Johan Elmander

Early career

Elmander was born in Alingsås, Alingsås Municipality. He started his career as a striker for Swedish clubs but changed to a centre midfielder Holmalunds IF and Örgryte, 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. Elmander was subsequently put on loan back in Sweden with Djurgården, 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 Sweden 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

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…

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.

Club

International

Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elmander goal.

* Match abandoned, see UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier fan attack.

Elmander has two brothers Peter and Patrik who also are former professional footballers. Elmander was married on 27 December 2007 to highschool sweetheart Amanda Calvin in a lavish ceremony in her home town of Hemsjö, Sweden. The couple had over 200 guests including fellow former teammates Kim Källström and Jon Jönsson. At their wedding, singer and 2007 Idol contestant Christoffer Hiding performed. In August 2008, the couple announced the birth of their first child. On 18 November 2010, it was announced Elmander's wife had given birth to a baby girl named Lily.