Kim Källström
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kim Källström | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Lyon | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 October 2007 (CET) | |||
Kim Källström [kɪm 'ɕɛlˌstrœm] (born August 24, 1982 in Sandviken) is a left-footed Swedish midfielder playing for the Swedish national team and Olympique Lyonnais. He has a powerful shot, which once knocked out his team-mate Andreas Isaksson during training prior to the 2006 World Cup. His nickname is Kongo-Kim. He is usually a playmaker; however, he can play anywhere in midfield and used to play regularly both for Olympique Lyon and the Swedish squad as a left-winger. He is best known for his passing, although his crossing is very accurate, and left-footed long-range strikes.
Early Years
Källström's first professional club in Sweden was BK Häcken from Gothenburg but his big breakthrough in Sweden came when he moved to Djurgårdens IF in 2002, where he won the Swedish Allsvenskan in 2002 and 2003. Being grown up in Partille outside Gothenburg, it was expected that he would sign for IFK Göteborg. In the spring of 2004 Källström moved to the French club Rennes, where he played together with fellow former Djurgården player Andreas Isaksson.
Olympique Lyonnais
On May 26 2006, he signed with French league champions Olympique Lyonnais, helping them capture their 6th straight title.
International Career
Källström made his international debut in 2001 against Finland. He played for his country at Euro 2004 and has been capped 52 times scoring 7 goals, as of January 2008.
Källström had an impressive showing in the 2006 World Cup for Sweden. Although, he began the tournament on the bench as a substitute, he replaced Anders Svensson for a starting spot against Paraguay, England, and Germany. He had several superb shots as well as an overall impressive showing, both offensively and defensively helping Sweden to reach the second round.
He scored off of a right-footed blast, just outside of the box in Sweden's 1-0 victory over Latvia on September 2, 2006, even though he is left-footed. This was Sweden's first game of their 2008 European Championship qualifying campaign. On October 11, 2006, Källström dazzled the crowd and stunned his Icelandic adversaries with an 8th minute 45 yard rocket that found the back of the net through a sea of bodies. The goal proved to be decisive, as Sweden managed to defeat Iceland 2-1, thus extending their qualification recorded to an immaculate 4-0 and placing them at the head of their group with an achieved maximum of 12 points. On May 8th, 2007, Källström underwent a severe injury in a club game that will subsequently sideline him from both upcoming Sweden qualifying games - Iceland (June 2, 2007) and Denmark (June 6, 2007). On August 21, 2007 Källström netted a strike to beat USA 1-0.Recently, he has been linked to a possible move to the other football clubs, such as English outfit Everton F.C. and Turkish giants Galatasaray after the Euro 2008 championship.
External links
 | ||
| | |
| | |