Fredrik Ljungberg

Karl Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg  (born April 16,
1977, Vittsjö, Sweden) is a Swedish international
football (soccer)|football player playing for FA
Premier League side Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal and
sometime underwear model (person)|model for Calvin
Klein.

He has also played handball, ice hockey and golf.
He currently resides in Hampstead, London, and in
Halmstad when in Sweden.

Ljungberg joined Arsenal in 1998. He previously
played for Halmstads BK|Halmstads in Sweden, where
he made 139 appearances and scored 16 goals. He
goalscoring rate has improved significantly after
joining Arsenal. Arsenal's manager, Arsène
Wenger, took the unusual step of authorising the
signing of Ljungberg after watching him play for
Sweden national football team|Sweden in their
defeat of England national football team|England
on television, without making a personal scouting
trip. It seemed a strange way to complete
business, but he was hearing good things about the
Swedish midfielder; Wenger was believed to be just
waiting to see how he would cope against English
opponents. Ljungberg passed the test without
difficulty and made a sensational debut scoring
against Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United
(Arsenal's principal rivals for the Premiership
title), coming on the field as a subsitute.

Many consider his "purple patch" of form towards
the end of the 2001-2002 season crucial to
Arsenal's The Double|Premiership and FA Cup
double; Robert Pirès had recently been ruled out
for months through a knee injury.  Ljungberg came
in and scored in most of Arsenal's remaining
games, including a stunning finish in the FA Cup
final against Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea.

He is most comfortable in midfield; since the
departure of Emmanuel Petit and Marc Overmars,
Ljungberg has been a regular in Arsenal's starting
lineup and has cemented his first team place. He
has had to fight with constant injury problems and
occasionally severe bouts with migraines; in 2005
a mysterious persistent hip injury led to fears he
may have contracted cancer, which were thankfully
unfounded. As of May 2005, he has appeared 265
times for Arsenal and scored 68 goals.

For Sweden, Ljungberg played at 2000 European
Football Championship|Euro 2000, the Football
World Cup 2002|2002 World Cup, and 2004 European
Football Championship|Euro 2004. He has appeared
over 50 times for his country.

== Awards ==
*1998  Swedish FA prizes for "Best Midfielder of
the year"
*1998  Swedish FA prizes for "People's player of
the year"
*1998  Nominated for the Sexiest Men In The World
*1998  6th in the Swedish handsome men contest
*2000  Arsenal FC player Of The Month (January and
February)
*2000  Arsenal FC Dreamcast Player Of The Season
competition came 2nd
*2000  AFCi Awards "Most Improved Arsenal Player"
for the 1999-2000 season
*2000  2nd in AFCi Awards "Arsenal Player Of The
Season"