Fredrik Ljungberg

Karl Fredrik Ljungberg (IPA: ) (born 16 April, 1977 in Vittsjö, Hässleholm) is a Swedish footballer who currently plays for Arsenal in the English Premiership.

Biography

Early Career

Ljungberg joined Halmstad in Sweden as a youth player at the age of 5, He played several other sports including Hockey and ^* 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.

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 Manchester United (Arsenal's main rivals for the Premiership title).

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. ^*.

Despite a persistent ankle injury Ljungberg played for Arsenal in the 2-1 defeat by Barcelona in the Champions League Final in Paris ^*. He is currently the longest serving player at Arsenal after Dennis Bergkamp's retirement in May 2006.

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. His 13th goal for Sweden came in the 89th minute of the match against Paraguay.

Personal

He is also an underwear model for Calvin Klein.

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

Arsenal Career Statistics

(correct as of 13 July 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		9	1	37	2
	All								302	70

Awards

1998 Swedish FA prizes for "Best Midfielder of the year"
1998 Swedish FA prizes for "People's player of the year"
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

Honours

With Helmstad

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

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Fredrik Ljungberg