Marcus Allbäck

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography Marcus Christian Allbäck (Template:IPA; born 5 July 1973) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was known for his sharp finishing ability and represented clubs in Sweden, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, England, and Germany during a career that spanned between 1992 and 2009. A full international between 1999 and 2008, he won 74 caps for the Sweden national team and scored 30 goals. He represented Sweden at three UEFA European Championships (2000, 2004, and 2008) as well as two FIFA World Cups (2002 and 2006).

After his playing career he served as an assistant coach for the Sweden national team between 2009 and 2016.

Club career

Early career

Born in Gothenburg, Allbäck started his professional career with Örgryte IS. He then proceeded to have two modest loan stints abroad, with Lyngby Boldklub and A.S. Bari of Serie A, before rejoining his first club.

In 2000, he joined SC Heerenveen of the Eredivisie, before moving to Aston Villa for £2 million in 2002. He was not a regular for the Premier League club, due to Darius Vassell and Juan Pablo Ángel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the end of his contract, he joined Hansa Rostock in the summer of 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

F.C. Copenhagen

In the summer of 2005, aged 32, Allbäck signed with F.C. Copenhagen. On 1 November 2006, he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 UEFA Champions League group stage game against Manchester United.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In that match, he was also awarded the fans' Man of the Match award. 20 days later he also scored against S.L. Benfica at Estádio da Luz – a match lost 3–1. Allbäck scored again in the last group stage match against Celtic at Parken in a 3–1 win. After the final home game of the Danish Superliga 2006–07 season, he was presented with the fans' Player of the Year award, as the side emerged back-to-back champions, and the striker netted 11 league goals.

In August 2007, Allbäck scored a late away equaliser against Beitar Jerusalem in the second leg of the second round Champions League qualifier in extra time, to keep Copenhagen's group stage dreams alive, although the side would eventually bow out to Benfica in the next round.

Return to Sweden and retirement

On 1 July 2008, Allbäck returned to Sweden and Örgryte, his third spell at the club.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 14 December 2009, after Örgryte IS was relegated from Allsvenskan, Allbäck announced his retirement from football.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After Sweden's victory against the Netherlands, it was official that Allbäck would participate in Örgryte's next home game against Motala, He came on in the 69th minute but could not affect the game.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

International career

Allbäck made his debut for the national side on 27 November 1999 in a friendly against South Africa. He was selected for Sweden's Euro 2000 squad, but was the only outfield player who did not play for Sweden in the tournament. By the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Allbäck had established himself in the starting line-up after an impressive display in the qualification. However, he had a disappointing tournament with no goals. At Euro 2004, the 2006 World Cup, and Euro 2008, Allbäck was mostly used as a substitute.

On 20 June 2006, during the 2006 World Cup, Allbäck helped Sweden earn a 2–2 draw against England by netting their first goal. This goal by Allbäck was the 2000th goal scored in the history of the World Cup. On 6 September, he scored twice to help propel Sweden past visitors Liechtenstein 3–1 in the second of their 2008 European Championship qualifying matches.

On 6 June 2007, during Euro 2008 qualifiers, Allbäck scored a highly surreal goal against Iceland when an opponent, Ívar Ingimarsson, gave him the ball incorrectly thinking a free kick had been awarded.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After Sweden's group stage exit from Euro 2008 (in which he played as a second-half substitute against Russia in Innsbruck), Allbäck announced that he would retire from the national team, ending his international career with 74 caps with 30 goals.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Allbäck worked for SVT as a commentator during the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 in South Africa.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Post-playing career

Allbäck and Swedish coach Erik Hamrén in 2012

On 7 November 2009, Allbäck was named as the new assistant coach of the Sweden men's national football team. He stepped down from this position in 2016, following Sweden's disappointing Euro 2016 campaign.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> He started his career as a football agent later the same year.<ref name=":0" />

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Örgryte IS	1992	Division 2 Mellersta Götaland/Kvalsvenskan Västra	24	10			–
	1993	Allsvenskan	20	4			–
	1994	Division 1 Södra	25	19			–
	1995	Allsvenskan	22	4			–
	1996	Allsvenskan	24	8			–		1	0
	1997	Allsvenskan	24	9
	1998	Allsvenskan	12	3			–
	1999	Allsvenskan	26	15			–
	2000	Allsvenskan	26	16			–		2	0
	Total		203	88			–		3	0
Lyngby Boldklub (loan)	1997–98	Danish Superliga	4	1			–
Bari (loan)	1997–98	Serie A	16	0			–
Heerenveen	2000–01	Eredivisie	16	10			–		–
	2001–02	Eredivisie	32	15			–		2	3
	Total		48	25			–		2	3
Aston Villa	2002–03	Premier League	20	5
	2003–04	Premier League	15	1			2	0
	2004–05	Premier League	0	0
	Total		35	6
Hansa Rostock	2004–05<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Bundesliga	23	4	3	0	–		–
Copenhagen	2005–06	Danish Superliga	30	15			–		1	0
	2006–07	Danish Superliga	26	11			–		9	3
	2007–08	Danish Superliga	29	8			–		10	4
	Total		85	34			–		20	7
Örgryte IS	2008	Superettan	12	5			–		–
	2009<ref name="Soccerway">Template:Cite web</ref>	Allsvenskan	18	3			–		–
	Total		30	8			–		3	0
Örgryte IS	2011<ref name="Soccerway" />	Division 1 Södra	1	0			–		–
Career total			445	166

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sweden	1999	1	0
	2000	4	1
	2001	9	6
	2002	13	4
	2003	9	5
	2004	11	7
	2005	7	0
	2006	9	4
	2007	7	3
	2008	4	0
Total		74	30

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

List of international goals scored by Marcus Allbäck

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	31 January 2000	La Manga Club, La Manga, Spain	Template:Fb	1–0	1–0	2000–01 Nordic Football Championship
2	28 March 2001	Zimbru Stadium, Chişinău, Moldova	Template:Fb	1–0	2–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
3				2–0
4	2 June 2001	Råsunda, Stockholm, Sweden	Template:Fb	1–0	2–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
5				2–0
6	6 June 2001	Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	Template:Fb	5–0	6–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
7	15 August 2001	Råsunda, Stockholm, Sweden	Template:Fb	2–0	3–0	Friendly
8	27 March 2002	Malmö Stadion, Malmö, Sweden	Template:Fb	1–0	1–1	Friendly
9	25 May 2002	National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan	Template:Fb	1–0	1–1	Friendly
10	16 October 2002	Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	Template:Fb	2–0	2–3	Friendly
11	20 November 2002	Na Stínadlech, Teplice, Czech Republic	Template:Fb	3–3	3–3	Friendly
12	2 April 2003	Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary	Template:Fb	1–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
13				2–1
14	7 June 2003	Stadio Serravalle, San Marino, San Marino	Template:Fb	2–0	6–0	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
15				6–0
16	11 June 2003	Råsunda, Stockholm, Sweden	Template:Fb	2–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
17	28 May 2004	Ratina Stadion, Tampere, Finland	Template:Fb	2–1	3–1	Friendly
18				3–1
19	5 June 2004	Råsunda, Stockholm, Sweden	Template:Fb	3–0	3–1	Friendly
20	14 June 2004	José Alvalade Stadium, Lisbon, Portugal	Template:Fb	5–0	5–0	UEFA Euro 2004
21	13 October 2004	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Template:Fb	2–0	4–1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
22	17 November 2004	Easter Road Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland	Template:Fb	1–0	4–1	Friendly
23				2–0
24	20 June 2006	RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany	Template:Fb	1–1	2–2	2006 FIFA World Cup
25	6 September 2006	Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	Template:Fb	1–0	3–1	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
26				2–1
27	7 October 2006	Råsunda, Stockholm, Sweden	Template:Fb	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
28	6 June 2007	Råsunda, Stockholm, Sweden	Template:Fb	1–0	5–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
29				5–0
30	21 November 2007	Råsunda, Stockholm, Sweden	Template:Fb	1–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification

Honours

F.C. Copenhagen<ref name="Soccerway" />

• Danish Superliga: 2005–06, 2006–07

Örgryte IS

• Svenska Cupen: 2000

Individual

• Allsvenskan top scorer: 1999

• Stor Grabb: 2002<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• F.C. Copenhagen Player of the Year: 2007

External links

• National team profile Template:Webarchive Template:In lang