Markus Rosenberg

Markus Rosenberg

Personal information
Full name	Nils Markus Rosenberg
Date of birth	27 September 1982 (1982-09-27)
Place of birth	Malmö, Sweden
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Werder Bremen
Number	11
Youth career
1987–2001	Malmö FF
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2001–2005	Malmö FF	52	(8)
2004	→ Halmstads BK (loan)	26	(14)
2005–2007	Ajax	40	(12)
2007–	Werder Bremen	106	(35)
2010–2011	→ Racing Santander (loan)	33	(9)
National team‡
2002–2004	Sweden U21	9	(3)
2005–	Sweden	30	(6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 December 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 April 2011

Rosenberg playing for Werder Bremen against Bayern Munich.

Nils Markus Rosenberg [ˈmarkɵs ˈruːsəm.ˈbærj], born 27 September 1982 in Malmö) is a Swedish footballer currently playing for German side Werder Bremen. As of 11 February 2009, Rosenberg, who is nicknamed "Sillen" (Swedish: the herring), has played 30 games and scored six times for the Swedish national team.

Club career

Early career

Rosenberg started his playing career at Malmö FF when he was only five years old. He was very successful in the youth team where he started played as a right back before moving to the attack. He had his debut in 2001, but struggled to become a first-team regular with strong competition from Niklas Skoog and Peter Ijeh. When the club bought strikers Afonso Alves and Igor Sypniewski ahead of the 2004 season, Rosenberg decided to go to Halmstads BK on loan in 2004. Playing at Halmstad he became the top goalscorer of the 2004 season and only just missing out on becoming the league champion with Halmstad finishing two points behind Malmö. Back in Malmö, he also topped the Royal League 2004–05 scoring list as well as leading Allsvenskan in assists before joining Ajax.

Ajax

He joined Ajax Amsterdam at the start of the 2005–06 season for a fee of €5.3 million. Manager Danny Blind showed his faith in Rosenberg by playing with him in the first eleven right away. Rosenberg started well, scoring at his debut against Brøndby IF in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, and scoring at his Eredivisie debut versus RBC Roosendaal. During the season his performances dropped, until Blind decided to play in a 4–4–2 system with Rosenberg and Angelos Charisteas as their strikers instead of the 4–3–3 system with Rosenberg as the only central striker that was played before.

Training with Ajax

Under the new system Ajax were still underachieving in that period and during the winter break Klaas-Jan Huntelaar joined them for a €9 million fee. Rosenberg did no longer play as a central forward, but as a left winger in the 4–3–3 system they switched back to. The second half of the season playing in this line-up Ajax performed better and were able to reach the newly born Eredivisie play-offs a being ranked fifth in the regular competition. In these play-offs they beat Feyenoord Rotterdam and FC Groningen to claim a spot in the UEFA Champions League preliminaries for the following season. Ajax also won the KNVB Cup in that season.

Rosenberg was called up in the Swedish national team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but did not play any matches. When the 2006–07 season started he was no longer a regular first team player, but mostly used as a back-up for Huntelaar. He scored three goals in two UEFA Cup appearances versus IK Start, but could not take Huntelaar's place as main striker under the new coach Henk ten Cate.

Werder Bremen

On 26 January 2007 He moved to German Bundesliga side Werder Bremen playing his first game two days later against Hannover 96. He scored his first goal for Werder Bremen against FC Bayern Munich, in a 1–1 draw.

Because of his aerial ability and his strength Rosenberg is considered a dangerous header of the ball, but he is also dangerous when having the ball at his feet. Rosenberg has struggled to perform in the league, but has proved to be a very efficient goal scorer in both the European and domestic cups. In his second season, Rosenberg made 30 appearances and scored 14 goals which made him a top scorer with Diego with 13 goals behind him.

Just before the 2010–11 season, Rosenberg stated that he wanted to stay with Werder Bremen.

Following his return from his loan at Racing Santander he has one year left on his contract with Werder Bremen. On 23 June 2011 he expressed his wishes to continue to be playing in Europe for a couple of years and then to finish his career at his hometown club Malmö FF. After returning from loan at Santander, Rosenberg returned to the club and scored a brace in a 2–0 win over Kaiserslautern on the opening day of the 2011–12 season.

Racing Santander

On 31 August 2010, he signed a contract extension which will see him at Bremen until 2012 and he was loaned to Spanish La Liga club Racing de Santander until June 2011. Rosenberg made his debut for Santander in a 1–0 defeat against Valencia on 11 September 2010. On 26 September 2010, Rosenberg received a red card after a second booking offense got a one match ban. On 23 October 2010, Rosenberg scored his first goal for Racing Santander in a 6–1 defeat to Real Madrid. At the end of season, he was successful leading the club's scoring chart at nine goals in the beginning of May.

International career

Rosenberg had his debut for Sweden in 2005. He was chosen for the 2006 FIFA World Cup as well as the UEFA Euro 2008 squad. So far he has made 30 appearances and six goals for Sweden.

See also: 2008 UEFA qualifier fan attack

Rosenberg was punched in the stomach by Christian Poulsen, which resulted in a supporter attacking the referee and the game being abandoned.

International goals

• Sweden score first

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	22 January 2005	Home Depot Center, United States	South Korea	1–1	1–1	Friendly match
2.	17 August 2005	Ullevi, Sweden	Czech Republic	2–1	2–1	Friendly match
3.	12 November 2005	Seoul World Cup Stadium, South Korea	South Korea	2–2	2–2	Friendly match
4.	6 September 2006	Ullevi, Sweden	Liechtenstein	3–1	3–1	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
5.	6 June 2007	Råsunda Stadium, Sweden	Iceland	4–0	5–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
6.	12 September 2007	Podgorica City Stadium, Montenegro	Montenegro	1–1	2–1	Friendly match

Career statistics

As of 18 December 2011

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sweden			League		Svenska Cupen		Europe		Total
2001	Malmö FF	Allsvenskan	13	1	—		—		13	1
2002			11	0	—		—		11	0
2003			16	3	—		—		16	3
2004	Halmstad		26	14	—		—		26	14
2005	Malmö FF		12	4	—		—		12	4
Netherlands			League		KNVB Cup		Europe		Total
2005–06	Ajax	Eredivisie	31	12	—		—		31	12
2006–07			9	0	—		—		9	0
Germany			League		DFB-Pokal		Europe		Total
2006–07	Werder Bremen	Bundesliga	14	8	—		—		14	8
2006–07	Werder Bremen II	Regionalliga	2	0	—		—		2	0
2007–08	Werder Bremen	Bundesliga	30	14	3	1	11	1	44	16
2008–09			29	7	5	5	13	1	47	13
2009–10			17	1	1	0	6	3	24	4
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Europe		Total
2010–11	Racing Santander	La Liga	33	9	—		—		33	9
Germany			League		DFB-Pokal		Europe		Total
2011–12	Werder Bremen	Bundesliga	16	5	1	0	—		17	5
Total	Sweden		78	22	—		—		78	22
	Netherlands		40	12	—		—		40	12
	Germany		108	35	10	6	30	5	148	46
	Spain		33	9	—		—		33	9
Career total			259	78	10	6	30	5	299	89

Honours

Ajax

• KNVB Cup: 2005–06

Werder Bremen

• DFB-Pokal: 2008–09

External links

• Racing Santander profile (Spanish)
• ESPN Soccernet Profile
• Markus Rosenberg career stats at Soccerbase