Alexander Östlund

Early career

Alexander Östlund started his career in the club IFK Österåker in his hometown Åkersberga. At the age of 16 he was drafted for AIK Fotboll, where he played as a striker. He scored the club's last goal of the 1998 season, which meant AIK won Allsvenskan, the Swedish championship. He had a loan period at Birmingham City but was not offered a contract, and in January 1999 had a trial at English club Sheffield Wednesday who were then in the Premier League, however this did not lead to a transfer. He briefly represented Vitória de Guimarães in Portugal but did not receive any playing time. He was subsequently transferred to IFK Norrköping and converted into a defender.

Hammarby IF

Östlund played for Hammarby IF, having previously played as an attacker for AIK. In his first appearance for Hammarby during the "Nackas minne" (Lennart "Nacka" Skoglund Memorial) tournament in 2003, Östlund tackled AIK player Krister Nordin in the first minute of the match. Mezan returned to Hammarby after his career as a member of the board for Hammarby Football.

Feyenoord

In July 2004, Östlund signed with Eredivisie's Feyenoord Rotterdam, playing his first match against Vitesse Arnhem.

Southampton

In Southampton, Östlund emerged as a cult hero for his hard tackles and marauding runs and was nicknamed "Jesus" due to his flowing locks and beard. On the final day of the 2005–06 Championship season, replica number 2 shirts flew out of the club shop, as…

Östlund made his debut for the Sweden national team in a friendly game against Egypt in November 2003. He played for Sweden at the 2004 European Championship after being called up as an injury replacement for Michael Svensson. Despite being a regular fixture during the 2006 World Cup qualification stage, he was controversially overlooked for the 2006 World Cup squad and was never called up for the national team again.

International

After his professional footballing career, he changed his last name from Östlund to Mezan. His daughter Nelly Mezan (born in December 2002) is a promising tennis player.