Anders Svensson

Football player infobox| playername= Anders Svensson


fullname = Anders Svensson
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1976|7|17
cityofbirth = Göteborg
countryofbirth = Sweden
height = height|m=1.77|precision=0
currentclub = IF Elfsborg
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs = Guldhedens IK
Hestrafors IF
IF Elfsborg
years = 1993-2001
2001-2005
2005-
clubs = IF Elfsborg
Southampton
IF Elfsborg
caps(goals) = 155 0(38)
127 0(10)
069 0(16)
nationalyears = 1999-
nationalteam = Sweden
nationalcaps(goals) = 090 0(15)
pcupdate = 24 May 2008
ntupdate = 7 September 2008

Anders Svensson ['ɑndɛʃ 'svɛnsɔn] (born July 17, 1976 in Göteborg, Sweden) is a Swedish international football player playing for IF Elfsborg from Borås. He is a playmaker or left midfielder well known for his passing and dead balls.

Playing career

Svensson began playing football at Guldhedens IK when he was around five. He played at Guldheden for ten years, until he moved to Borås, where he began to play for IF Elfsborg. AsHis 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. 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 rejoined IF Elfsborg in 2005, where he is currently the captain.

International career

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 freekick 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 Svennson played every minute of every game, but didn't find form. His frustration showed giving a few free kicks away on their last game in the tournament.

Honours

Southampton

* FA Cup finalist 2003

IF Elfsborg

* Swedish Cup Champion 2001
* Allsvenskan Champion 2006

Other achievements

*FIFA World Cup
** Round of Sixteen, 2002, 2006
*European Football Championship
**Quarter-final, 2004

External links

*soccerbase|20666