Alexander Arnold Mezan (born Jan Alexander Östlund on 2 November 1978) 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 ...
who played as a
right-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
. He began his professional career with
AIK in 1995, and went on to play professionally in Portugal, the Netherlands, England, and Denmark before retiring in 2010. He won 22
caps for the
Sweden national team between 2003 and 2006 and represented his country at
UEFA Euro 2004
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...
.
Club career
Early career
Mezan started his career in the club
IFK Österåker in his hometown
Ã…kersberga
Åkersberga is a locality and the seat of Österåker Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 28,033 inhabitants in 2010.
History
In 1901 a railway station named ''Berga'' was opened on this rural spot some 30 km from Stockholm. Some ...
. At the age of 16 he was drafted for
AIK Fotboll
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 ...
, where he played as a
striker
Striker or The Strikers may refer to:
People
*A participant in a strike action
*A participant in a hunger strike
*Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant
*Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America
People wi ...
. He scored the club's last goal of the
1998 season, which meant AIK won
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 le ...
, the Swedish championship. He had a loan period at
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
but was not offered a contract, and in January 1999 had a trial at English club
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
who were then in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
, however this did not lead to a transfer. He briefly represented
Vitória de Guimarães in Portugal but did not receive any playing time. He was subsequently transferred to
IFK Norrköping
Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollförbund and play the ...
and converted into a defender.
Hammarby IF
Mezan is one of the most beloved players in Hammarby IF in modern time, despite the fact that he made his break-through as an attacker in local rivals AIK. "Salle" immediately won the hearts of the Hammarby fans when he, in the very first minute of his very first appearance for Hammarby, dealt a hard tackle to his former teammate AIK player and legend Krister Nordin, in the indoors tournament "Nackas minne" ("Lennart "Nacka" Skoglund Memorial) 2003.
Mezan returned to Hammarby after his career as a member of the board for Hammarby Football.
Feyenoord
In July 2004, Mezan signed with
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...
's
Feyenoord Rotterdam
Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...
, playing his first match against
Vitesse Arnhem.
Southampton
His nickname is "Salle", although the fans of Southampton have been calling him "Jesus" due to his flowing locks and
beard
A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, usually pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards.
Throughout the course of history, societal a ...
, and he emerged as a cult hero for his hard tackles and marauding runs. On the final day of the 2005–06
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
season, replica number 2 shirts flew out of the club shop, as Saints fans could be heard in matches chanting "Jesus is our right-back".
For the early part of the 2006–07 season he was in and out of the side but towards the end cemented his right-back position. He has always given whole-hearted commitment to the team and provided a more than useful option which allowed
Chris Baird
Christopher Patrick Baird (born 25 February 1982) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who last played for Derby County and represented the Northern Ireland national football team from 2003 to 2016. His preferred position was righ ...
to move into the centre of the defence.
Mezan started 2007–08 well, having to compete for the No. 2 position with on-loan players
Phil Ifil and
Christian Dailly, who both departed from the team in January 2008.
On 2 July 2008, he was released by the Saints as a free agent.
Esbjerg fB
On 25 August 2008 he was presented as a new player in Danish club Esbjerg fB. His time in Esbjerg was blighted by injuries. On 25 January 2010, he was released from the club and he announced his retirement.
International career
Mezan made his debut for the
Sweden national team in a friendly game against
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
in November 2003.
He played for Sweden at the
2004 European Championship after being called up as an injury replacement for
Michael Svensson. Despite being a regular fixture during the
2006 World Cup qualification
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
stage, he was controversially overlooked for the
2006 World Cup squad.
Personal life
After his professional footballing career, Mezan changed his last name from Östlund to Mezan.
His daughter Nelly Mezan (born in December 2002) is a promising tennis player.
Career statistics
International
Honours
AIK
*
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 le ...
:
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
References
External links
Esbjerg fB profile*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mezan, Alexander
1978 births
Living people
Swedish footballers
Association football fullbacks
Sweden international footballers
Sweden under-21 international footballers
Sweden youth international footballers
UEFA Euro 2004 players
IF Brommapojkarna players
AIK Fotboll players
IFK Norrköping players
Hammarby Fotboll players
Feyenoord players
Southampton F.C. players
Esbjerg fB players
Vitória S.C. players
Allsvenskan players
Eredivisie players
Danish Superliga players
Swedish expatriate footballers
Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
Expatriate footballers in Portugal
Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom
Expatriate footballers in England
Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark
Expatriate footballers in Denmark
People from Österåker Municipality
Sportspeople from Stockholm County