Anders Svensson

IF Elfsborg

Svensson played at Guldhedens IK for ten years, until he moved to Borås, where he began to play for IF Elfsborg. As his role on the pitch was that of an offensive midfielder, although at Southampton he also played on the left side of midfield. He made his breakthrough while playing for IF Elfsborg in the late 1990s before moving to English side Southampton in 2001.

Southampton

Svensson moved to Southampton on 14 June 2001 for a £750,000 transfer fee. In his first season in the Premier League, Svensson scored four goals in 35 appearances for the Saints, and the club finished in 11th place, missing the UEFA Cup participation by just one point. He was a key player for Southampton; although near the end of his time with the club, he was rarely selected for Gordon Strachan's starting 11. He played an important role for Southampton in their success in the 2002–03 FA Cup. Their opening match was a 4–0 win against fellow Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. Svensson scored a goal along with other goal scorers Michael Svensson, Jo Tessem, and James Beattie, taking the club to a second consecutive victory against Tottenham, having beaten them on New Year's Day in the league. He played for Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup Final against Arsenal, which Southampton lost 1–0. Svensson also played in the 2003–04 UEFA Cup for the Saints, but the club was knocked out of the tournament in the first round. During his time with Southampton, Svensson made 140…

In 1996, he debuted in the Swedish under-21 team. In 1998, he played in the U-21 championships along with Jörgen Pettersson, Yksel Osmanovski, Daniel Andersson, and Freddie Ljungberg. He debuted for the Sweden national side against South Africa in 1999. He was known for being a good free kick taker, which he showed in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea/Japan, where he scored a free kick goal against Argentina, which effectively eliminated the opponent in the group stages. He set up the opening goal for Henrik Larsson against Senegal through an in-swinging corner. He nearly scored a golden goal in extra time, but his shot from inside the box was denied by the post. He played for Sweden in the Euro 2004, as well as the 2006 World Cup. However, he found form for the national team during the Euro 2008 qualifying stage. He played 11 games with two goals and one assist which led Sweden to the Euro 2008. Svensson played every minute of every game during Euro 2008, but did not find form. His frustration showed, conceding a few free kicks during their last game in the tournament. After Henrik Larsson retired, and Zlatan Ibrahimović declared that he was unsure about his future in the national team, Svensson was the team captain for Sweden in a friendly against Italy (0–1). After Ibrahimović returned to the national team in the summer of 2010, Svensson was named co-captain, although Ibrahimović remained official captain on the pitch. On 6 September 2013, Svensson became the joint most…

In 2014, Svensson, still actively playing at that time, started to work as a football commentator for Kanal 5.

Svensson was in a two-year relationship with fashion designer Anine Bing while playing for Southampton. The pair met in London where she was modelling at the time. Svensson married Emma Johansson in July 2007 at Thorberg Castle.