Freddie Ljungberg

Halmstad

In 1989, at the age of 12, Ljungberg had convinced Halmstads BK to move him from P12 to P14 which was against Halmstad's policies at the time. At age 14, Ljungberg joined the junior team under coach Robert Nordström. His perseverance paid off because three years later he was moved up to the senior team. Ljungberg made his senior debut on 23 October 1994 in the Allsvenskan against AIK. In 1995, Ljungberg played 31 games in which he scored his first goal as a professional player. That same year, Halmstad won Svenska Cupen. In 1997, Halmstad won the Allsvenskan with Ljungberg netting and assisting goals that season for the club, despite picking up injuries. During his time with Halmstad, he went on to make 139 appearances and score 16 goals for the club. After winning several trophies in his years with Halmstad, Ljungberg's star was on the rise with interest from Barcelona, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Parma and Arsenal.

Arsenal

Ljungberg was signed by Arsenal in 1998 for £3 million. Arsenal scouts watched him for over a year and Arsenal's manager, Arsène Wenger, took the unusual step of authorising the signing after watching Ljungberg play for Sweden in their victory against England on television, without seeing him play live. Seeing Ljungberg's performance against England only confirmed to Wenger that Ljungberg could cope against English opponents, and he was signed shortly after. Ljungberg proved himself without difficulty and scored on his debut on 20…

Youth

In 1996, Ljungberg made his debut for the Sweden national U-21 team. He almost did not make it as an international player because Sweden head coach Lars Lagerbäck thought Ljungberg was too short. In the 2003 documentary film Fredrik Ljungberg: Up Close, Lagerbäck stated: "Of course it's difficult to say at 15 to 16 years of age (whether or not a player has the potential to be an international player). To be honest, I wouldn't say I thought he would become an international player because he was very very little. In his first match, we played Denmark and he scored twice so he convinced me rather fast that he was a good player even if he was very very small but he was quick." On 10 November 1996, Ljungberg scored twice in a game against Scotland U21.

Senior

Ljungberg made his senior international debut on 24 January 1998 against the United States in Orlando, losing 0–1. He scored his first national team goal against Denmark in Malmö with a 3–0 victory. On 31 March 1999, Ljungberg scored his second national team goal against Poland in a 0–1 victory away from home in a UEFA Euro 2000 Qualifier match.

UEFA Euro 2000

Ljungberg was a squad member for Sweden at UEFA Euro 2000 and played in all three group stage games against Belgium, Turkey, and Italy before Sweden was eliminated from the tournament after the group stage.

2002 FIFA World Cup

During an open team practice before the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Ljungberg broke into a fight with…

Arsenal

In May 2013, Arsenal announced that Ljungberg would be "renewing his ties with the club" by taking an ambassadorial role with the view of increasing the international awareness of the club. He said that he was "honoured to take on this ambassadorial role". On 12 July 2016, it was confirmed that he would be joining Arsenal Academy coaching Arsenal's under-15s.

VfL Wolfsburg

After the appointment of Andries Jonker as the new manager for VfL Wolfsburg on 27 February 2017, the club announced later the same day that he would be assisted by Ljungberg and Uwe Speidel. He was at the club for six months before Jonker and his assistants were sacked in September 2017.

Return to Arsenal

On 12 June 2018, Arsenal announced that Ljungberg would return as the under-23 coach. On 5 June 2019, Ljungberg was promoted to Arsenal's first-team coaching squad. On 29 November 2019, Ljungberg was announced as interim head coach following the dismissal of Unai Emery. In December 2019 he said he was working on a game-by-game basis. His first match as interim head-coach ended in a 2–2 draw away to Norwich City on 1 December, and he achieved his first and only win, beating West Ham United 3-1 eight days later. After Mikel Arteta was appointed as club head-coach, Ljungberg was retained as the first-team assistant coach, after a record of one win, three draws and two defeats as interim head coach. On 22 August 2020 Ljungberg announced his departure from his first team…

Ljungberg was born on 16 April 1977 in Vittsjö to Roy Alve Erling Ljungberg, an owner of a construction and consultant business with a masters in engineering, and Elisabeth Bodil Ljungberg, a Swedish Labor Department worker. On 12 September 1984, the Ljungbergs had another son, Karl Oskar Filip. In 1982, the Ljungberg family left Vittsjö and moved to Halmstad. At first, the tenacious five-year old would not have any part of moving. He argued with his parents that he did not want to live in Halmstad. His parents relented and took him to Halmstads BK, where he played on the youth team under manager Olle Eriksson. From the time he was from five to fourteen, Ljungberg was coached by Eriksson. Eriksson's impression of the youngster was that he was remarkably talented for his age and that he was considerate of other players, noting that Ljungberg would pass the ball to his friends, so that they would have a chance to score. He credits the Brazilian footballer Sócrates, and Eriksson for having a profound effect on his career. During his youth days, Ljungberg also enjoyed playing ice hockey and developed a talent for handball; he was eventually called up to the under-15 national handball team, but decided to focus his attentions on football. Ljungberg did well in academic subjects and sports. When he finished ninth grade in his högstadium school, his marks averaged 4.1 on the five-point scale. At the age of 18, Ljungberg attended university to study information technology and…