Erik Olof Mellberg (; born 3 September 1977) is a Swedish football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and former professional player. During his career, Mellberg played as a defender, and is best known for his time at Aston Villa, as well as spells with Juventus and Greek side

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. Mellberg played for Sweden in the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

and

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, as well as the

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of Europea ...

and

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

. A former captain of the national team, he scored 8 goals in 117 caps between 2000 and 2012.

Early years

Erik Olof Mellberg was born in

Gullspång Gullspång is a locality and one of two seats of the Gullspång Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. As of 2010 it had 1,167 inhabitants. History Gullspång provided the name for a new municipality created through the local government ...

, Sweden, on 3 September 1977 to parents Erik and wife Berit. Mellberg's mother Berit was a

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

teacher who passed on her love of sport to her son. As a youth, Mellberg enjoyed playing tennis and dreamed of Wimbledon rather than the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. Mellberg was something of a tennis prodigy and it was not until he was 14 that Mellberg began to focus on football.

Club career

Early career

Mellberg played for local side ''Gullspång'' before being picked up by then Swedish Premiership side Degerfors IF. After being relegated he joined capital club

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

, where he made an instant impression, became Swedish champion 1998 and was sold after just 10 months. Spanish side

Racing Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Span ...

moved to secure the promising Swedish centre half, and although having a difficult time adjusting to

Spanish football Football is the most popular sport in Spain. Spain has some of the most important teams in Europe (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Seville, Valencia, and others). It also has a high number of players (most of them being unprofession ...

he soon claimed a starting berth and impressed in his first season. Continuing to play well, Mellberg was said to be on his way to several big Spanish sides, including

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

Aston Villa

However, Aston Villa managed to secure his signature in July 2001 and he became a consistent and vital part of the team. Mellberg was left out of boss

David O'Leary David Anthony O'Leary (born 2 May 1958) is a football manager and former player. His managerial career began at Leeds United, subsequently managing Aston Villa. He most recently worked as the manager of Al-Ahli Dubai. The majority of his 20-yea ...

's first side for a game against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, but was soon made the captain of the English giants for the rest of his reign. Mellberg was a vital part of the team that finished 6th in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

and reached the semi-finals of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

in O'Leary's first season. Mellberg resigned as captain following the 2006 World Cup—he was replaced by

Gareth Barry Gareth Barry (born 23 February 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He made 653 Premier League appearances for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton and West Bromwich Albion, the highest number of ap ...

. In 2007 the new manager of Aston Villa,

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playi ...

, continued to consider Mellberg as the first choice centre back. On the opening day of the 2006–07 Premiership season Mellberg became the first person to score in a competitive game at Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium. During the 2007–08 season, he played at the right back position following the purchase of

Zat Knight Zatyiah Knight (born 2 May 1980) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Knight had extended spells at Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers and Fulham in the Premier League and the Championship. He finished his career ...

, who played alongside

Martin Laursen Martin Laursen (born 26 July 1977) is a Danish former professional footballer who played in the centre-back position. He played three seasons for Italian club A.C. Milan, with whom he won the 2003 UEFA Champions League and the 2004 Serie A champ ...

at centre back. Mellberg was sent off against Portsmouth on 15 March 2008 for two bookable offences. In January 2008 it was announced that Mellberg had signed a pre-contract agreement with Juventus. His final home game for Aston Villa was against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

on 3 May. The game was designated as "Olof Mellberg" day in appreciation of his service to the club. On his final game for Aston Villa away at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, as a leaving gift, Mellberg gave every single Villa fan at Upton Park either a home or an away shirt with his name and number on the back and the message ''Thanks 4 Your Support'' – being the number 4 of Aston Villa. He also said he would frame the kit which he used on his last ever Aston Villa game – the game against West Ham. To this day Mellberg is very highly thought of and respected by Aston Villa supporters as one of their greatest ever players.

Juventus

In January 2008 it was confirmed that Mellberg had signed a pre-contract agreement with Italian giants Juventus, allowing him a Bosman move to

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

on a three-year contract for the start of the 2008–09 season. He made his Juventus debut on 16 July 2008 in a friendly match versus

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

outfit,

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

. Juventus surprisingly lost the match 1–0. On 18 January 2009, Mellberg scored his first goal for Juventus against

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

in the 30th minute.

Olympiacos

On 23 June 2009, it was confirmed that Mellberg agreed with

to sign a three-year contract with the club. Olympiacos paid Juventus €2.5 million for the Swede's signature. Despite the rotation of several managers in the club while there, he was always a constant in the central defence and his consistency and experience proved to be invaluable for Olympiakos. Thanks to his passionate play and high professionalism, he has become a fan favourite – to the point that when Olympiakos had a streak of bad games, Mellberg was always the only player who was spared from criticism – and one of the most highly respected players in Greece. Mellberg turned down a new deal at the end of the 2011–12 season to extend his time in Athens, hoping to find a new challenge with his agent saying, "...we don't close any doors."

Villarreal

On 8 August 2012, Mellberg signed a one-year contract with Spanish club

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

. Mellberg appeared 29 times for Villareal in Spanish Segunda División, scoring twice, and was an important part of the squad that finished second in Segunda División and was promoted to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

FC Copenhagen and retirement

On 9 July 2013, Mellberg signed a two-year contract with Danish champions

FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

, but left after one season. Mellberg retired in summer 2014.

International career

Mellberg made his debut against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in March 2000. During an open team practice before the 2002 World Cup, Mellberg broke into a fight with his teammate former Arsenal winger

Freddie Ljungberg Karl Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg (; born 16 April 1977) is a Swedish former professional footballer and manager who played as a winger. He was most recently a former assistant coach, and interim head coach of Arsenal. He began his career at Hal ...

after a robust tackle from Mellberg. The two of them were quickly separated by teammates. Since then, the two of them have been known for not being the best of friends, and in the 2006 World Cup, Mellberg and Ljungberg, according to leak from inside the team, had a very fiery argument, after Sweden's draw with

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. In 2003, he was selected as the best Swedish player of the year, winning the

Guldbollen Guldbollen (''Golden Ball'') is a Swedish football award given by ''Aftonbladet'' and the Swedish Football Association to the best male Swedish footballer each year. History The award was created by Bengt Liljedahl and between 1946 to 1965 it was ...

. During the penalty shoot-out after the

quarter-final against

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, Mellberg has a penalty saved by

Edwin van der Sar Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, with whom he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a m ...

, as the Netherlands won the shoot-out 5–4 and advanced to the semi-finals. During a 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying match against Croatia in October 2005, Mellberg boxed the ball away with his hand in the Swedish penalty area. Croatia were awarded a penalty kick for this, which Dario Srna scored, and Sweden lost the match 0–1. After the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

in Germany, Mellberg relinquished his captaincy and Ljungberg took his place as Sweden captain. On 4 September 2006, Mellberg, along with Sweden teammates

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...

and Christian Wilhelmsson, was sent home from the national squad for breaking an 11 pm team curfew ahead of a European Championships qualifier against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

. On 7 October 2006, Mellberg returned to Sweden's lineup for their European Championships qualifier against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, which they won 2–0. In the 2012 European Championships, Mellberg was involved in two goals in their match against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the group stages to give Sweden a 2–1 lead, however, Sweden went on to lose 2–3 while Mellberg became "Man of the Match". After the tournament, Mellberg decided to end his international career.

Style of play

During his career, Mellberg primarily played as a

central defender 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 ...

right-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 ...

, although he was also capable of playing in a holding role in

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

on occasion. In a ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' profile in the lead-up to Euro 2012, he was described as being "big, strong and exceptional in the air", while a ''BBC'' profile ahead of the 2002 World Cup noted that " pressures attackers superbly and rarely comes off second best in a challenge." Regarded as a promising defender in his youth, he later made a name for himself as a solid, dependable, and hard-tackling centre-back. Although he was not very fast, he was strong, and had an excellent positional sense, and was also a good header of the ball, which made him a goal-threat on set-pieces.

Managerial career

IF Brommapojkarna

Mellberg was appointed manager of Swedish club

IF Brommapojkarna Idrottsföreningen Brommapojkarna, more commonly known as Brommapojkarna (meaning ''the Bromma boys'') or simply BP, is a Swedish football club located in the borough of Bromma, in the western parts of Stockholm municipality. Brommapojkarna is t ...

in November 2015, signing a two year-contract and taking over following their recent

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

to the third tier of Swedish football. Brommapojkarna won the Division 1 title during Mellberg's first season in charge and won their second successive

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

the following year, in October 2017, to return to the top flight, Allsvenskan. After the season, Mellberg chose not to renew his expiring contract with Brommapojkarna.

Fremad Amager

On 1 July 2019

Fremad Amager Boldklubben Fremad Amager (meaning in English: The Ball Club Forward Amager ; abbreviated Fremad A) is a Danish professional football club based in the district of Amager Vest, Copenhagen. As of the 2020–21 season, the club's senior men's tea ...

announced, that Mellberg had joined the club as their new manager. Mellberg was reinforced with Azrudin Valentić, who he worked with in Brommapojkarna and who until the arrival of Mellberg, was the manager of the club. With the access of Mellberg, the club changed the structure of the sporting staff, with Mellberg becoming manager and Azrudin Valentić becoming the first team coach.

Helsingborgs IF

After only two months in charge of

, the club announced that Mellberg had left the club to become the manager of

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, following promotion in the 2021 Superett ...

Personal life

Mellberg has two children with long-term partner Carolina Kihl. Daughter Saga was born in December 2002 and son John was born in July 2006. Mellberg and Kihl married in Sweden on 13 July 2013. According to Mellberg's mother, he is considering attending university after his retirement.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

AIK * Allsvenskan:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

Aston Villa * UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2001 Olympiacos * Super League Greece:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 2011–12 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

: 2011–12 F.C. Copenhagen *

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

runner-up: 2013–14 Individual *

: 2003 * UEFA Euro All-Star Team: 2004

Manager

Brommapojkarna * Superettan:

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Division 1 Norra Ettan Fotboll, or simply Ettan ( en, the one), which also is its common name in everyday speech, is the third level in the Swedish football league system and consists of 32 Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

References

External links

* *
Olof Mellberg goals
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellberg, Olof 1977 births Living people People from Gullspång Municipality UEFA Euro 2000 players 2002 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players UEFA Euro 2012 players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Denmark Association football central defenders Degerfors IF players AIK Fotboll players Racing de Santander players Aston Villa F.C. players Juventus F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. players Villarreal CF players F.C. Copenhagen players Allsvenskan players La Liga players Segunda División players Premier League players Serie A players Super League Greece players Danish Superliga players Swedish footballers Sweden international footballers Sweden under-21 international footballers Swedish expatriate footballers FIFA Century Club Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Swedish expatriate sportspeople in England Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Swedish football managers IF Brommapojkarna managers Fremad Amager managers Danish 1st Division managers Sportspeople from Västra Götaland County