edit] Honours

With Halmstad

Swedish Cup Winner: 1995
Swedish League Winner: 1997

With Arsenal

Community Shield: 1999
FA Premier League Winner: 2001-02, 2003-04
FA Cup: 2002, 2003, 2005

[edit] External links

[edit] References

^ Soccer star in health scare over tattoo ink. Duncan Gardham. Retrieved on September 4, 2006.
^ DailyMail.co.uk

Preceded by Olof Mellberg	Sweden football captain 2006–present	Succeeded by Incumbent

	Sweden squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Hedman \| 2 Mellberg \| 3 P. Andersson \| 4 Mjällby \| 5 Michael Svensson \| 6 Linderoth \| 7 Alexandersson \| 8 A. Svensson \| 9 Ljungberg \| 10 Allbäck \| 11 Larsson \| 12 Kihlstedt \| 13 Antonelius \| 14 Edman \| 15 Jakobsson \| 16 Lučić \| 17 Magnus Svensson \| 18 Jonson \| 19 Farnerud \| 20 D. Andersson \| 21 Ibrahimović \| 22 A. Andersson \| 23 Isaksson \| Coach: Lagerbäck / Söderberg

	Sweden squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Isaksson \| 2 Nilsson \| 3 Mellberg \| 4 Lučić \| 5 Edman \| 6 Linderoth \| 7 Alexandersson \| 8 A. Svensson \| 9 Ljungberg \| 10 Ibrahimović \| 11 Larsson \| 12 Alvbåge \| 13 Hansson \| 14 Stenman \| 15 K. Svensson \| 16 Källström \| 17 Elmander \| 18 Jonson \| 19 Andersson \| 20 Allbäck \| 21 Wilhelmsson \| 22 Rosenberg \| 23 Shaaban \| Coach: Lagerbäck

Arsenal F.C. - Current Squad
1 Lehmann \| 2 Diaby \| 4 Fàbregas \| 5 Touré \| 6 Senderos \| 7 Rosický \| 8 Ljungberg \| 9 Baptista \| 10 Gallas \| 11 van Persie \| 12 Lauren \| 13 Hleb \| 14 Henry \| 15 Denílson \| 16 Flamini \| 17 Song \| 19 Gilberto \| 20 Djourou \| 21 Poom \| 22 Clichy \| 24 Almunia \| 25 Adebayor \| 27 Eboué \| 30 Aliadière \| 31 Hoyte \| 32 Walcott \| Manager: Wenger

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