Hanna Carolina Ljungberg (born 8 January 1979) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

former football player, who played the position of forward. She played for the club side

Umeå IK Umeå IK () is a professional association football club based in the city of Umeå, in northern Sweden, and currently playing Damallsvenskan, the first tier of women's football in Sweden. They were one of the most successful football clubs in ...

and for the

Swedish national football team The Sweden national football team ( sv, svenska fotbollslandslaget) represents Sweden in men's international football and it is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body of football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Fr ...

. She debuted for Sweden, at age 17, on 6 February 1996, when Sweden won 8-0 against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Ljungberg can be seen in the Sveriges Television documentary television series The Other Sport from 2013.

Career

Hanna Ljungberg was one of several professional players in the Swedish women's league,

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

. She was chosen as Swedish Player of the Year in 2002, winning the Diamond Ball (

Diamantbollen Diamantbollen, Swedish for the ''Diamond Ball'', an annual award for Sweden's best female football player. The award is currently awarded by the Swedish Football Association and Sydsvenskans newspaper, in conjunction with its male equivalent, ''Gu ...

). She also scored a record setting number of goals that season with 39 goals (roughly 1.78 goals per game). Ljungberg made altogether 227 league appearances for Umeå IK and scored 196 goals. As a world class forward, Ljungberg was instrumental in the Swedish side that were runners up in the

FIFA Women's World Cup 2003 The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial championship of women's national soccer teams organized by FIFA. It was held in the United States from September 20 to October 12, 2003, at s ...

held in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, scoring three goals and assisting another. She was also voted 3rd best World Player of the Year by FIFA in 2003. Until October 2014 when she was surpassed by

Lotta Schelin Charlotta Eva Schelin (born 27 February 1984) is a Swedish former professional footballer who most recently played as a striker for FC Rosengård of the Damallsvenskan. She made her debut for the Sweden national team in March 2004 and was app ...

, Ljungberg was the goal leader of the Swedish national team with 72 goals. During the UEFA Women's Cup 2002-03, Ljungberg was the top goalscorer in the tournament with 10 goals. Italian men's football club

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

contacted Ljungberg to hire her for their

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 Cop ...

roster, but the deal aborted. She debuted as a goalkeeper on 17 May 2007 for

when they played against

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

in the Swedish Cup because of Carola Söberg's injury at the 70th minute. She ended the game with a clean sheet. Her fame in Sweden has led to stamps commemorating her and several other Swedish footballers for the

Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association ( sv, Svenska Fotbollförbundet, SvFF) is the governing and body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues – Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women – and the men's and women's nat ...

's 100th anniversary. In August 2009 Ljungberg announced her retirement from football after a knee injury in a league match on 5 July. The right

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...

, previously reconstructed in 2004, was again partly torn and she decided with her doctors that to continue to play presented too high a risk of permanent disability. For two years Ljungberg helped Joakim Blomqvist, head coach of Umeå IK, and Maria Bergkvist assistant coach, in the coaching of her old team. At the same time she was studying at

Umeå University Umeå University ( sv, Umeå universitet; Ume Sami: ) is a public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present borders. As of 2 ...

to become a physiotherapist and graduated in June 2012. She then began a new career as a

personal trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for apparently healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, p ...

Matches and goals scored at World Cup & Olympic tournaments

Hanna Ljungberg featured for Sweden in three

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

( USA 1999, USA 2003, China 2007) and three

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

( Athens 1996,

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, Athens 2004.) She scored Sweden's lone goal in the 2003 World Cup Final, where Sweden lost to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for a second place finish.

Matches and goals scored at European Championship tournaments

Hanna Ljungberg appeared at three European Championship tournaments: Norway/Sweden 1997, Germany 2001, and England 2005. In the 2005 Semi-Final, she scored twice against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, erasing Norwegian leads each time. Her second goal in the 89th minute knotted the score at 2-2 and forced extra time. Sweden could not find a match winner though, and exited the tournament in a 2-3 defeat.

Honours

Club

;Umeå *

: : Champion (7): 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 * Svenska Cupen Damer: : Champion (4): 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007 : Runner-up (2): 2005 ,2006 *

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 ...

: : Champion (2): 2007, 2008 : Runner-up (1): 2009 *

UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. T ...

: : Champion (1): 2003 : Runner-up (3): 2002, 2007,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

International

;Sweden * FIFA Women's World Cup: : Runner-up (1): 2003 *

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious an ...

: : Champion (1): 2001

Individual

* Diamond Ball (1): : 2001–02 *Sweden: Female Forward of the Year (1): : 2004–05 *Damallsvenskan Top Goalscorer (1): : 2001–02 (39 goals) *

FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representati ...

: : Third place: 2002–03

References

External links

Club Profile
(in Swedish)
Ljungberg and Svensson

National Team Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ljungberg, Hanna 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Umeå Swedish women's footballers Damallsvenskan players Sunnanå SK players Umeå IK players Sweden women's international footballers Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Sweden 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players FIFA Century Club Umeå University alumni Women's association football forwards