Marcus Berg

Marcus Berg

Personal information
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	AFC Ajax
Number	9
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 June 2009 (CEST)

Marcus Berg (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈmarkɵs bærj], born 17 August 1986 in Torsby) is a Swedish football striker who plays for AFC Ajax. He is nicknamed Svarte-Marcus due to scoring a lot of goals in the junior teams, in reference to Filip 'Svarte-Filip' Johansson.

Early career

Marcus started to play for a local club Torsby IF in 2002. After that, he moved to IFK Göteborg in 2003. After spending two years in the youth team, in the season 2005, he was promoted to the regular squad and played for IFK Göteborg in the Allsvenskan. During the time playing for IFK Göteborg, Marcus played alongside his older brother, Jonatan Berg.

In 2007, Berg put forth an attracting performance, as he maintained a high scoring efficicency throughout the league matches.

FC Groningen

Marcus played for IFK Göteborg until the 2007 summer. On 10 August 2007, Dutch side FC Groningen signed Berg for a reported £2.5 million [1] to replace the departing AFC Ajax-bound Luis Suárez. The 5-0 away victory over Kalmar FF where Berg scored, was his last for the club because of his suspension for the game against Djurgården. He received a standing ovation upon leaving the field. Göteborg won the league that season.

Berg had a good debut season in the Netherlands. Although he was not the topscorer in Dutch Eredivisie 2007–08, he scored 18 goals for FC Groningen, helping the Dutch outfit finish in 7th place.

In 2008–09 season, FC Groningen remained top of the Eredivisie table after 5 games played. Berg had a good display as well. He managed to have scored thirteen goals in fifteen matches. He also made four goals in a December game against Roda JC.

Style of Play

Berg is renowned for his heading ability, first touches and being able to shoot and pass with both his right and left foot. He is also known for his tactical dribbles and scoring from unusual angles. Berg scored 15 goals in his first season in the Eredivisie, having only played 25 matches due to having a back-strain injury. In his second season for FC Groningen he scored 13 goals in the first 15 matches and was by then the second highest goalscorer in the league.

Career table

Club	Season	Dom. league		Dom. cup		Int. cup		Other		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
IFK Velen	–2002	Youth football
Total	–2002	Youth football
IFK Göteborg	2003–04	Youth football
Total	2003–04	Youth football
IFK Göteborg	2005	14	3	1	0	8	4	4	1	27	8
	2006	22	4	2	1	6	1	14	5	44	11
	2007	17	14	3	4	0	0	6	1	26	19
Total	2005–07	53	21	6	5	14	5	24	7	97	38
FC Groningen	2007–08	27	16
	2008–09	29	17
AFC Ajax	2009–10	0	0
	Total	2007–09	56	33
Career totals	2005–07	108	54	6	5	14	5	24	7	88	44

International goals

• Sweden score first

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	2009-06-10	Ullevi, Sweden	Malta	4-0	4-0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification