Niklas Gudmundsson

Niklas Gudmundsson (born February 29, 1972 ) is a Swedish former football player . The striker , who made seven caps for the Swedish national team between 1991 and 1995 , played his career in Sweden and England.

Career

Career start in Sweden

Gudmundsson began playing football at Trönninge IF at the age of six , for which he was also active in athletics as a teenager . At the age of 14 he joined the youth soccer department of Halmstad BK in 1986 and from then on concentrated on lawn sport. Two years later he moved up as a young player, together with defender Niclas Alexandersson, who was a quarter of a year older, in the squad of the first team coached by Scots Stuart Baxter . On the last day of the second division season in 1988 he made his debut in a game against IK Oddevold in a competitive game and was thus involved in the return to the Allsvenskan . Also in his first season as a substitute player - three appearances have been booked for him - he was a regular on the club's offensive in the 1990 season and played all 22 games of the season. His six goals this season, with which he was tied with Jonas Axeldal behind Steve Whitton on loan from Sheffield Wednesday , helped the club to stay up.

In the following season, Gudmundsson's club missed the championship finals only because of the fewer goals scored against the point and goal difference equal competitor IFK Norrköping and had to compete in the promotion and relegation round. On the side of Jan Jönsson , Jonas Axeldal and Håkan Svensson there was no success and as sixth in the table Halmstads BK missed relegation in the first division. During the summer break he also played for the Swedish youth national team at the Junior World Cup in 1991 alongside Jonny Rödlund , Magnus Hedman , Patrik Andersson and his teammate Niclas Alexandersson, but the team was eliminated in the group stage. In August, however, he was rewarded for his good performance and came on as a substitute for Mikael Martinsson in the 2-0 defeat by the Polish national team to his A international debut .

As a season winner in the south, Gudmundsson moved in 1992 with the team in the promotion and relegation round to Allsvenskan, which was dominated as the first in the table with nine wins in 14 games. In the summer of that year he again represented the Swedish colors on the international stage. At the U-21 European Championship in 1992 he reached the final against Italy with the country selection . At the side of Håkan Mild , Jonny Rödlund, Filip Apelstav and Stefan Landberg , he lost the first leg 2-0, Pascal Simpson's goal to the 1-0 second leg success was too little to win the title. This team was also the basis for the Swedish selection at the 1992 Summer Olympics , but there the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals at Camp Nou against the Australian team around team captain Ned Zelic . He returned to the national team in 1995 under coach Mats Jingblad . While he played alongside Robert Andersson , Jesper Mattsson , Freddie Ljungberg and Torbjörn Arvidsson in the league in the front area, the team moved into the final of the national cup in the summer of 1995 . Against AIK a 3-1 success was achieved, so that the club then took part in the 1995/96 European Cup Winners' Cup . If the team survived the first round due to the away goal rule against Lokomotiv Sofia , they were on the verge of a sensation in the second round against the Italian representative AC Parma . Due to a strike, the team had to play their first leg at Gothenburg's Gamla Ullevi . There Gudmundsson advanced to the match winner and scored two goals in the 3-0 win. In the second leg, the Italian club put the Swedes under pressure from the start and scored the first goal after just two minutes through Filippo Inzaghi . With a 2-0 lead in the half-time break, he ultimately prevailed with a 4-0 victory.

Unsuccessful in England and return to Sweden

In the meantime, however, Gudmundsson had made a name for himself outside the country's borders. After he had auditioned for Norwich City the year before , he joined the Blackburn Rovers on loan at the end of the 1995 season at the end of November that year . Mainly substitute players he came due to the injuries of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton to isolated missions before he injured himself and was out at the end of the season. Then continued mainly on the bench, the club loaned him to Ipswich Town from March 1997 . With the club he reached the promotion games to the Premier League , in which he missed promotion despite a goal against Sheffield United . Although the club was interested in the continued employment of the player, but could not pay a transfer fee. So he returned to Blackburn Rovers in the summer, but coach Roy Hodgson recommended that he look for a new club. At the end of June, there was finally an exchange deal with Malmö FF , who gave Anders Andersson to England and signed Gudmundsson.

At Malmö FF, Gudmundsson fought a three-way battle for the Swedish championship with IFK Göteborg and his former club Halmstads BK, and ultimately it was enough for third place in the table. Then he slipped with the team around Niclas Kindvall , Mattias Thylander , Jens Fjellström and Mats Lilienberg in the relegation battle and rose at the end of the 1999 season in the Superettan . There he was the striker partner of the aspiring Zlatan Ibrahimović and achieved the immediate resurgence with the team.

However, Gudmundsson left the Skåne club after three and a half years and joined first division rivals IF Elfsborg . At the side of Fredrik Berglund , Kristoffer Arvhage and Johan Sjöberg , he reached the 2001 final of the national cup. In the 12-11 win against AIK after a penalty shoot-out , he was one of the players who converted their penalty. Shortly before he had to compete for the second time, Johan Wiland held the decisive shot and made Gudmundsson the cup winner for the second time. In the 2002 season he came to three games for the club from Borås due to a knee injury . He then went to Ängelholms FF , trained by Mats Jingblad , where he ended his active career in 2005.

Web links

• Niklas Gudmundsson on the website of Halmstads BK
• Niklas Gudmundsson in the database of weltfussball.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ex-canaries.co.uk: "Niklas Gudmundsson" (accessed on October 26, 2010)
2. ↑ independent.co.uk: "United youngster ready to replace Schmeichel" (accessed October 26, 2010)
3. ↑ independent.co.uk: "Football: Liverpool keeping their eyes on Ince" (accessed October 26, 2010)