Anders Andersson (footballer)

Per Anders Andersson (born 15 March 1974) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Starting off his career with Malmö FF in the early 1990s, Andersson went on to play professionally in England, Denmark, and Portugal before returning to Malmö in 2005 to finish up his career. A full international between 1994 and 2005, Andersson won 27 caps for the Sweden national team and represented them at Euro 2000 and Euro 2004. He was also a squad player for Sweden at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

For other people named Anders Andersson, see Anders Andersson (disambiguation).
Anders Andersson
Personal information
Full name Anders Andersson
Date of birth (1974-03-15) 15 March 1974
Place of birth Tomelilla, Sweden
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Defensive Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1997 Malmö FF 126 (19)
1997–1999 Blackburn Rovers 4 (0)
1999–2001 AaB 70 (8)
2001–2004 Benfica 49 (1)
2004–2005 Belenenses (loan) 36 (0)
2005–2008 Malmö FF 56 (0)
Total 341 (28)
National team
1989–1991 Sweden U17 30 (1)
1991 Sweden U19 1 (0)
1992–1995 Sweden U21/O 25 (3)
1995–1997 Sweden B 2 (0)
1994–2005 Sweden 27 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Born in Tomelilla, Andersson played for Svenstorps IF as a child, but joined Malmö FF in 1990. He gradually became a star in the Swedish league, and was bought by English Premier League outfit Blackburn Rovers. There, he played four league matches, and scored once against Preston North End in the League Cup.[1] He went on to play in Denmark and Portugal for Benfica, and returned to Malmö FF in July 2005. He remained in the club until the end of the 2008 season, when the team decided not to extend Anders contract. The news was received with dismay among Malmö supporters, and Anders himself has written about the situation at his blog at local newspaper Skånska Dagbladet. He later decided to retire from football, ending speculation that he might've been heading to local rivals Trelleborg.

International career

Early years

After having represented the Sweden U17, U19, U21, and Olympic (representing Sweden at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona) teams, Andersson made his senior debut for the Sweden national team in a friendly game against Mexico on 24 February 1994.[2] He scored his first international goal in a 1-0 friendly win against Japan on 13 Februari 1997.[2]

Euro 2000, Euro 2004, and retirement

Andersson was a squad player for Sweden at UEFA Euro 2000, and came in from the bench in a group stage 0-0 draw against Turkey before Sweden failed to advance to the second round.[2] Four years later, he was a squad player for Sweden at UEFA Euro 2004 and started in the final group stage game against Denmark, before Sweden was eliminated in the quarter finals by the Netherlands.[2]

Andersson made his last international appearance on 9 February 2005 in a 1-1 draw with France.[2] He won a total of 27 caps, scoring 3 goals.[2]

Career statistics

International

[2]

Sweden national team
Year Apps Goals
1994 1 0
1995 0 0
1996 1 0
1997 7 1
1998 0 0
1999 0 0
2000 7 1
2001 0 0
2002 0 0
2003 4 0
2004 6 1
2005 1 0
Total 27 3

International goals

[2]

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 13 February 1997 National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan  Japan 1–0 1–0 Friendly
2. 4 February 2000 La Manga Club Football Stadium, La Manga, Spain  Norway 1–1 1–1 Friendly
3. 28 May 2004 Ratina Stadium, Tampere, Finland  Finland 1–1 3–1 Friendly


Honours
AaB
Benfica

References
  1. "Different class as Blackburn show Premiership pedigree". Lancashire Evening Telegraph. 17 September 1997. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  2. "Anders Andersson - Spelarstatistik - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se. (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  3. "2003–04 Taça de Portugal 5th Round Académica vs. Benfica". ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
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