Roger Ingemar Ljung (born 8 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He played for clubs in Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Turkey, and Germany during a career that spanned between 1983 and 1995. He won 59 caps for the Sweden national team, and represented his country at the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

, UEFA Euro 1992, as well as the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

where Sweden finished third.

Club career

Born in Lomma, Scania, Ljung started his football career at the age of six, with lowly Lunds BK. In 1985, he was purchased by Malmö FF, being mostly used as a substitute in his early years and being on the roster as the club won five

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

championships in a row, with the player contributing regularly in the

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

and 1988 editions. In the summer of 1989, Ljung transferred to

BSC Young Boys BSC Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation ) are a Swiss sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 15 Swiss league championships and six Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss football clubs internationally, reac ...

in Switzerland, moving in the following season to another side in the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

. He enjoyed his best individual years in Austria with

FC Admira Wacker FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

, scoring 26 Bundesliga goals in 67 games in his first two years combined, albeit without team silverware. In 1994, after some months in Turkey with Galatasaray SK, Ljung signed with MSV Duisburg from Germany. After appearing in less of half of the games during the campaign and also suffering relegation from the Bundesliga, he decided to retire from football at only 29.

International career

Ljung played 59

international games International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

for

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, scoring three goals. He was picked for the squad that appeared in the

in Italy, playing only once in an eventual group stage exit. Ljung was also selected for the team in UEFA Euro 1992, in Sweden played on home soil. His contribution to the final third-place was again minimal, as he only featured in the 2–3 semifinal loss against Germany. In the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football, soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the countr ...

in the United States, Ljung opened the national team's scoring account in a 2–2 group stage draw against Cameroon. This time, he was an undisputed first-choice – playing in six of seven games – and the country eventually finished third. Ljung also participated in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in Seoul, with Sweden ousted in the quarter-finals.

Post-retirement

After retiring from professional football in 1995, Ljung became a sports agent. He started his own agency in Lomma, ''Roger Ljung Promotion AB'', being at the time one of only three licensed agents in the country; newspaper ''

Aftonbladet ''Aftonbladet'' (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lars Johan H ...

'' considered him to be Sweden's most successful agent. Ljung's most notable client was Freddie Ljungberg, who played several years in the Premier League. He brokered his deal with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

for a £3 million transfer fee, and the pair parted ways in December 2006 when the player signed with mega-agency Creative Artists. Other players Ljung worked for included Marcus Allbäck, Patrik Andersson, Erik Edman, Andreas Isaksson, Kim Källström and Teddy Lucic.

Career statistics

International

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

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ljung, Roger 1966 births Living people People from Lomma Municipality Swedish footballers Men's association football defenders Allsvenskan players Lunds BK players Malmö FF players Swiss Super League players BSC Young Boys players FC Zürich players Austrian Football Bundesliga players FC Admira Wacker Mödling players Süper Lig players Galatasaray S.K. footballers Bundesliga players MSV Duisburg players Sweden men's international footballers 1990 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1992 players 1994 FIFA World Cup players Sweden men's youth international footballers Olympic footballers for Sweden Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Swedish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Austria Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Germany Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Austria Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swedish sports agents