Olof Mellberg
Personal information
Full name	Erik Olof Mellberg
Date of birth	September 3, 1977 (1977-09-03) (age 32)
Place of birth	Gullspång, Sweden
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Olympiacos
Number	4
Youth career
1994–1996	Gullspång
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996–1997 1997–1998 1998–2001 2001–2008 2008–2009 2009–	Degerfors AIK Racing Santander Aston Villa Juventus Olympiacos	047 0(0) 017 0(0) 098 0(1) 232 0(7) 027 0(2) 01000(1)
National team2
2000-present	Sweden	098 0(7)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 October 2009. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 21 October 2009. * Appearances (Goals)

Erik Olof Mellberg (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈuːˌlɔf ˈmɛlˌbærj]) (born September 3, 1977 in Amnehärad, Gullspång) is a Swedish international footballer. He recently signed for Olympiacos in Greek Superleague. He generally plays as a central defender or right-back.

[edit] Club career

[edit] 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.

[edit] Aston Villa

Playing for Aston Villa.

However, Aston Villa managed to secure his signature and he became a consistent and vital part of the team.^[1] 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.^[2] He also said he would frame the kit which he used on his last ever Aston Villa game - the game against West Ham.^[2]

[edit] Juventus

Mellberg, right, with Rio Ferdinand in a game against Manchester United

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. He made his Juventus debut on July 16, 2008 in a friendly match versus Serie B outfit, Piacenza. Juventus surprisingly lost the match 1-0. On 18 January 2009, Mellberg scored his first goal for Juventus against Lazio in the 30th minute.

[edit] Olympiakos

On the 23 June 2009, it was confirmed that Mellberg agreed with Olympiacos to sign a three-year contract with the club. Olof has been the teams leader in the defence line ever since, playing practically in every game and adored by Olympiacos fans.^[3] Olympiacos paid Juventus 2,5 million euros.^[4] He has already scored a goal for the Greek team.

[edit] 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.

Mellberg training with Sweden

During an 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.^[5] 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.^[6] In 2003, he was selected as the best Swedish player of the year, winning the Guldbollen.^[7]

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.^[8] On October 7, 2006, Mellberg returned to Sweden's lineup for their European Championships qualifier against Spain, which they won 2-0.^[9]

[edit] International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	September 10, 2003	Stadion Śląski, Chorzow	Poland	0-2	0-2	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
2.	September 3, 2005	Råsunda, Stockholm	Bulgaria	2-0	3-0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.	June 6, 2007	Råsunda, Stockholm	Iceland	3-0	5-0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
4.	October 17, 2007	Råsunda, Stockholm	Northern Ireland	1-0	1-1	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
5.	September 5, 2009	Stadium Puskás Ferenc, Budapest	Hungary	0-1	1-2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.	October 14, 2009	Råsunda, Stockholm	Albania	1-0	4-1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
7.	October 14, 2009	Råsunda, Stockholm	Albania	3-0	4-1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

[edit] Personal life

Mellberg has two children with long term partner Carolina Kihl. Daughter Saga was born in December 2002 and son John was born in July 2006.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Honours

[edit] AIK

• Allsvenskan: 1998

[edit] Aston Villa

• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2001

[edit] Individual

• Guldbollen: 2003

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Olof Mellberg

• Olof Mellberg at the Internet Movie Database
• Olof Mellberg career stats at Soccerbase

Olof Mellberg - Navigation boxes and awards v • d • e Sweden squad – UEFA Euro 2000 1 Hedman • 2 Nilsson • 3 P. Andersson • 4 Björklund • 5 Lucic • 6 Sundgren • 7 Mild • 8 Gustafsson • 9 Ljungberg • 10 Pettersson • 11 Alexandersson • 12 Kihlstedt • 13 Svensson • 14 Mellberg • 15 D. Andersson • 16 A. Andersson • 17 Mjällby • 18 Osmanovski • 19 K. Andersson • 20 Larsson • 21 Allbäck • 22 Asper • Coach: Lagerbäck & Söderberg v • d • e Sweden squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Hedman • 2 Mellberg • 3 P. Andersson • 4 Mjällby • 5 Michael Svensson • 6 Linderoth • 7 Alexandersson • 8 A. Svensson • 9 Ljungberg • 10 Allbäck • 11 Larsson • 12 Kihlstedt • 13 Antonelius • 14 Edman • 15 Jakobsson • 16 Lucic • 17 Magnus Svensson • 18 Jonson • 19 Farnerud • 20 D. Andersson • 21 Ibrahimović • 22 A. Andersson • 23 Isaksson • Coach: Lagerbäck & Söderberg v • d • e Sweden squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 Isaksson • 2 Lucic • 3 Mellberg • 4 Mjällby • 5 Edman • 6 Linderoth • 7 Nilsson • 8 Svensson • 9 Ljungberg • 10 Ibrahimović • 11 Larsson • 12 Hedman • 13 Hansson • 14 Östlund • 15 Jakobsson • 16 Källström • 17 Andersson • 18 Jonson • 19 Farnerud • 20 Allbäck • 21 Wilhelmsson • 22 Wahlstedt • 23 Kihlstedt • Coach: Lagerbäck & Söderberg v • d • e Sweden squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Isaksson • 2 Nilsson • 3 Mellberg • 4 Lucic • 5 Edman • 6 Linderoth • 7 Alexandersson • 8 A. Svensson • 9 Ljungberg • 10 Ibrahimović • 11 Larsson • 12 Alvbåge • 13 Hansson • 14 Stenman • 15 K. Svensson • 16 Källström • 17 Elmander • 18 Jonson • 19 Andersson • 20 Allbäck • 21 Wilhelmsson • 22 Rosenberg • 23 Shaaban • Coach: Lagerbäck v • d • e Sweden squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Isaksson • 2 Nilsson • 3 Mellberg • 4 Hansson • 5 Stoor • 6 Linderoth • 7 Alexandersson • 8 Svensson • 9 Ljungberg • 10 Ibrahimović • 11 Elmander • 12 Shaaban • 13 Wiland • 14 Majstorović • 15 Granqvist • 16 Källström • 17 H. Larsson • 18 S. Larsson • 19 Andersson • 20 Allbäck • 21 Wilhelmsson • 22 Rosenberg • 23 Dorsin • Coach: Lagerbäck v • d • e Guldbollen 1946: Gunnar Gren | 1947: Gunnar Nordahl | 1948: Bertil Nordahl | 1949: Knut Nordahl | 1950: Erik Nilsson | 1951: Olle Åhlund | 1952: Kalle Svensson | 1953: Bengt Gustavsson | 1954: Sven-Ove Svensson | 1955: Gösta Löfgren | 1956: Gösta Sandberg | 1957: Åke 'Bajdoff' Johansson | 1958: Orvar Bergmark | 1959: Agne Simonsson | 1960: Torbjörn Jonsson | 1961: Bengt Nyholm | 1962: Prawitz Öberg | 1963: Harry Bild | 1964: Hans Mild | 1965: Bo Larsson | 1966: Ove Kindvall | 1967: Ingvar Svahn | 1968: Björn Nordqvist | 1969: Tommy Svensson | 1970: Jan Olsson | 1971: Ronnie Hellström | 1972: Ralf Edström | 1973: Bo Larsson | 1974: Ralf Edström | 1975: Kent Karlsson | 1976: Anders Linderoth | 1977: Roy Andersson | 1978: Ronnie Hellström | 1979: Jan Möller | 1980: Rolf Zetterlund | 1981: Thomas Ravelli | 1982: Torbjörn Nilsson | 1983: Glenn Hysén | 1984: Sven Dahlkvist | 1985: Glenn Strömberg | 1986: Robert Prytz | 1987: Peter Larsson | 1988: Glenn Hysén | 1989: Jonas Thern | 1990: Tomas Brolin | 1991: Anders Limpar | 1992: Jan Eriksson | 1993: Martin Dahlin | 1994: Tomas Brolin | 1995: Patrik Andersson | 1996: Roland Nilsson | 1997: Pär Zetterberg | 1998: Henrik Larsson | 1999: Stefan Schwarz | 2000: Magnus Hedman | 2001: Patrik Andersson | 2002: Fredrik Ljungberg | 2003: Olof Mellberg | 2004: Henrik Larsson | 2005: Zlatan Ibrahimović | 2006: Fredrik Ljungberg | 2007: Zlatan Ibrahimović | 2008: Zlatan Ibrahimović | 2009: Zlatan Ibrahimović Sporting positions Preceded by Johan Mjällby Sweden football captain 2002–2006 Succeeded by Fredrik Ljungberg Preceded by Steve Staunton Aston Villa F.C. Captain 2003 – 2006 Succeeded by Gareth Barry