Lars Nilsson (soccer player)

Lars Nilsson
Personnel
birthday	January 3, 1982
place of birth	Borlange ,  Sweden
position	striker
Juniors
Years	station
	Islingby IK
	Torsångs IF
1998-1999	IK Brage
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
2000-2001	IK Brage	45 (15)
2002-2004	IF Elfsborg	73 (16)
2005-2007	SC Heerenveen	75 (21)
2007	AS Saint-Etienne	6 0(0)
2008	→  Aalborg BK  (loan)	12 0(2)
2008	→ IF Elfsborg (loan)	15 0(3)
2009-2010	Vitesse Arnhem	56 (13)
2011–	IF Elfsborg	107 (32)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals) 2
2000	Sweden U 18	4 0(1)
2002-2004	Sweden U 21	10 0(0)
2004	Sweden	2 0(0)
1 Only league games are given. Status: end of season 2011 2 As of April 12, 2010

Lars "Lasse" Nilsson (born January 3, 1982 in Borlänge ) is a Swedish football player . The striker , who made his debut for the Swedish national team in 2004 , played outside of his home country in the Netherlands, France and Denmark.

Career

Early years

Nilsson played in his youth with Islingby IK and Torsångs IF . In 1998 he joined the youth team at IK Brage . For the men's team of the club, he made his debut in 2000 in the Superettan . After he scored 13 goals in the second season , he was courted by several Swedish top division clubs and foreign teams. Ultimately, he decided against AIK and Hammarby IF and joined IF Elfsborg .

Allsvenskan and national team debut

Before the start of the season in the Allsvenskan , Nilsson made his debut in the Swedish U-21 national team , when they were clearly defeated 3-0 by the Greek selection . Both in the national team and in the club, he was able to establish himself in the team over the course of the season.

In the following season, Nilsson lost his regular place at the club and was subsequently no longer appointed to the U-21 team. Only towards the end of the season did the striker regain his former strength and was then appointed to the Swedish national team for the Carlsberg Cup in early 2004 by national coach Lars Lagerbäck . On January 22nd of the year he came in the 3-0 defeat against the Norwegian national team for his first international appearance when he came on in the 58th minute for Mats Rubarth . Three days later he was in the game for third place in this competition against a Hong Kong league selection in the starting line-up and knew how to shine with two goals in this unofficial international match .

Although Nilsson was no longer appointed in the further course of the season, but through the two games and a good season in 2004 , in which he was in the starting line-up in all 26 games of the season and scored seven goals, he aroused the interest of foreign clubs. In January 2005 his adviser announced that he would transfer to SC Heerenveen in the Dutch honor division one year before the end of his contract in Borås, where he had signed a 3½-year contract.

Abroad

After the end of the winter break in the Netherlands, Nilsson made his debut on January 30, 2005 in the 1-1 draw against NAC Breda with goals from Anthony Lurling and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in the honor division when he replaced Arnold Bruggink in the 62nd minute of play . He scored his first goal in the 3-2 away win at Roda JC Kerkrade on the day after next. With four goals in 14 games by the end of the season, he reached fifth place in the table with the team in which his compatriot Petter Hansson was one of the regular players.

In his first UEFA Cup appearance for the Dutch club against Banik Ostrau , Nilsson was able to enter the scorers list. With the team he went after surviving the group stage against Steaua Bucharest , but was eliminated from the competition against the Romanian club in the second round . The season was also mixed in the league. In the 3-0 win over ADO Den Haag on matchday 22, Nilsson scored all three goals, two weeks later he was thrown off the pitch after a red card . At the end of the season he reached seventh place with his team, which meant the play-offs for the UEFA Cup qualification. In the decisive game against Twente Enschede , he scored two goals in the 5-0 victory like his team-mate Danijel Pranjić .

Even in his second full season for SC Heerenveen, Nilsson was able to convince. In addition to a goal in the European Cup, the Swede was celebrated as a nine-time goalscorer in the league during the season. After he was used in all 34 games of the season, he joined the club in the playoffs for the Champions League qualification. Although he scored the 1-0 winner in the first leg against Ajax Amsterdam , the Dutch record champions were able to prevail in the second leg with a 4-0 win.

In August 2007, Nilsson left the Netherlands and joined AS Saint-Étienne in Ligue 1 . The striker signed a four-year contract with the club from the industrial city in central France, which transferred a transfer fee of around 3 million euros for the Swede. Here, however, he was hardly taken into account under coach Laurent Roussey and was already looking for a new club during the winter break. There was talk of interest from West Ham United , but also from French clubs such as RC Lens , AJ Auxerre and FC Sochaux . Ultimately, he moved on loan to Aalborg BK , where he should replace his compatriot Rade Prica .

After a half series in Denmark, he initially returned to France, but was again not used. Therefore, he was awarded again and returned to Sweden to his first division IF Elfsborg. For the club he ran until the end of the Allsvenskan season 2008 and reached with him the runner-up behind Kalmar FF .

Shortly before the end of the transfer period during the winter break, Nilsson changed clubs again on January 29, 2009 on loan. This time he returned to the Dutch honor division and went to Vitesse Arnhem . After making his debut for Vitesse in a 1-0 win against his old club SC Heerenveen, he was able to contribute his first two goals for the new club in his second game in the 4-1 win over Ajax Amsterdam . Overall, he knew how to convince at Vitesse, so that the club signed the Swedes for three years after the loan period ended in June. At the side of Dalibor Stevanović , Santi Kolk , Nicky Hofs , Alexander Büttner and Wiljan Pluim , he stayed in the regular formation of the club with which he played in the lower division to keep relegation.

Return to Sweden

After the move from coach Theo Bos to Albert Ferrer , Nilsson lost his regular place in autumn 2010. In February 2011 he returned to his home country. He signed a five-year contract at his former play station IF Elfsborg. At the side of Stefan Ishizaki , Andreas Klarström and Anders Svensson he was a regular player and was at times with the team in the title fight for the Swedish championship title. With ten goals this season he ultimately contributed to third place in the table and thus to reaching the European Cup, he was also one of the ten best goal scorers of the season.

Web links

• Lars Nilsson in the weltfussball.de database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Här kommer Nästa svenska supertalang" - article at aftonbladet.se (accessed on January 30, 2009)
2. ↑ "Lars Nilsson valde Elfsborg" - article at fotbolldirekt.com ( Memento of the original from February 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on January 30, 2009) 
3. ↑ "U21 mr: Förlust mot starkt grekiskt lag" - game report at svenskfotboll.se (accessed on January 30, 2009)
4. ↑ "Herr: Norsk storseger i Hongkong" - match report at svenskfotboll.se (accessed on January 30, 2009)
5. ↑ "Herr: Svensk seger i tredjeprismatchen" - match report at svenskfotboll.se (accessed on January 30, 2009)
6. ↑ "Lasse Nilsson till Heerenveen" - article at kuriren.nu  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on January 30, 2009)  
7. ^ NAC Breda - sc Heerenveen 1: 1 (Eredivisie 2004/2005, 19th matchday). In: weltfussball.de. Retrieved May 5, 2016 . 
8. ↑ sc Heerenveen - FC Twente 5-0 (Playoffs Eredivisie 2005/2006 UEFA Cup, 2nd round). In: weltfussball.de. Retrieved May 5, 2016 . 
9. ↑ "Foot - Transferts - Nilsson à Saint-Etienne" - article at lequipe.fr ( Memento of the original of May 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on January 30, 2009) 
10. ↑ "uppgifter i Frankike: West Ham jagar Lars Nilsson" - Article at nakoncernen.com  ( page no longer available , searching web archives )  Info: The link is automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on January 30, 2009)  
11. ↑ "AaB lejer Lars Nilsson i St. Etienne" - Article at dr.dk (accessed on 30 January 2009)
12. ↑ "Lasse Nilsson clear for Elfsborg" - article at fotbollsexpressen.se ( Memento of the original from August 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on January 30, 2009) 
13. ↑ "Lasse Nilsson till Vitesse" - article at aftonbladet.se (accessed on January 30, 2009)
14. ↑ vitesse.nl: "LASSE NILSSON VOOR 3 JAAR NAAR VITESSE!"  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on July 6, 2009)  
15. ↑ fotbollsverige.se: "Lasse Nilsson klar för Elfsborg" (accessed on October 24, 2011)