John Erik Gunnar Friberg (born 10 February 1986) is a Swedish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a midfielder. Beginning his career with

Västra Frölunda IF Västra Frölunda Idrottsförening (English: Västra Frölunda Sports Association) is a Swedish football club located in Gothenburg. It was formed on 2 January 1930 and has played ten seasons in the Allsvenskan, the highest Swedish league. In t ...

in 2005, he went on to represent

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club w ...

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association, ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, and

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, that plays in the 2nd division, the third-tier of the Danish football league system. Foun ...

before retiring at BK Häcken in 2022. He won two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the Sweden national team in 2012.

Club career

Early career

Friberg began his career with

before moving to

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg. It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Formed on 2 Augu ...

in January 2007. He made his

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

debut on 2 August 2007 against KR Reykjavíkur. The game ended 0–1 for Häcken. He played 20 minutes in two games against

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * WB ...

during the

first round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

of the UEFA Cup.

Seattle Sounders FC

On 16 December 2010, it was announced that Friberg had signed a deal with

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. He made his debut for the Sounders in their opening game of the 2011 MLS season against

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

Malmö FF

On 12 December 2011, Seattle Sounders confirmed that Friberg would move to

for the 2012 season. Malmö FF announced the day after that Friberg had signed a contract until the end of the 2014 season. He joined Malmö FF when the transfer window opened on 1 January 2012. Friberg was applauded by media for his play during the 2012 pre-season. Friberg later played 24 out of 30 matches during his first season at the club. For the club's league title winning 2013 season Friberg played 27 matches and scored 6 goals. He also played all six matches of the club's participation in the qualifying stages for the

2013–14 UEFA Europa League The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title. The 2014 UEFA Europa League Final was played between Sevil ...

. During the season Friberg earned the nickname Mr. 100% after scoring six goals in six shots on goal during the entire season. His most important goal of the season was when he scored the only goal of the game at home against

Mjällby AIF Mjällby Allmänna Idrottsförening, also known simply as Mjällby AIF, Mjällby or (especially locally) MAIF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Hällevik. The club is affiliated to Blekinge Fotbollförbund and play its home ...

in the 26th round of the league with just a couple of minutes to go of the game.

Bologna

On 30 January 2014, Friberg signed with Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

Return to Seattle Sounders

Friberg returned to

on 29 June 2015.

Return to BK Häcken

Friberg return to BK Häcken in 2017, and helped the club win the

2022 Allsvenskan The 2022 Allsvenskan was the 98th season since its establishment in 1924 of Sweden's top-level football league, Allsvenskan. A total of 16 teams participated. Malmö FF were the defending champions after winning the title in the previous seaso ...

title for the first time in the club's history before retiring at the end of the season.

International career

Friberg was selected for the annual training camp for the Sweden national team in January 2012 after Malmö teammates

Mathias Ranégie Mathias Ranégie (; born 14 June 1984) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career Early career He started his career in Masthuggets BK, but left Sweden to be with his Guadeloupean father in Paris, France, ...

and

Ivo Pękalski Ivo Dominik Pękalski ( born 3 November 1990) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Utsiktens BK. Beginning his career with Landskrona BoIS in 2007, he went on to represent Malmö FF, BK Häcken, Halmstads BK, and Oxford United b ...

had to withdraw from the squad. The squad selection for the camp traditionally feature the best Swedish players in domestic and other Scandinavian leagues. He made his debut for Sweden in the friendly against

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

on 18 January 2012, replacing

Oscar Hiljemark Oscar Karl Niclas Hiljemark (; born 28 June 1992) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Starting off his career with IF Elfsborg in 2010, he went on to represent PSV, Palermo, Genoa, Panathinaikos, and Dynamo ...

in the 86th minute of a 2–0 win.

Personal life

He is the cousin of CS:GO player

Adam Friberg Adam Friberg is a Swedish competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player who last played for Dignitas. He is the cousin of Erik Friberg, a footballer who previously played for Seattle Sounders FC. Friberg previously played for Ninjas in ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

Honours

Malmö FF *

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Svenska Supercupen Svenska Supercupen, ''Swedish Super Cup'', was a one-off fixture in Swedish football played between the Allsvenskan champions and the winners of Svenska Cupen. The fixture was played in November, after the Allsvenskan season. In the event of a ...

Seattle Sounders FC *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

BK Häcken * Allsvenskan:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...

: 2018–19

References

External links

Malmö FF profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Friberg, Erik 1986 births Living people Association football midfielders Swedish footballers Swedish expatriate footballers Sweden international footballers Västra Frölunda IF players BK Häcken players Seattle Sounders FC players Malmö FF players Bologna F.C. 1909 players Esbjerg fB players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Superettan players Allsvenskan players Major League Soccer players Serie A players Serie B players Danish Superliga players People from Mölndal Municipality Sportspeople from Västra Götaland County