Absurdly Random Profile of the Week: Johan Elmander

By: Sam | October 31st, 2007

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Name: Johan Elmander
Date of birth: 27 May 1981
Place of birth: Alingsås, Sweden
Current club: Toulouse FC
Position: Striker
Height: 188 cm
Weight: 85 kg
Shirt number: 9
Randomness of selection: I added the number of goals scored in the four Coupe de la Ligue matches today (10), found the club who’s currently in that position in the table, then decided to pick the player who had been booked latest in the tenth match of the season (at Sochaux).

How about that! Turns out our second random player is quite a prolific goalscorer and headline-provoker. Here’s a little about his young life: Elmander aka Elmo was born in Alingsås, a town in the western part of Sweden, population two thirds of Toulouse’s Stade Municpal. He came from a football-happy family, seeing as his brothers Peter and Patrik both play for GAIS in Sweden.

In his teenage years, Elmander played with Holmalunds IF and Örgyte IS of his homeland, before making the move to Feyenoord Rotterdam at the tender age of 18. From there, he went back to Sweden to play for the famed Djugårdens, but left not long thereafter to try his hand at the Dutch league again, this time at NAC Breda. After a season he packed his bags yet again, this time to Denmark to play with Brøndby of the Super League. And finally, he landed where he still is today- Toulouse FC.

In his first season with Toulouse, Elmander exploded. It was largely because of his heroics that Téfécé landed an out-of-the-blue third place, also known as a spot in the qualification stage of the Champions League. In the last match of last season, he scored three against Bordeaux to get there. A highlight this season is his goal against Lyon in the closing moments that got Toulouse the win.

Skill-wise, he’s basically got it all. One spectacular goal he scores will be after a forty-yard run with defenders panting in his wake, another will be the end result of a well-hit strike from outside the area. His dribbling abilities are simple and effective (zing!), but they’re nothing compared to his ability to create space for himself and his teammates. There’s not much more to be said, you just have to see it for yourself and scratch your head wondering how he does it.

Cap-wise, the 26-year old already has 29 international appearances for Sverige, and has scored an impressive 11 goals. He was present on Sweden’s 2006 World Cup squad, but only came on as a substitute twice (against Paraguay and England) and only played about 25 minutes total. Suffice to say he’ll see more of the pitch come 2010.

So in a nutshell, that’s Johan Elmander. Den räddningen av Svensk fotboll om där någonsin var en!