Swedish footballer
Johan Erik Calvin Elmander
(
Swedish pronunciation:
[?juːan
?l?m?nːd?r]
; born 27 May 1981) is a Swedish former professional
footballer
who played as a
striker
. Beginning his career with
Holmalunds IF
in the late 1990s, he went on to play professionally in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, France, England, and Turkey before retiring at
Orgryte IS
in 2017. A full international between 2002 and 2015, he scored 20 goals in 85 games for the
Sweden national team
, and represented his country at the
2006 FIFA World Cup
,
UEFA Euro 2008
and
UEFA Euro 2012
.
In 2011, his goal for
Bolton Wanderers
, away to
Wolverhampton Wanderers
during the
2010?11
season, was voted the greatest Premier League goal ever in a poll by
The Guardian
.
[4]
[5]
Club career
[
edit
]
Early career
[
edit
]
Elmander was born in
Alingsas
, Alingsas Municipality.
[2]
He started his career as a
striker
for Swedish clubs but changed to a centre midfielder
Holmalunds IF
and
Orgryte
, before making the move to Dutch club
Feyenoord
at the age of 18, where he continued to be used as a midfielder. Although never a first team regular, he came on as a substitute in the
2002 UEFA Cup Final
3?2 win against
Borussia Dortmund
.
[6]
Elmander was subsequently put
on loan
back in Sweden with
Djurgarden
, where he won
the double
of both
Allsvenskan
championship and
Swedish Cup
title in 2002 and Allsvenskan in 2003, however he wasn't awarded a medal as he had played too few matches. He debuted for the Swedish national team, in a February 2002
friendly match
against
Greece
. In 2003, he was loaned out to Feyenoord's Dutch league rivals
NAC Breda
.
Brøndby IF
[
edit
]
Before the 2004?05 season, he was bought by
Danish Superliga
outfit
Brøndby
. Despite not scoring as many goals for the club as was expected, he was the playmaker and creative spark of the Brøndby team in the
2004?05 Superliga
season, playing mainly as the free-roaming forward behind the sole striker in manager
Michael Laudrup
's 4?3?3 formation. The team won the double of both the Danish Superliga and the
Danish Cup
title, and Elmander was voted Brøndby's Player of the Year.
In his two seasons at Brøndby, Elmander scored 22 goals in 58 Danish Superliga games, attracting the attention of several clubs throughout Europe. He was called up to represent Sweden at the
2006 World Cup
, where he played two games. Elmander signed a four-year contract with French side
Toulouse
for an undisclosed fee of around €4,500,000 on 7 July 2006.
Toulouse
[
edit
]
Elmander scored 11 goals in his first season with Toulouse and was nominated as player of the year by his fellow players; the award ultimately went to
Lyon
winger
Florent Malouda
. The season was very successful, with Elmander helping lead Toulouse to a third-place finish and a berth in the qualifying rounds of
UEFA Champions League
. The second season, much like that of his team, was much more irregular, and though he scored the same number of goals as he did the previous season, he was less decisive.
Bolton Wanderers
[
edit
]
On 27 June 2008, Elmander completed a move to
Premier League
club
Bolton Wanderers
[7]
[8]
for an £8.2 million fee, the club's record signing, with the deal including
Daniel Braaten
moving to Toulouse. Elmander signed a three-year deal, wearing the number 9 shirt by manager
Gary Megson
.
Elmander's first Premier League goal, a header, came on his competitive debut, against
Stoke City
on 16 August 2008 in a 3?1 win.
[9]
Elmander played 30 games in the
2008?09 season
, scoring five goals and creating two assists.
[10]
From December 2008 to September 2009, Elmander went on a nine-month goal drought, which ended during the
League Cup
fixture against
West Ham United
as he scored in extra-time.
[11]
His first league goal in 11 months came in a 5?1 defeat to
Aston Villa
.
[12]
Elmander finally found his goalscoring form in the
2010?11 season
, scoring six goals in the opening 13 games, all away from the
Reebok Stadium
. His first home goals of the season came against
Newcastle United
, giving him a joint lead as top scorer in the Premier League. However, his goalscoring form dipped and he scored just three goals between December and a goal on 12 March against
Birmingham City
in an
FA Cup
Sixth round tie.
[13]
This brought his goal tally for all competitions to eleven for the season.
Bolton manager
Owen Coyle
said in an interview on 20 May that he expected Elmander to join
Galatasaray
,
[14]
and Elmander confirmed later in the month that he would be leaving the club.
[15]
In total, Elmander made 92 appearances in the Premier League, scoring 18 goals; 11 appearances in the
FA Cup
, scoring three goals; and five appearances in the
League Cup
, scoring once.
Galatasaray
[
edit
]
On 27 May 2011, Elmander arrived in Turkey on his birthday, and on 30 May 2011, Elmander joined Galatasaray in a three-year deal on a free transfer after his contract expired at Bolton in the same month.
[16]
He debuted on the second week of the
Super Lig
season, coming on in the 61st minute and scored his first goal in a 3?1 home win over
Samsunspor
on 18 September. Due to his great performance, Galatasaray coach
Fatih Terim
changed the team's formation to a 4?4?2, allowing Elmander to play together with fellow striker
Milan Baro?
simultaneously. On 26 February 2012, he scored the opening and the winning goal of the game against
Be?ikta?
in a 3?2 win, and also scored goals in all derby matches, including against
Fenerbahce
and
Trabzonspor
. He scored 12 goals in 36 league matches in a season which saw Galatasaray crowned league champions.
Elmander began the
2012?13 season
in a match against
Kasımpa?a
and scored his first goal of the season in a 3?3 draw with Be?ikta? the following week. In the league's fourth week, he scored the opener against
Antalyaspor
in a 4?0 away win for Galatasaray. and on 19 October 2012, he scored an amazing goal against
Genclerbirli?i
in a 3?3 away draw and maintained the lead of the Super Lig. He left in August 2013 to join Premier League side
Norwich City
on a season-long loan.
Loan to Norwich City
[
edit
]
Elmander returned to England, joining Norwich on a season-long loan. He made his debut for Norwich against
Hull City
and scored his first two goals for the club against
Bury
in the
League Cup
on 27 August 2013.
[17]
His first league start came against
Southampton
on 31 August 2013. Elmander scored his first league goal against Southampton in a 4?2 away loss for the Canaries on 15 March 2014.
[18]
Elmander failed to impress during his loan spell at Norwich, though he did win the hearts of many fans with his hard-working performances and eagerness to play.
[
citation needed
]
Return to Brøndby
[
edit
]
On 24 June 2014, Elmander returned to Brøndby in Denmark on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract after his contract with Galatasaray had expired. He was handed the number 11 shirt on his return to the club.
[
citation needed
]
Return to Orgryte and retirement
[
edit
]
Elmander spent his last season as a professional footballer at
Orgryte
, scoring 5 goals in 25 appearances in all competitions.
[19]
International career
[
edit
]
Elmander represented
Sweden
at the
2006 FIFA World Cup
,
UEFA Euro 2008
, and
UEFA Euro 2012
. He retired from the national team in November 2015, having won 85
caps
and scored 20 goals.
[20]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Elmander has two brothers
Peter
and
Patrik
who also are former professional footballers.
[21]
Elmander was married on 27 December 2007 to highschool sweetheart Amanda Calvin in a lavish ceremony in her home town of
Hemsjo
, Sweden. The couple had over 200 guests including fellow former teammates
Kim Kallstrom
and
Jon Jonsson
. At their wedding, Swedish-idol
Christoffer Hiding
performed.
[22]
In August 2008, the couple announced the birth of their first child.
[23]
On 18 November 2010, it was announced Elmander's wife had given birth to a baby girl named Lily.
[24]
Career statistics
[
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]
Club
[
edit
]
International
[
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]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
[25]
National team
|
Year
|
Apps
|
Goals
|
Sweden
|
2002
|
2
|
0
|
2003
|
4
|
3
|
2004
|
4
|
1
|
2005
|
6
|
3
|
2006
|
9
|
1
|
2007
|
6
|
3
|
2008
|
8
|
0
|
2009
|
7
|
1
|
2010
|
5
|
1
|
2011
|
11
|
3
|
2012
|
6
|
2
|
2013
|
6
|
2
|
2014
|
8
|
0
|
2015
|
3
|
0
|
Total
|
85
|
20
|
- Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elmander goal.
List of international goals scored by Johan Elmander
[25]
No.
|
Date
|
Venue
|
Opponent
|
Score
|
Result
|
Competition
|
1
|
16 February 2003
|
Suphachalasai Stadium
,
Bangkok
, Thailand
|
Qatar
|
1?0
|
3?2
|
2003 King's Cup
|
2
|
2?0
|
3
|
20 February 2003
|
Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand
|
Thailand
|
2?0
|
4?1
|
2003 King's Cup
|
4
|
17 November 2004
|
Easter Road
,
Edinburgh
, Scotland
|
Scotland
|
3?0
|
4?1
|
Friendly
|
5
|
4 June 2005
|
Ullevi
,
Gothenburg
, Sweden
|
Malta
|
6?0
|
6?0
|
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
|
6
|
8 June 2005
|
Rasunda Stadium
,
Solna
, Sweden
|
Norway
|
2?3
|
2?3
|
Friendly
|
7
|
12 November 2005
|
Seoul World Cup Stadium
,
Seoul
, South Korea
|
South Korea
|
1?1
|
2?2
|
Friendly
|
8
|
7 October 2006
|
Rasunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden
|
Spain
|
1?0
|
2?0
|
UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
|
9
|
28 March 2007
|
Windsor Park
,
Belfast
, Northern Ireland
|
Northern Ireland
|
1?0
|
1?2
|
UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
|
10
|
2 June 2007
|
Parken Stadium
,
Copenhagen
, Denmark
|
Denmark
|
1?0
|
3?0
*
|
UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
|
11
|
3?0
|
12
|
12 August 2009
|
Rasunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden
|
Finland
|
1?0
|
1?0
|
Friendly
|
13
|
3 March 2010
|
Liberty Stadium
,
Swansea
, Wales
|
Wales
|
1?0
|
1?0
|
Friendly
|
14
|
9 February 2011
|
GSP Stadium
,
Nicosia
, Cyprus
|
Ukraine
|
1?0
|
1?1
|
2011 Cyprus International Football Tournament
|
15
|
3 June 2011
|
Zimbru Stadium
,
Chi?in?u
, Moldova
|
Moldova
|
2?0
|
4?1
|
UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
|
16
|
3?0
|
17
|
6 September 2012
|
Olympia
,
Helsingborg
, Sweden
|
China
|
1?0
|
1?0
|
Friendly
|
18
|
16 October 2012
|
Olympic Stadium
,
Berlin
, Germany
|
Germany
|
3?4
|
4?4
|
2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier
|
19
|
7 June 2013
|
Ernst-Happel-Stadion
,
Vienna
, Austria
|
Austria
|
1?2
|
1?2
|
2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier
|
20
|
6 September 2013
|
Aviva Stadium
,
Dublin
, Republic of Ireland
|
Republic of Ireland
|
1?1
|
2?1
|
2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier
|
*
Match abandoned, see
UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier fan attack
.
Honours
[
edit
]
Feyenoord
Djurgarden
Brøndby
Galatasaray
Individual
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Awards
|
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|
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Golden player
| |
---|
Top goalscorer
| |
---|
|