Olof Mellberg

Olof Mellberg

Personal information
Full name	Erik Olof Mellberg
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Centre back
Team information
Current team	Juventus
Number	4
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of September 7, 2008

Erik Olof Mellberg (IPA: ['uːˌlɔf 'mɛlˌbærj]) (born September 3, 1977 in Amnehärad, Gullspång) is a Swedish football defender currently playing for Italian Serie A club Juventus F.C. and the Sweden national team. He generally plays as a central defender or right-back.

Club career

Early career

Mellberg played for local side Gullspång before being picked up by then Swedish Premiership side Degerfors IF. After being relegated he joined capital club AIK, where he made an instant impression and was sold after just 10 months. Spanish side Racing Santander moved to secure the promising Swedish centre half, and although having a difficult time adjusting to Spanish football he soon claimed a starting berth and impressed in his first season. Continuing to play well, Mellberg was said to be on his way to several big Spanish sides, including Barcelona and Valencia.

Aston Villa

Mellberg playing for Aston Villa.

However, Aston Villa managed to secure his signature and he became a consistent and vital part of the team. Mellberg was left out of boss David O'Leary's first side for a game against Portsmouth, but was soon made the captain of the club for the rest of his reign. Mellberg was a vital part of the team that finished 6th in the Premier League and reached the semi-finals of the League Cup in O'Leary's first season.

Mellberg resigned as captain following the 2006 World Cup—he was replaced by Gareth Barry. In 2007 the new manager of Aston Villa, Martin O'Neill, continued to consider Mellberg as the first choice centre back. On the opening day of the 2006–07 Premiership season Mellberg became the first person to score in a competitive game at Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium. During the 2007–08 season, he played at the right back position following the purchase of Zat Knight, who played alongside Martin Laursen at centre back. Mellberg was sent off against Portsmouth on 15 March, 2008 for two bookable offences.

In January 2008 it was announced that Mellberg had signed a pre-contract agreement with Juventus. His final home game for Aston Villa was against Wigan Athletic on 3 May. The game was designated as "Olof Mellberg" day in appreciation of his service to the club. On his final game for Aston Villa away at West Ham United, as a leaving gift, Mellberg gave every single Villa fan at Upton Park either a home or an away shirt with his name and number on the back and the message Thanks 4 Your Support - being the number 4 of Aston Villa. He also said he would frame the kit which he used on his last ever Aston Villa game - the game against West Ham.

Juventus

In January 2008 it was confirmed that Mellberg had signed a pre-contract agreement with Italian giants Juventus, allowing him a Bosman move to Serie A on a three-year contract for the start of the 2008-09 season. Mellberg himself, has expressed his eagerness to begin at Juventus. Mellberg made his Juventus debut on July 16,2008 in a friendly match versus Serie B outfit, Piacenza. Juventus, very surprisingly lost 1-0 in this match. On 18 January, 2009, Mellberg scored his first goal for Juventus against Lazio in the 30th minute. Though he is primarly a right wingback, Mellberg was better as in the role of a centre back for Juventus and is a real menace to the opposing defense during set pieces because of his keen heading ability.

International career

Mellberg was a member of the Sweden national football team in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup, as well as the Euro 2000, Euro 2004 and Euro 2008. He has scored 4 goals in 86 caps, as of October 2008.

During a open team practice before the 2002 World Cup, Mellberg broke into a fight with his teammate former Arsenal winger Fredrik Ljungberg after a robust tackle from Mellberg. The two of them were quickly separated by team-mates. Since then, the two of them have been known for not being the best of friends, and in the World Cup 2006, Mellberg and Ljungberg, according to leak from inside the team, had a very fiery argument, after Sweden's draw with Trinidad and Tobago. In 2003, he was selected as the best Swedish player of the year, winning the Guldbollen.

After the World Cup in Germany, Mellberg relinquished his captaincy and Ljungberg, ironically, took his place as Sweden captain.

On September 4 2006, Mellberg, along with Sweden teammates Zlatan Ibrahimović and Christian Wilhelmsson, was sent home from the national squad for breaking an 11 pm team curfew ahead of a European Championships qualifier against Liechtenstein. On October 7 2006, Mellberg returned to Sweden's lineup for their European Championships qualifier against Spain, which they won 2-0.

Personal life

Although he isn't married, Mellberg has two children by long term partner Carolina Kihl. Daughter Saga was born in December 2002 and son John was born in July 2006.

HEDIE

--212.100.250.230 (talk) 17:54, 30 March 2009 (UTC)Who is she?she is his girlfriend?anybody dont know?maybe his future like say himelf?

Career statistics

Template:Football player statistics 1 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |1996||Degerfors||Allsvenskan||22||0||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-|||| |- |1997||rowspan="2"|AIK||rowspan="2"|Allsvenskan||22||0||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-|||| |- |1998||21||0||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-|||| Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |1998-99||rowspan="3"|Racing Santander||rowspan="3"|La Liga||25||0||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-|||| |- |1999-00||38||0||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-|||| |- |2000-01||34||1||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-|||| Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2001-02||rowspan="7"|Aston Villa||rowspan="7"|Premier League||32||0||1||0||1||0||2||0||36||0 |- |2002-03||38||1||1||0||2||0||3||0||44||1 |- |2003-04||33||1||1||0||5||0||colspan="2"|-||39||1 |- |2004-05||30||3||1||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||33||3 |- |2005-06||27||0||4||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||33||0 |- |2006-07||38||1||0||0||1||0||colspan="2"|-||39||1 |- |2007-08||33||1||1||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||36||1 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2008-09||Juventus||Serie A|||22||2||||||||||||||| Template:Football player statistics 365||0||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-|||| Template:Football player statistics 497||1||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-|||| Template:Football player statistics 4231||7||9||0||15||0||5||0||260||7 Template:Football player statistics 422||2||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0 Template:Football player statistics 5414||9||||||15||0||5||0|||| |}

Honours

AIK

• Allsvenskan: 1998

Aston Villa

• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2001

Individual

• Guldbollen: 2003

External links

• Olof Mellberg at IMDb
• Olof Mellberg at Soccerbase