Melker Hallberg

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Melker Hallberg
MelkerHallberg.jpg
Melker Hallberg (2013)
Personnel
Surname Charles Melker Otto Hallberg
birthday October 20, 1995
place of birth Ljungbyholm ,  Sweden
size 180 cm
position midfield player
Juniors
Years station
0000-2010 Möre BK
2010–2012 Kalmar FF
2014 Udinese Calcio
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
2009-2010 Möre BK
2012-2014 Kalmar FF 54 (6)
2014-2018 Udinese Calcio 4 (0)
2015 →  Vålerenga Oslo  (loan) 10 (2)
2016 →  Hammarby IF  (loan) 12 (1)
2016 →  Ascoli Calcio  (loan) 7 (1)
2017-2018 → Kalmar FF (loan) 40 (2)
2018-2019 Vejle BK 25 (1)
2018-2019 Vejle BK Reserve 2 (0)
2019– Hibernian Edinburgh 20 (1)
National team
Years selection Games (goals) 2
2010 Sweden U-15 4 (0)
2011 Sweden U-16 7 (0)
2011–2012 Sweden U-17 8 (0)
2012-2014 Sweden U-19 9 (1)
2013-2017 Sweden U-21 23 (3)
2016– Sweden 3 (1)
1 Only league games are given.
As of March 10, 2020

2 As of March 10, 2020

Charles Melker Otto Hallberg (born October 20, 1995 in Ljungbyholm ) is a Swedish football player . The midfielder has been in the professional squad of the Scottish first division club Hibernian Edinburgh since 2019 and made his debut in the senior national team of his home country in 2016 .

He is the older brother of Herman Hallberg (* 1997), who also played for Kalmar FF for a few years and switched to Trelleborgs FF in 2020 , as well as of Ossian Hallberg (* 2000), who so far (as of 2020) is still in the offspring of Kalmar is used.

Club career

Career start and debut in men's football at age 13

Melker Hallberg was born on October 20, 1995 in the municipality of Ljungbyholm , just a few kilometers southwest of Kalmar . He grew up here and in Vassmolösa and played football for Möre BK from Hagby, which is a little further south . For this he also made his debut at the age of 13 in men's football, where he competed for the men's team in the country's seventh highest division . When he was accepted into the junior division of Kalmar FF in 2010 , he had already scored five goals for Möre BK in Division 5. At Kalmar, he was used in the club's own offspring and soon afterwards attended the Kalmar Fotbollsakademi , the club's football academy.

Moved to Kalmar FF and made his professional debut at 16

After less than two years at the club from the southern Swedish province of Kalmar län and the historic province of Småland , Hallberg made the leap from the Tipselit troops and the Spets groups to the professional team at the start of Fotbollsallsvenskan 2012 when he was 16 . In the third round of the championship he was sent by his coach Nanne Bergstrand in a 2-0 away defeat against Malmö from the second half for Johan Bertilsson on the field. With 16 years and 176 days he was the youngest ever used in the men's team player of the Kalmar FF; Rasmus Elm has held the record as the club's youngest player since 2005 . Just three days later, Hallberg contributed the assist for one of the three goals of his teammate Abiola Dauda in a 3-1 home win over BK Häcken and was on the pitch for over 70 minutes. After that, the right winger played a longer game from the start in another game in April and in a game in May and spent the remaining games on the bench between April and June. He made his Europa League debut on 5 July 2012 when he came on as a 79th-minute substitute for Markus Thorbjörnsson in a 1-0 loss in the first leg of the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round against Cliftonville FC .

After he came to a brief appearance on July 8, 2012 in a 1: 2 away defeat against IFK Norrköping , Hallberg became the youngest goal scorer in the club's history in the following round, as well as the fourth youngest goal scorer in the history of Fotbollsallsvenskan. At this point in time 16 years and 269 days old, Hallberg came in a home game against IF Elfsborg , which was leading the table at the time, from the 73rd minute for Daniel Mendes , who was almost twice as old , who had previously scored the 1-1 goal in minute 44. Had scored equalizer on the pitch and scored in the 89th minute after a submission by Måns Söderqvist the goal to make it 2-1. After another league game against Elfsborg one round later, Hallberg von Bergstrand was not considered in any official league game for two months and was always unused on the bench or continued to play games for the club's U-19 team. Furthermore, he made his debut on 20 August 2012 at the Swedish football Cup Men 2012/13 when he with a 4: 0 victory against FC Gute in round two in the 56th minute for the Senegalese international Papa Alioune Diouf came on . In four of the last seven championship rounds, Hallberg was then taken into account again, but was only able to contest a single game from the start.

At the end of the season, the Kalmar FF ranked tenth in the table; Hallberg had scored one goal and one assist each time in eleven league appearances. Furthermore, he had three appearances in the Swedish Cup, in which the team was eliminated in the group stage. In July he was in three Europa League qualifying games of his team for use and sat in another game against BSC Young Boys at the beginning of August without an action on the bench; Kalmar FF did not get any further against the Swiss and was eliminated from the current tournament. Shortly before the end of the season, the young midfielder signed a four-year contract with Kalmar FF, which came into force on December 1, 2012.

Regular at Kalmar

With the beginning of the 2013 game year , Hallberg acted as a regular in midfield at Kalmar FF. Initially deployed at the side of captain and club legend Henrik Rydström in the defensive midfield, the youngster was mainly deployed in the central midfield by coach Bergstrand from the third round of the championship. Particularly noteworthy are rounds 10 to 16, when the aggressively dangerous Hallberg scored four goals and one assist. He contributed second more assists towards the end of the game year, when he was occasionally used in the right and attacking midfield. In the end, he had made 29 out of 30 possible league appearances and was chosen as the newcomer at Fotbollsallsvenskan 2013. With Kalmar he was ranked 4th in the final ranking. In the choice of the best player of the season, he was voted 14th by the Swedish tabloid Expressen .

Even when Bergstrand left the club after many years as head coach at the end of the 2013 season and Hans Eklund followed him into the coaching office, Hallberg retained his traditional position in the central midfield. Under Eklund, he was used in 14 of 15 Fotbollsallsvenskan 2014 games until July 19, 2014 and had a record of one hit and two assists. After he had already completed a trial session at the club and therefore missed two games at Kalmar, Hallberg made a move to the Italian first division club Udinese Calcio during the current season , which pays a rumored transfer fee of 1.5 million euros for the young midfielder should have. With the Italians, the regular player of Kalmar FF and the Swedish U-21 national team signed a five-year contract.

Change to Italy and loan period in Norway

In Udine , however, he was hardly considered by his coach Andrea Stramaccioni and therefore sat on the Bianconeri's bench for almost the entire 2014/15 season without being used . In addition, he was occasionally used for the Primavera team in the club's junior division, but spent most of the time training with the professional team. His Serie A debut only took place around six months after his commitment, when he was sent onto the pitch on January 18, 2015 in a 2-2 home draw against Cagliari Calcio at halftime for the injured Maurizio Domizzi . In two of the next three league games Hallberg was then considered with stakes; only against the league leaders Juventus Turin he was not allowed to compete. In addition, there was a use in the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia 2414/15 . He then sat on the bench again for months without being used and was only used again in the 35th round with a 4-1 home defeat against Sampdoria Genoa from the start and up to the 72nd minute of play in central midfield. Here, however, he also suffered a back injury, due to which he was out for the remaining three games of the season. In the end, the team occupied 16th place in the table and had at least managed to stay in the league. In the following summer break, Hallberg was loaned to the capital club Vålerenga Oslo in Norway until the end of the year . Due to the departure of Sivert Heltne Nilsen shortly before and Christian Grindheim and Herman Stengel , who were at risk of yellow card suspension , Vålerenga had a staff shortage in midfield and Hallberg therefore often played in attacking midfield over the full length of the game. In the end, Hallberg made ten out of twelve possible missions and was able to show with his performances, especially towards the end of the season. In the penultimate game against Odds BK he was involved in a 2-2 home draw on both goals (once as a goal scorer and once as an assist provider). He also scored a goal in the last game of the season, a 2-2 draw away against Strømsgodset IF . In the final standings, Vålerenga occupied seventh place in the table.

Back to Sweden as a loan player

After the Tippeligaen ended in 2015 , Hallberg returned to Udine, only to be awarded to the Swedish first division club Hammarby IF until the end of the Serie A 2015/16 season . At the club from the capital Stockholm , he met his former coach at Kalmar, Nanne Bergstrand, who had previously guided three other former teammates at Kalmar to Hammarby with Mats Solheim , Erik Israelsson and Måns Söderqvist. Udinese Calcio set the option to loan Hallberg to Hammarby for the entire 2016 season , but wanted to wait until the end of Serie A 2015/16 to see how Hallberg had developed in order to take any steps. The midfielder , who has meanwhile become a Swedish national player , started the new season with the second round of the 2015/16 Swedish Football Cup at the end of February with the capital club . Here still used in the attacking midfield, he was shortly afterwards mainly used in the left or defensive midfield and acted as a regular under Bergstrand. By the time he was on loan, he had played all twelve of the championship games played so far and had a record of three assists. Missed a group game due to a red card suspension, Hallberg finally made it to the semi-finals of the Swedish Cup with Hammarby IF and lost with his team in this to BK Häcken with a score of 2: 3, where he was also able to contribute a goal. Since the Italians did not withdraw the previously mentioned option, an extension of the loan until the end of Allsvenskan 2016, Hallberg had to return to his regular club. This season, Udinese only just managed to stay one point behind the relegation zone.

On loan in Italy and Sweden

Afterwards Hallberg was courted by various clubs, including SG Dynamo Dresden , which had just been promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga . In June 2016, the Dresdeners had already started official negotiations with the Swede before he decided to stay in Italy after all. Already in May there was media coverage of a possible move Hallberg to Dresden. Shortly thereafter, the versatile midfielder moved to the Italian second division Ascoli Calcio on loan until the end of the year ; the contract contained various options and counter-options, including a possible purchase option. There, Alfredo Aglietti tried right from the start of the 2016/17 season to accommodate the Swedish international in the defensive or central midfield. Shortly afterwards, the Swede was almost exclusively on the bench of the club from Ascoli Piceno and was only used at irregular intervals. In October 2016, Hallberg said that the difference between the Italian and the Swedish championship was mainly in the tactics, but at this point he was satisfied with his involvement with Ascoli. On September 24, 2016, he scored his first goal in Italy's second division in a 1: 2 away defeat against AC Pisa . After he had only played seven games up to the 14th championship round and had also played a game in the Coppa Italia 2016/17 , he was no longer part of the professional squad of Ascoli Calcio and was awarded again at the beginning of 2017.

This time he went back to Sweden, where he was again at Kalmar FF. At his ex-club, with which he had signed a loan contract for the entire 2017 game year , the now 21-year-old Hallberg hoped for a permanent commitment. The contract also included an option to buy from Kalmars. At Kalmar he met again with his younger brother Herman, who was meanwhile also active as a professional, as well as with the three Elm brothers David , Viktor and Rasmus. Under Peter Swärdh , who took over as coach at the beginning of 2015, Hallberg started the group phase of the Swedish Football Cup 2016/17 in February , was a regular in all three group games and did the preparatory work for a total of two goals. As second in Group 5, Kalmar did not make it into the subsequent quarter-finals. At the beginning of April he started the Fotbollsallsvenskan 2017 with the team in his now traditional position in defensive midfield . Swärdh let Hallberg mostly play on the defensive post, with the 21-year-old playing in eleven of twelve games, as well as two goals and one assist, by the one-month break between June and July 2017. After Swärdh could not bring Kalmar FF from the bottom of the table and had only won two of the last twelve league games with the team, he was replaced by Nanne Bergstrand in mid-June 2017. Since Bergstrand had used him in various midfield positions the last times the two had worked together, he did so in the period that followed, when Hallberg's positions always varied. Initially still used in defensive midfield, he was positioned more and more centrally and on the flanks towards the end of the season. In the final classification, the southern Swedes reached twelfth place in the table and thus managed to stay in the league. Hallberg was one of the regular players in the squad with 27 out of 30 possible appearances.

On January 5, 2018 it was announced that Udinese Calcio Hallberg would loan out to Kalmar FF for another year. In the Allsvenskan 2018 , the 22-year-old was converted into a defender and from the sixth championship round, a 3-0 home win over Malmö, was primarily used as a right -back. By the 14th round in mid-July 2018, he had made 13 championship appearances and one assist when he moved to the Danish first division club Vejle BK with immediate effect . Nothing was announced about any transfer fee - at Udinese Calcio he still had a contract valid until 2019. Furthermore, he had made four appearances in the Swedish Football Cup 2017/18 .

Regular force in Denmark ...

After initially playing there for a short time, Hallberg made his competitive debut on August 19, 2018 in a 2-0 defeat away from FC Nordsjælland when he was sent onto the field for Sean Murray in the 56th minute by coach Adolfo Sormani has been. Over the entire preliminary round, the Swede, who was only on the pitch for the first time in round 11 over the full game, made 20 appearances, one goal and two assists and was clearly on the relegation zone with the team after only three of his Was able to win 20 appearances with the team. In the relegation round that followed, Hallberg, who was mostly used in central midfield , completed five of his team's six games under Constantin Gâlcă , who had taken over from Sormani shortly before the end of the preliminary round, and in the end also had to relegate with the team. This was - after a 1-0 win in the first leg - lost 2-0 in extra time in the second leg against Hobro IK , which meant Vejle's relegation. Since Hallberg had the option of an early exit in the event of a descent of Vejle BK in his contract, he moved this at the end of the season and subsequently left the club for Scotland . For the Danes, he had made 20 appearances in the preliminary round, five in the relegation round, two in the relegation, and just as many in the Danish Football Cup 2018/19 , as well as in the reserve team this season.

... and Scotland

On August 23, 2019, the signing of the 23-year-old Swede was officially announced by the Scottish Premiership club Hibernian Edinburgh after he had been without a club for almost two months . With the Hibs , the Scottish capital's club's nickname, he signed a contract with a term of almost three years (until May 31, 2022) and was given the number 5 on his shirt. Not considered for the third round match one day after his official presentation, he sat also in the following game against FC Motherwell unused on the bench, before coach Paul Heckingbottom started in right midfield on September 14, 2019 in a 2-0 defeat against FC Kilmarnock and in the 77th minute by Joe Newell was replaced. A volley goal scored by Hallberg from close range in this game was disallowed by referee Kevin Clancy . After that, the positions of the versatile midfield player varied, whereby he was mostly considered in the center. As a regular player under Heckingbottom, he also acted after his departure in early November, after he had just brought the team back from the bottom of the table, under the interim coach Eddie May and the successor Jack Ross . Under the leadership of Ross, Hibernian Edinburgh stayed in the middle of the table. After he had previously been used as a regular, the right foot was taken out of the game at halftime in the 2-1 home win over Hamilton Academical on January 22, 2020 and was subsequently not taken into account for more than a month due to illness. In the meantime, he was on the bench in some games without being used, but was not part of the extended squad for two games. It wasn't until the beginning of March 2020 that the Swede slowly found his way back into the game as a substitute player and started with an assist in a 1: 3 defeat against Heart of Midlothian , after he was substituted on in the same minute. Furthermore, to date (as of March 11, 2020) he has made three appearances in the Scottish FA Cup 2019/20 , as well as two appearances in the Scottish League Cup 2019/20 (+ one goal).

National team career

Operations for Sweden's U-15 and U-16

Hallberg gained his first experience in a youth national team of the Swedish Football Association in the Swedish U-15 national team , for which he played in two international matches against his colleagues from Finland and Norway in August and September 2010 . He then also played for Sweden's U-16s , for which he appeared in two games against Wales in May 2011 . On the occasion of the Nordisk Pojkturnering , a football tournament for junior national teams from the Nordic countries that has been held since 1975 , he played three more games in August 2011. On August 31, and September 1, he was then used in two friendly matches against Slovakia .

Unsuccessful U-17 European Championship qualification

That same month, the then 15-year-old who started the Swedish U-17 national team in the qualification for the U-17 European Championship 2012 . He completed all three group games of his team during the first qualifying round and moved into the subsequent elite round of qualification as first place in Group 8. Before that, he played in two international matches against the Czech Republic and Slovakia in La Manga del Mar Menor in February 2012 and again played all three of Sweden's group matches in the elite round of the U-17 European Championship qualification at the end of March 2012. After a victory over the U-17 juniors from Switzerland , a draw against the Italians of the same age and a defeat against the French , Sweden ended up in second place in Group 1 and was therefore unable to participate in the May 2012 qualify for the European Championship finals taking place in Slovenia . Thus, he was used in four U-15, seven U-16 and eight U-17 international matches by 2012; These missions are often summarized as U-17 internationals on various statistics sites.

He made his U-19 debut at 16

After that, Hallberg only played in two friendly international matches against Slovakia in September this year ; these international matches have already been counted as matches for the Swedish U-19 national team . After making his U-19 debut at the age of 16, the midfielder joined the elite round of qualifying for the U-19 European Championship 2013 as a regular in early June after playing two games against his colleagues from Scotland in March 2013 of Swedes in appearance. As third in Group 1, the Swedes subsequently failed to qualify for the European Championship finals in Lithuania in the summer .

As a 17-year-old in the U-21 squad

Only around two months after his last U-19 appearance, Hallberg made his debut on August 14, 2013 in a friendly against Norway under coach Håkan Ericson in the Swedish U-21 national team . At this point in time, the right foot was just 17 years, nine months and 25 days old and only a few weeks later participated as a regular in qualifying for the U-21 European Championship in 2015 . Ericson mostly used him on the right side in midfield, with Hallberg playing in four of the five qualifying games in 2013 and being able to score a goal in a 2-2 draw against Turkey based on Silverholt's submission. He did not take part in the remaining qualifying games in 2014 when Sweden took first place in Group 7 and thus qualified for the play-off round. In May 2014, however, he completed two more international matches for Sweden's U-19s as team captain and then joined the Swedish U-21 team in the said play-off round of the U-21 European Championship qualifiers in October 2014. With an overall result of 4: 3 over France , the Swedes qualified for the European Championship finals in the Czech Republic .

In the following friendly games in 2014 and in the spring of 2015, Hallberg only played sporadically. When it became clear that he would not be part of the Swedish 23-man squad for the European Championship , he accordingly did not take part in the preparatory games for it, but was only included in the national team by Ericson when the Swedes returned as European champions. In the first match of the qualification for the U-21 European Championship 2017 against San Marino still unused on the bench, he played five days later as a left winger against Poland and was part of the regular formation in the subsequent European Championship qualifiers. In the 5-0 victory over his colleagues from Estonia, he was still used in the offensive midfield, where he also scored a goal and an assist, he was mostly used in the central or defensive midfield in the following games by Ericson.

A national team debut in 2016

During this time, took Erik Hamrén the now 20-year-old who had just changed on loan to Hammarby, for a training camp in Abu Dhabi in the senior national team of his home country . He replaced Kristoffer Olsson , who could not be released by his club, FC Midtjylland . On January 6, 2016, Hallberg made his national team debut in a 1-1 draw against Estonia , when he came on the pitch for Gustav Svensson in the 61st minute of play . Four days later he played another A international match against Finland , in which he came on for Nicklas Bärkroth at halftime and scored the goal for a 2-0 lead in the same minute after the preparatory work by Marcus Rohdén . After he had completed most of the remaining U-21 European Championship qualifiers over the course of the year, Sweden made it to the European Championship finals again as group winners. After two friendlies at the end of March 2017, Hallberg took part in preparations for the 2017 U-21 European Championship in June , completing half of a friendly against Denmark . Then he was part of the 23-strong Swedish squad that took part in the finals in Poland . Ericson then let the central midfielder play in the first two group games, a 0-0 draw against England and a 2-2 draw against Poland, from the start and over the full 90 minutes and put him in the final 0-3 Losing to Slovakia only for one half. As a result, things became largely quiet in the national teams around Hallberg, who was only brought back into the Swedish national team in 2019. On the occasion of another training camp in Qatar , Janne Andersson nominated him for two international matches against Finland and Iceland . In the game against Finland still on the bench, he made his comeback in the Swedish national team in the 2-2 draw against the Icelanders almost three years to the day after his last international match.

successes

Web links

Footnotes & individual references

  1. ↑ excl. Relegation; incl. relegation round
  2. ↑ a b c d Stortalangens första mål sänkte Elfsborg (Swedish), accessed on March 10, 2020
  3. ↑ a b Fyraårkontrakt för Melker Hallberg ( Memento from January 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (Swedish), accessed on March 10, 2020
  4. ↑ A young Joker bursts into the spotlight , accessed on March 10, 2020
  5. ↑ Här är allsvenskans 50 bästa spelare - år 2013 (Swedish), accessed on March 11, 2020
  6. ↑ Series A 2014/2015 - Udinese: rosa e probabile formazione (Italian), accessed on March 11, 2020
  7. ↑ Transfer update | Barca bring Vermaelen, Forster to the "Saints", Swedish talent to Udine , accessed on March 11, 2020
  8. ↑ Vålerenga låner Melker Hallberg ( Memento from December 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Norwegian), accessed on March 11, 2020
  9. ↑ a b c Melker Hallberg klar för Hammarby (Swedish), accessed on March 11, 2020
  10. ↑ Hammarby vill förlänga med Melker Hallberg (Swedish), accessed on March 11, 2020
  11. ↑ Dresden: Swedish international on the approach? , accessed on March 11, 2020
  12. ^ Dresden: Hallberg is not coming , accessed on March 11, 2020
  13. ↑ Dynamo Dresden: Erich Berko and Melker Hallberg in sight? , accessed on March 11, 2020
  14. ↑ Dynamo Dresden: New rumors about Melker Hallberg , accessed on March 11, 2020
  15. ↑ Calciomercato Ascoli, rinforzo Hallberg in mediana (Italian), accessed on March 11, 2020
  16. ↑ Ascoli in attesa del Verona, Hallberg: ”Buone prestazioni ma manca il gol. Vogliamo vincere ” (Italian), accessed March 11, 2020
  17. ↑ a b Klart: Hallberg tillbaka i Kalmar FF (Swedish), accessed on March 11, 2020
  18. ↑ Officiellt: Kalmar FF flyttar upp Ziarat och Hallberg (Swedish), accessed on March 11, 2020
  19. ↑ UFFICIALE - Udinese, prorogato prestito di Hallberg (Italian), accessed on March 11, 2020
  20. ↑ Stjärnan lämnar KFF för Danmark (Swedish), accessed on March 11, 2020
  21. ↑ Efter nedflyttningen - Hallberg lämnar Danmark (Swedish), accessed on March 11, 2020
  22. ↑ a b MELKER HALLBERG BECOMES SIGNING NUMBER NINE (English), accessed on March 11, 2020
  23. ↑ a b MATCH REPORT | KILMARNOCK 2-0 HIBERNIAN , accessed on March 11, 2020
  24. ↑ MATCH REPORT | HIBERNIAN 2-1 HAMILTON ACADEMICAL , accessed March 11, 2020
  25. ↑ Melker Hallberg pushing for Hibernian return , accessed on March 11, 2020
  26. ↑ the Swedish Football Association divides these international matches into four U-15, seven U-16 and eight U-17 games
  27. ^ Hallberg tar nu plats i U21 landslag troops (Swedish), accessed on March 12, 2020
  28. ↑ a b Hallberg ersätter Olsson i Abu Dahbi (Swedish), accessed on March 12, 2020
  29. ↑ Årets första startelva (Swedish), accessed March 12, 2020
  30. ↑ Startelvan mot Island (Swedish), accessed March 12, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Hallberg, Melker
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hallberg, Charles Melker Otto (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1995
PLACE OF BIRTH Ljungbyholm , Sweden