Joachim Björklund

Joachim Björklund (born 15 March 1971) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He is the current assistant manager at Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan.

Joachim Björklund
Joachim Björklund
Personal information
Full name Joachim Björklund
Date of birth (1971-03-15) 15 March 1971
Place of birth Växjö, Sweden
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
Öster
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1990 Öster 6 (0)
1990–1992 Brann 56 (0)
1993–1995 IFK Göteborg 46 (0)
1995–1996 Vicenza 33 (0)
1996–1998 Rangers 59 (0)
1998–2001 Valencia 57 (1)
2001–2002 Venezia 18 (0)
2002–2004 Sunderland 57 (0)
2004–2005 Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 (0)
Total 335 (1)
National team
1986–1987 Sweden U17 13 (0)
1988–1989 Sweden U19 10 (0)
1990–1992 Sweden U21/O 24 (0)
1992–2000 Sweden 78 (0)
Teams managed
2018– Hammarby IF (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Beginning his footballing career with Östers IF and SK Brann, Björklund went on to win three Swedish championships with IFK Göteborg before representing clubs in the Scottish Premiership, Serie A, La Liga, and the Premier League.

A full international between 1992 and 2000, Björklund won 78 caps for the Sweden national team and was a part of the teams that competed at Euro 1992, Euro 2000, and finished third at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Taking the leap from junior team obscurity at Östers IF to becoming a star in Brann, Björklund was later sold to IFK Göteborg.[1] There, his side achieved a surprise 3–1 victory over Manchester United in the group stage of the 1994–95 Champions League which ultimately helped them win Group A ahead of FC Barcelona, Manchester United, and Galatasaray before being eliminated in the quarter-finals by FC Bayern Munich. At the end of the following season, he was transferred to Vicenza in Serie A,[1] and the following year to Rangers in the Scottish Premiership,[1] for £2.2 million.[2] where he won a Scottish league championship medal. He moved to Valencia for £2.5 million on 20 June 1998[3] and spent three years at Valencia before joining Venezia in Italy, where he played for just one season. While at Valencia, he helped the team reach the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 UEFA Champions League finals.[4]

Björklund joined Sunderland in January 2002 for £1.5 million,[5] but was unable to prevent them from being relegated in the following 2002–03 season. However the 2003–04 season was better, as he helped Sunderland finish third in Division One and reach the FA Cup semi finals yet his services were deemed to be no longer required by manager Mick McCarthy so he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers, who had just been relegated from the Premier League.[6][7] He left the club and retired after just one injury-hampered season that restricted him to just five appearances in total as the club failed to win an immediate return to the top flight.[8]

International career

For many years he formed a successful central defensive partnership with Patrik Andersson for the Swedish national team. Björklund was selected for the UEFA Euro 1992,[9] 1994 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000. At the 1994 FIFA World Cup, he helped the team finish third behind Brazil and Italy. He was also a member of the Swedish squad that competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Due to lack of playing time at his club Valencia, Björklund was dropped from the Swedish squad during the early stages of the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Disappointed, he decided to retire from the national team at the age of 30.[10]

Post-playing career

Having finished his playing career, he worked as a scout for Valencia, mainly targeting the Nordic countries. He also worked as a pundit for Swedish Canal+, covering La Liga football, for several years.[11]

On 28 January 2018, Björklund was appointed assistant manager of Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan. He signed a one year-deal (with an option for two more) with the club.[12]

Career statistics

International
Appearances and goals by national team and year[13]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Sweden 199290
199340
1994180
199580
199680
199780
1998 6 0
1999 7 0
2000 9 0
Total780

Personal life

He is the son of Swedish football coach Karl-Gunnar Björklund, and the father of footballer Kalle Björklund who represents Hammarby IF.[14] His maternal uncle is Tommy Svensson, the Sweden national football team manager from 1991 to 1997.

Honours

Club

IFK Göteborg

Rangers

Valencia

International

Sweden

References
  1. Bjäreborn, Christoffer (19 June 2001). "Monaco vill ha Joachim Björklund". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  2. "9IAR20: Joachim Signs For Gers". Rangers Football Club. Rangers.co.uk. 5 July 2016.
  3. "On This Day: Jun 20". Rangers Football Club. Rangers.co.uk. 20 June 2017.
  4. "Joachim Björklund: »Vi mötte ju ett gäng tyskar«". Fotbollsmagasinet Offside (in Swedish). 25 May 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  5. "Black Cats snap up Bjorkland". The Daily Telegraph. 28 January 2002. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  6. "McCartney's new deal". BBC. BBC Sport. 24 May 2004. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  7. "Wolves sign Bjorklund". BBC. BBC Sport. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  8. Cooper, Scott (6 May 2005). "Wolves Defender Set To Retire". thefootballnetwork.net. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  9. Courtney, Barrie (22 June 2004). "European Championship 1992 – Final Tournament – Full Details". rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  10. "Jockes hämnd: nobbar Blågult". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  11. Magnusson, Oskar (24 August 2010). "Björklunds nya jobb: tv-expert". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  12. "Joachim Björklund ny assisterande tränare i Hammarby". Hammarby Fotboll. Hammarby Fotboll. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  13. https://www.svenskfotboll.se/spelarfakta/joachim-bjorklund/3b605ee0-3741-4df0-9242-12ab8ca1592a/
  14. "Fotboll Sthlm möter Jocke Björklund: "Pappa är snabbast!"" (in Swedish). Fotboll STHLM. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  15. "Valencia 2-1 Salzburg (Aggregate: 4 - 1)". uefa.com. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.