Johan Elmander

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Johan Elmander Personal information Full name Johan Elmander Date of birth May 27, 1981(1981-05-27) (age 27) Place of birth Alingsås, SwedenHeight 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Playing position Forward Club information Current club ToulouseNumber 9 Senior clubs1 Years Club App (Gls)* 1997-1998
1999-2000
2000-2004
2002-2003
2003-2004
2004-2006
2006-
Holmalunds IF
Örgryte IS
Feyenoord
→ Djurgården(loan)
→ NAC Breda(loan)
Brøndby IF
Toulouse023 00(5)
039 00(4)
039 00(3)
019 0(12)
031 00(7)
058 0(22)
062 0(22) National team2 2000-2004
2002- Sweden under-21
Sweden028 0(12)
034 0(9)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 6 Dec 2007.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 2 June 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)

Johan Elmander ['juːan ɛl'mɑndɛr] (b. May 27, 1981 in Alingsås, Sweden) is a Swedish football player, who plays as a forward for French club Toulouse FC in the Ligue 1 championship. Elmander has scored eleven goals in 29 games for the Swedish national team, and he was chosen to represent his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Biography

Elmander started his career as a striker for Swedish clubs Holmalunds IF and Örgryte, before making the move to the Dutch club Feyenoord at the age of 18. Although never a first team regular, he came on as a substitute in the 2002 UEFA Cup final 3-2 win against German team Borussia Dortmund.

Elmander was subsequently put on loan back in Sweden with Djurgården, where he won the Double of both Allsvenskan championship and Swedish Cup title in 2002 and Allsvenskan in 2003, however he wasnt awarded any medal since he played too few matches. He also debuted for the Swedish national team, in a February 2002 friendly match against Greece. In 2003, he was loaned out to Feyenoord's Dutch league rivals NAC Breda.

Before the 2004-05 season, he was bought by Danish Superliga outfit Brøndby. Despite not scoring as many goals for the club as was expected, he was the playmaker and creative spark of the Brøndby team in the 2004-05 Superliga season. The team won the Double of both Superliga championship and Danish Cup title, and Elmander was voted Brøndby's Player of the Year.

In his two seasons at Brøndby, Elmander scored 22 goals in 58 Superliga games, attracting the attention of several clubs throughout Europe. He was called up to represent Sweden at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where he played two games. Elmander signed a four-year contract with French side Toulouse for an undisclosed fee on 7 July 2006.

Elmander scored 11 goals in his first season with Toulouse FC and was nominated as player of the year by his fellow players. This award was subsequently won by Olympique Lyonnais player Florent Malouda. The season was very successful with Elmander guiding Toulouse FC to third place and a berth in the qualifying rounds of UEFA Champions League.