- Martin Olsson
-
Martin Olsson Personal information Full name Martin Tony Waikwa Olsson Date of birth 17 May 1988 Place of birth Gävle, Sweden Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [1] Playing position Left Back, Left Midfield Club information Current club Blackburn Rovers Number 3 Youth career 2005–2006 Högaborgs BK 2006–2007 Blackburn Rovers Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2007– Blackburn Rovers 71 (3) National team‡ 2007–2010 Sweden U21 26 (1) 2010– Sweden 7 (4) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:00, 18 November 2011 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:00, 17 November 2011 (UTC)Martin Tony Waikwa Olsson (born 17 May 1988) is a Swedish footballer who plays for Blackburn Rovers and the Sweden national football team. He signed from Högaborgs BK for a nominal fee in January 2006 after a trial period.
Contents
Club career
Högaborgs BK
Olsson began his playing career in Sweden by playing for Högaborgs BK, where former national star Henrik Larsson began his career. Olsson was working his way through the youth setup at the club in 2005–06. His talent attracted the attention of football clubs in Europe, and in January 2006, English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers signed him for their youth academy.
Blackburn Rovers
He made his Blackburn debut in the UEFA Cup qualifier in the 2007–08 season as a late substitution for Stephen Warnock.[2]
He made his Premier League debut against Derby County in a 2-1 victory on 30 December 2007, coming on as an 84th minute substitute for Morten Gamst Pedersen at Pride Park, in front of a crowd of 30,048 spectators and the referee was Peter Walton. He was voted Blackburn's Young Player of the Year for the season 2007–08.
In May 2008, Olsson signed a new four-year deal, keeping him at Blackburn until summer 2012.
On 24 September 2008, Olsson scored his first Blackburn goal, scoring the winning goal in a League Cup tie against Everton. The goal turned out to be the only goal of the match. On 20 January 2010, he scored a spectacular overhead kick in a 6–4 League Cup semi-final defeat against Aston Villa in the 63rd minute at Villa Park.[3]
On 23 November 2009, Olsson was sent off for two yellow card offences on Tottenham Hotspur winger Aaron Lennon. He scored his first Premier League goal on 10 February against Hull City at Ewood Park in a 1–0 victory. Olsson made his 25th league appearance at home to Birmingham City on 24 March 2010 in a 2–1 win. On 28 March 2010, when he made his 40th appearance for Blackburn against Burnley in the East Lancashire derby at Turf Moor in the 1–0 victory, he caused controversy when he looked like he had dived inside Burnley's penalty area, consequently by winning a penalty after taking the ball round Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen. Subsequently, the penalty was scored by David Dunn.[4] On 29 March 2010, Olsson admitted to the dive, Rovers manager, Sam Allardyce defended Olsson by saying he was his man of the match and created havoc and chaos in and around the eighteen yard box all game.[5]
He signed a new five-year contract in the summer of 2010 in which he described as an " easy choice". He further added that "I gained a lot of confidence, through both the management and my team-mates, and I thought I improved game by game. He said, that "It doesn't matter to me whether I am seen as a left-winger or a left-back but I have enjoyed the forward role and the chance to get in among the goals."
2010–11 season
In June 2010, Olsson signed a new five-year-deal at Blackburn Rovers that would keep him at the club until summer 2015.[6] At the start of the 2010–11 season, Olsson acquired the number three jersey by manager Sam Allardyce, which he had for most of pre-season. He featured in Rovers' opening 2010–11 Premier League game against Everton at Ewood Park on 14 August 2010, playing the full 90 minutes on the left-wing in a 1–0 victory. He scored his first league goal for Blackburn against Liverpool inside 32 minutes on 5 January 2011 in a 3–1 victory at Ewood Park. On 12 February 2011, Olsson made his 50th Premier League appearance for the club when he started at left-back against Newcastle United playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 draw. On 30 April 2011, he scored with a left-foot shot on 20 minutes against local rivals Bolton Wanderers at home. On 22 May, Olsson started and played the full 90 minutes against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 3-2 win at Molineux which kept both teams up for another season in the Premier League. At the end of the season, he made 32 appearances for Rovers in total and scored two goals in all competitions.
2011–12 season
Now considered a key player, Olsson started off the season at left back covering for Gael Givet who himself was covering for various injuries at centre back. Olsson provided an assist in a 4-3 victory over Arsenal. After running from the half way line to the by-line, he pulled back a cross for Arsenal's Alex Song to score an own goal. After helping Sweden to the European Championships, Olsson returned from international duty to put in a Man of the Match performance on the left wing against QPR.
International career
Olsson has played several matches for Sweden's under 18 and under 21 national squads.[7][8]
He was selected to be part of the senior 23-man squad that would face Bosnia and Herzegovina on 29 May and Belarus on 2 June 2010.[9] Against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Olsson put Sweden back in front from close range in the 68th minute, two minutes after coming on as a substitute, and added his second in the 82nd from Marcus Berg's center.[10][11] [12] On 6 September 2011, he made his first start for the national team, playing at left back, and scored Sweden's third goal in the 81st minute of the 5–0 victory over San Marino after a clever reverse pass by Zlatan Ibrahimović in a Group E Euro 2012 qualifying fixture.[citation needed]
International goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 29 May 2010 Råsunda Stadium, Solna 
Bosnia and Herzegovina2–1 4–2 Friendly 2. 29 May 2010 Råsunda Stadium, Solna Bosnia and Herzegovina3–1 4–2 Friendly 3. 6 September 2011 Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle 
San Marino3–0 5–0 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying 4. 7 October 2011 Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki 
Finland2–0 2–1 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Club career statistics
- As of 23:00, 18 November 2011 (UTC)
Club Season League Cup[13] Europe Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Blackburn Rovers 2007–08 2 0 1 0 1 0 4 0 2008–09 9 0 6 1 0 0 15 1 2009–10 21 1 6 1 0 0 27 2 2010–11 29 2 3 0 0 0 32 2 2011–12 10 0 3 0 0 0 13 0 Total 71 3 19 2 1 0 91 5 Personal life
Olsson was born in Gävle, Sweden.[14] He has a twin brother, Marcus, who plays for Halmstads BK in Allsvenskan. They are born to a Swedish father and Kenyan mother.[15]
His sister Jessica is dating German basketball star Dirk Nowitzki. [16]
His agent used to be the former Sweden international player Stefan Schwarz. Controversial agent Rune Hauge has also worked for Martin, after being introduced to him by Blackburn Rovers teammate Morten Gamst Pedersen.[17]
References
- ^ "Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. http://www.premierleague.com/page/PlayerProfile/0,,12306~36198,00.html. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
- ^ Blackburn Rovers vs Birmingham City :
- ^ "Blackburn 1–0 Everton". BBC. 24 September 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/7626815.stm. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
- ^ Burnley 0 – 1 Blackburn
- ^ Olsson vs Burnley
- ^ "New Five Year Deal For Olsson". www.rovers.co.uk. 19 June 2010. http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10303~2074093,00.html. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
- ^ ESPNsoccernet: Martin Olsson
- ^ SvenskaFans.com – U21: Inför Turkiet – Sverige
- ^ http://www.dn.se/sport/fotboll/ingen-zlatan-i-hamrens-landslag-1.1099966
- ^ http://fotboll.expressen.se/landslaget/1.2005423/olssons-debutmal-efter-tva-minuter
- ^ http://fotboll.expressen.se/landslaget/1.2005423/martin-olssons-stora-succe-i-debuten
- ^ http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/3215/match-previews/2010/05/29/1949136/sweden-4-2-bosnia-herzegovina-olsson-brace-propels-blagult
- ^ Includes FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield
- ^ Martin Olsson, Sky Sports. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- ^ http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/4425008.Olsson_sets_his_sights_on_regular_Blackburn_Rovers_spot/ Olsson sets his sights on regular Blackburn Rovers spot
- ^ http://www.shortnews.de/id/853075/Dirk-Nowitzki-ist-frisch-verliebt-Es-ist-die-schoene-Schwedin-Jessica-Olsson
- ^ Aftonbladet: 17-årig svensk till Blackburn
External links
Sweden squad – 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship 1 Dahlin • 2 Lustig • 3 Bjärsmyr (c) • 4 R. Bengtsson • 5 Johansson • 6 Karlsson • 7 Toivonen • 8 Landgren • 9 Berg • 10 Avdić • 11 Söder • 12 Hansson • 13 Svensson • 14 Molins • 15 Harbuzi • 16 P. Bengtsson • 17 Olsson • 18 Elm • 19 Wernbloom • 20 Bajrami • 21 Özkan • 22 Ekstrand • 23 Nordfeldt • Coach: Söderberg & Lennartsson
Blackburn Rovers F.C. – current squad 1 Robinson · 2 Salgado · 3 Olsson · 4 Samba · 5 Givet · 6 Nelsen · 8 Dunn · 10 Formica · 11 Grella · 12 Pedersen · 13 Bunn · 14 Petrović · 15 N'Zonzi · 16 Dann · 19 Slew · 20 Rochina · 22 Blackman · 23 Hoilett · 24 Yakubu · 25 Goodwillie · 28 Kean · 29 Vukčević · 30 Roberts · 31 Hanley · 32 Bruno · 33 Morris · 35 Lowe · 38 Anderson · 39 Henley · 40 Cotton · Manager: Kean
Categories:- 1988 births
- Living people
- Twin people from Sweden
- Association football defenders
- Swedish footballers
- Swedish expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in England
- Swedish people of Kenyan descent
- Blackburn Rovers F.C. players
- Premier League players
- Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom
- People from Gävle
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
