Rasmus Elm

Rasmus Elm

With CSKA Moscow in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Rasmus Christoffer Elm
Date of birth	17 March 1988
Place of birth	Kalmar, Sweden
Height	1.84 m (6 ft ^1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Kalmar FF
Number	6
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2005–2009	Kalmar FF	96	(17)
2009–2012	AZ Alkmaar	83	(18)
2012–2015	CSKA Moscow	47	(5)
2015–	Kalmar FF	12	(0)
National team^‡
2003–2005	Sweden U17	15	(0)
2005–2007	Sweden U19	19	(5)
2007–2010	Sweden U21	18	(0)
2009–	Sweden	39	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 November 2015. † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20 November 2013

Rasmus Christoffer Elm (born 17 March 1988) is a Swedish footballer who plays for Kalmar FF in Allsvenskan as a midfielder. He has previously played for Kalmar FF in Sweden, for AZ in the Netherlands and the Russian side CSKA Moscow. Elm has been capped playing for Sweden and competed at UEFA Euro 2012. He has two brothers, Viktor and David, who are also footballers.

Club career

Early career

In his childhood, Elm played for Johansfors IF and Emmaboda IS, before he signed in January 2005 to Kalmar FF. In four-and-a-half years with the Allsvenskan club, Elm played 96 games and scored 17 goals.

AZ

On 27 August 2009, Elm signed a four-year deal with Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar. He made his debut on 12 September 2009 in the 2–1 loss against ADO Den Haag.

Former Swedish national team coach Lars Lagerbäck once commented that Elm was the biggest talent Sweden has produced since Zlatan Ibrahimović.^[1] While suffering from injuries and illness during his first two seasons in AZ, Elm experience a successful 2011–12 season. He received several player of the match awards during that season and was praised by the press and the fans for his passing and freekicks as well as his goal scoring.

Elm played a total of 83 matches for AZ before he left the club during the summer of 2012.^[2]

CSKA Moscow

On 30 July 2012, Elm signed a three-year contract with Russian Premier League side CSKA Moscow, taking the shirt number 20.^[2] On 21 October 2012, he scored his first goal for CSKA after converting a penalty at home against Rubin Kazan in a 2–0 victory.^[3] On 3 January 2015, Elm had his contract with CSKA terminated by mutual consent in order to recover from a long-term stomach illness that had left him unable to train with the club.^[4][5]

International career

Elm was the captain of the Swedish under-19 squad until August 2007, when he made his debut for the U21 squad.^[6] On 11 February 2009, Elm scored his first goal for the Swedish senior team in a friendly against Austria.^[6] On 16 October 2012, he scored the fourth and equalising goal in Sweden's remarkable 4–4 draw in Berlin against Germany in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group C. The Swedes were losing 0–4 until the last 30 minutes of the game when a flurry of Swedish goals were capped by the stoppage time goal from Elm. The result was hailed as one of the greatest sporting achievements in Swedish history.^[7][8]

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	11 February 2009	UPC-Arena, Graz	Austria	1–0	2–0	Friendly match
2.	11 September 2012	Swedbank Stadion, Malmö	Kazakhstan	1–0	2–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.	16 October 2012	Olympic Stadium, Berlin	Germany	4–4	4–4	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.	6 February 2013	Friends Arena, Solna	Argentina	2–3	2–3	Friendly match

Career statistics

As of April 10, 2014

Club	League	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Kalmar FF	Allsvenskan	2005	15	1	0	0	—		15	1
		2006	16	1	0	0	—		16	1
		2007	19	4	0	0	—		19	4
		2008	20	5	2	0	—		22	5
		2009	19	10	3	1	2	2	24	6
		Total	91	17	3	0	2	0	96	17
AZ Alkmaar	Eredivisie	2009-10	23	3	3	0	0	0	26	3
		2010-11	28	5	3	1	4	0	35	6
		2011–12	32	10	4	1	16	2	52	13
		Total	83	18	10	2	20	2	113	22
CSKA Moscow	Premier League	2012–13	26	5	3	0	2	0	31	5
		2013–14	21	0	4	0	4	0	29	0
		Total	47	5	7	0	6	0	60	5
Career Total			221	40	20	2	28	2	269	44

Personal life

Both of his siblings are professional footballers: David, who previously played for Fulham, and his other brother Viktor, who previously played for the Dutch club AZ, both currently play alongside him for the Swedish Allsvenskan club Kalmar FF.

Honours

Club

Kalmar FF

• Allsvenskan: 2008
• Svenska Cupen: 2007
• Svenska Supercupen: 2009

CSKA Moscow

• Russian Premier League: 2012–13, 2013–14
• Russian Cup: 2012–13
• Russian Super Cup: 2013, 2014

Individual

• In the list of 33 best football players of the championship of Russia: 2012–13, 2013-14.

References

1. Dutt, Sujav (11 June 2012). "Sweden's Elm backed to blossom at EURO". uefa.com. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
2. Hedlundh, Kent (30 July 2012). "Elm explains Moscow move". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
3. http://pfc-cska.com/en/news/clubnews/?id=6255
4. "Rasmus Elm left PFC CSKA". http://en.pfc-cska.com/. PFC CSKA Moscow. 3 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2014. External link in |website= (help)
5. "Эльм покинул ЦСКА". http://www.championat.com/ (in Russian). Championat. 3 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015. External link in |website= (help)
6. Jansson, AnnaMaria (11 February 2009). "Rasmus Elm frälste Sverige" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
7. O'Connor, Philip (17 October 2012). "Swedish coach didn't sleep following amazing fightback in Germany". Irish Independent. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
8. "The night efficiency died: Sweden collapse signals the end of German mental toughness". GOAL. 17 October 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2012.

External links

• Rasmus Elm Kalmar FF profile
• Rasmus Elm at ESPN FC
• Rasmus Elm – FIFA competition record
• Rasmus Elm at National-Football-Teams.com