Who is the biggest Swedish footballer right now? Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg, no doubt about it. If you play in Arsenal and score 17 goals in one season you must be a great player. He is one of the most important players in the Swedish National Team. And he is also one of the most beloved players by the fans in Sweden and England.

Fredrik Ljungberg, the Swedish footballer, is now one of the most important players in the prof-fessional footballclub Arsenal, in the English Premier League. The midfielder was born in Vittsjö, in the south part of Sweden, on 16th April 1977. He measures 176 cm and weighs 75 kg. He wears sweater number 8 in Arsenal. His family is mother, father and little brother Filip who also plays football.

"Freddies" break-through
He came to Arsenal, from Halmstads BK (the only club in Sweden he has played for) on 12th Sep-tember 1998. He played the first game on 20th September the very same year (Arsenal won by 3-0). He has always been a great player with chances to play in the National Team, but the real break-through waited until last season when he made a great success in England. When Robert Pires got injured, Ljungberg got a more important role. He handled the bigger pressure excellently. By scoring goals and hard working he was named the "Barclaycard Player of The Year". One reason for the prize was that he lead Arsenal to win "the Double", both the Premiership and the FA-Cup. He scored a classic goal in the FA-Cup finals against Chelsea. The English fans love him very much, not just the Arsenal-supporters but people over the whole country. He´s also loved in Sweden especially by young people.

Injured in the World Cup
The World Cup didn´t become the big success for "Freddie" as many people hoped and belived. A hip-injury made it impossible for him to play more than two games (against England and Nigeria). He also had to have surgery, when he had come home to Arsenal from Korea/Japan. After the surgery "Freddie" was out for about two months and he made a terrific comeback in September when he scored in the first game. If we go back to the last season, "Freddie" scored 17 goals for Arsenal. 17 goals but it could have been more, he had a big part of the season spoiled by a foot-injury, but was – inspite of that – one of the best and most popular players in the team . A big part of the success can be signed the team-mates, especially Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry. Fredrik Ljungberg is a great teamplayer and he and Dennis Bergkamp play really well together. He has come into the club in England very well. All the other players like him and the manager, the French, Arsene
Wenger has great confidence for "Freddie". He is a hard player to meet, he is not ugly but tough in in-fighting moments. So, a very good player to have in your team but not in the other.
Swedish National Team
In the Swedish National Team Ljungberg is one of the most important players, especially when Henrik Larsson has rejected to play for Sweden. "Freddie" has a different role in the National Team, he must take more responsibility for the defensive play in Sweden. He didn´t succeed in the World Cup, but he will be important in the qualification for the European Championship in Portugal 2004. He will also be important in the qualification for the World Cup in Germany in 2006. A thing about Ljungberg that is not about football, or sports at all, is that he has been voted as one of the five most sexy men in the world by the Swedish people (probably most women). He has made a big thing of dying his hair, and its just like with David Beckham, everybody seems to have something to say about it. Fredrik Ljungberg is a great player, absolutly the most popular Swedish player
at the moment. He is popular because he is a team-player, he works for the team more than for himself. With him in the team Arsenal and Sweden will be dangerous in Premier League and the qualification for the European Championship

© 2002 Freeway
Writers: Lukas Dahlkvist (sp04-28@park.se).
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