Axel Sjöberg

Axel Sjöberg
Personal information
Date of birth (1991-03-08) 8 March 1991
Place of birth Stockholm, Sweden
Height 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Colorado Rapids
Number 44
Youth career
1995–1997 Helenelunds IK
1997–2009 Djurgårdens IF
College career
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2011–2014 Marquette Golden Eagles 63 (11)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2010 Sollentuna FF 20 (3)
2012–2013 Thunder Bay Chill 29 (6)
2015– Colorado Rapids 17 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:42, 26 March 2016 (UTC).
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9 January 2015

Axel Sjöberg (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈaksɛl ˈɧøːˈbærj]) born 8 March 1991) is a Swedish footballer who currently plays for the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer.[1]

Career

Sweden

Sjöberg began his career with Helenelunds IK in his hometown at age four before moving to the academy of Djurgårdens IF, long-time member of the Allsvenskan, the top tier of the Swedish football league system at age 6 in 1997.[2] Sjöberg stayed with the club until 2009 when he signed with Sollentuna FF of Division 2 in 2010.[1] Sjöberg scored three goals during the season[3] and helped the club finish second in the league, seven points behind IK Frej.[4] Sjöberg was selected for the club's Player of the Year award following the season. The club's second-place finish was enough to earn a berth in the 2011 Svenska Cupen.[1] Sjöberg did not appear in the cup matches as Sollentuna advanced out of the preliminary round with a shootout victory over Nyköpings BIS[5] before being knocked out in the next round with a 0-4 defeat to Vasalunds IF.[6]

College and semi-professional

In 2011, Sjöberg committed to play college soccer with the Marquette Golden Eagles of Marquette University. In his four years with the team before graduating, Sjöberg appeared in (and started) 63 matches and tallied eleven goals and 9 assists. Beginning with his second year with the team, Sjöberg played every minute of every match. For his performances, he was the recipient of numerous awards including multiple Big East Player of the Week awards and being named one of the 10 best defenders in college soccer by TopDrawerSoccer.com.[1]

For the 2012 and 2013 seasons, Sjöberg also played semi-professional soccer for the Thunder Bay Chill of the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the United States soccer league system. He and two other Marquette teammates were invited to the club after the Chill played a friendly match with Marquette in Milwaukee.[2] In 2012 he appeared in 15 matches and tallied two goals and an assist.[7] The following season he appeared in 14 matches and scored four goals for the Canadian club.[8] In 2012 he helped the Chill win the Heartland Division championship. In 2013 the Chill were crowned regular seasons champions of the PDL[9] and advanced to the final match in which they lost to the Austin Aztex. Sjöberg was named the club's Defender of the Year for both seasons.[1]

Professional

In July 2014, Sjöberg went on trial with GAIS of the Swedish Superettan.[10] During the trial, he appeared in one friendly match, a 3-0 victory over Lärje-Angered IF on 16 July.[11]

In January 2014, Sjöberg was invited to the 2015 MLS Combine[12] and was projected by some MLS analysts to be a potential first round draft pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft.[13] On the night before the draft, Major League Soccer analyst Jonathan Yardley described Sjöberg as the most MLS-ready defender available.[14] Sjöberg went on to be drafted 14th overall by the Colorado Rapids after they swapped picks with the Columbus Crew SC to take him.[15]

Sjöberg Made his professional debut on 7 March 2015 in Colorado's opening match of the 2015 season. He started the eventual 0-0 draw with the Philadelphia Union and was credited with keeping the defense organized after the Rapids went down a man in the 68th minute. About Sjöberg being a starter, Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni said, “It wasn’t a part of the plan but that’s why we do preseason. These two guys (Sjöberg and fellow rookie Dominique Badji) have proven that they’re fully capable and ready to contribute to the team right now.”[16]

Career statistics

As of 26 March 2016[17]
Club Season League League Cup Domestic Cup International Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Colorado Rapids 2015 MLS140000000140
2016 MLS3000000030
Career total 170000000170

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Marquette Bio". Marquette University. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 Dykhoff, Johan. "Intervju med Axel Sjöberg, svensk collegefotbollsspelare i USA" (in Swedish). svenskafans.com. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "2010 Skytteliga" (in Swedish). Smalands FF. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar 2010 - Sollentuna FF" (in Swedish). svenskfotboll.se/. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Preliminary Round-2011". SvFF. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "First Round-2011". SvFF. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Chill-2012 Statistics". USL PDL. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Chill-2013 Statistics". USL PDL. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Standings-PDL 2013". USL PDL. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  10. ↑ Möller, Robin. "GAIS testar fyra spelare" (in Swedish). GAIS. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Spelarfakta-Axel Sjöberg". GAIS. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  12. ↑ Anderson, Eric. "Marquette's Sjoberg among additions to MLS Combine". wisconsinsoccercentral.com. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "MLSsoccer.com's 2015 Mock SuperDraft: Pre-Combine edition". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "MLSsoccer.com's 2015 Mock SuperDraft: Post-Combine edition". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "Colorado Rapids acquire two, big central defenders in the MLS SuperDraft". Colorado Rapids. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  16. ↑ Cummings, Marco. "Colorado Rapids earn a hard fought point in Philadelphia behind two rookies, rebuilt backline". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  17. ↑ Axel Sjöberg profile at Soccerway

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, March 26, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.