Kim Mikael Källström (; born 24 August 1982) 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He was noted for his play-making ability and free-kick taking. He started his career at several clubs in Sweden, winning consecutive

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

titles with

Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, , is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum Skansen, the small resident ...

before moving to France where he represented

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

and

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. Källström won a range of domestic honours with Lyon and joined

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 * ...

in 2012. He spent the second half of the 2013–14 season on loan at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, where he won the

2013–14 FA Cup The 2013–14 FA Cup (also known as The FA Cup with Budweiser for sponsorship reasons) was the 133rd season of the FA Cup, the main domestic cup competition in English football, and the oldest football knock-out competition in the world. It wa ...

after converting a penalty in the semi-final. Källström left Spartak in 2015 to join

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

, where he had a 49 game long spell before ending his career at

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Djurgårdens IF is an s ...

together with close friend

Andreas Isaksson Jan Andreas Isaksson (; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Isaksson began his career at local Trelleborgs FF, before spending two years at Juventus. He would later return to Sweden, wher ...

. Källström earned 131 caps for Sweden since his debut in 2001 until 2016 when he announced his departure from international football, making him their fourth most capped player of all time. He played in four

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

(

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 ...

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

, and

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

) and the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

Early life

Källström was born in Sandviken 24 August 1982 to footballer Mikael and Ann Källström. In 1986, he joined the local

Sandvikens IF Sandvikens IF is a Swedish football club located in Sandviken. The club, formed 6 June 1918, has played 21 seasons in the highest Swedish league, but is in the second highest Swedish league, Superettan. Sandvikens IF are affiliated to the Gest ...

football team. In 1989, the family moved to

Partille Partille () is a former urban area in the county of Västra Götaland in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to ...

outside

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

and Källström started to play for the local club Partille IF. When Källström was 17 years old he had a trial with Dutch club PSV.

Club career

Early career

Källström began his professional career with

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

from Gothenburg. In his first season, the club gained promotion the

by winning the

Division 1 Södra Ettan Fotboll, or simply Ettan (), which also is its common name in everyday speech, is the third level in the Swedish football league system and consists of 32 Swedish football teams. It was formerly simply known as ''Division 1''. Division 1 ...

. Häcken were relegated to the

Superettan Superettan (; ) is an association football league and the second highest league in the Swedish football league system, league system of Swedish football, Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and rel ...

in 2001, but Källström's eight

goals earned him a transfer to

for SEK5m.

Djurgårdens IF

In his first season at Djurgården, Källström won the

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

of the

and the national cup tournament

Svenska Cupen Svenska cupen (, ), also known as the Swedish Cup in English, 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 ...

, and was the team's top scorer with twelve league goals. The team defended its Allsvenskan title in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, with Källström's 14 goals making him the team's top goalscorer and the second-highest goalscorer in Sweden. He scored twice during the

2002–03 UEFA Cup The 2002–03 UEFA Cup was the 32nd edition of the UEFA Cup, the second-tier European club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played between Portuguese side Porto and Scottish side Celtic at the Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla, Sev ...

, in fixtures against

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Rennes

In the January 2004 transfer window, Källström moved to the French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

. He made his debut for the club in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

against

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

on 4 January and his first Ligue 1 appearance in a 2–0 defeat at

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

on 10 January. A week later, he scored his first goal in French football during a 4–0 win over

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

at the Route de Lorient. He ended the 2003–04 season with seven goals from 18 appearances, including two in a 4–1 away win against Champions League finalists

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. During the 2004–05 season, Källström scored five times in 31 Ligue 1 matches to help Rennes finish fourth and qualify for the following season's

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. On 5 February 2005, he received his first

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

in French football in a 3–1 defeat at

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. In 2005–06, he scored a career-best eight Ligue 1 goals, many of which came in fixtures against some of the biggest clubs in France. In June 2006, Rennes accepted a bid of around €8 million for the player from league champions

. Källström ended his two-and-a-half-year spell at Rennes with 20 goals from 83 league appearances.

Lyon

After a successful spell at Rennes, Källström signed for Lyon in June 2006, and went on to win a number of honours with the southern club. His Lyon debut saw him score the equalising goal as ''les Gones'' won the

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

on penalties. Five days later, he made his league debut against

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

in a 3–1 win. On 17 October 2006, Källström scored his first Lyon goal in a 3–0 win against

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

in Champions League. After ending the group stage unbeaten – including a defeat of nine times champions

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

at the

Stade de Gerland The Stade de Gerland (known for sponsorship reasons as Matmut Stadium de Gerland and otherwise known as Municipal de Gerland or Stade Gerland ) is a stadium in the city of Lyon, France, which serves as home to Top 14 rugby club Lyon OU. It has a ...

– Lyon were knocked out in the round-of-16 by

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. On 22 October, Källström scored his first Ligue 1 goal for the club in a 4–1 '' Choc des Olympiques'' derby defeat of Marseille at the

Stade Vélodrome The Stade Vélodrome (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and has ...

. He scored further goals in league wins against

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

and Nancy as Lyon won the French championship for the sixth consecutive season. Kim Kallstrom 2010

On 31 March 2008, he appeared as a 68th-minute substitute as Lyon were beaten 1–0 by

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

in the 2008 Coupe de la Ligue Final. The 2007–08 season began with

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

rumoured to be interested in signing Källström from Lyon, who wanted to keep the player despite the €13 million offer. Källström remained at Lyon and, in the second round of the Ligue 1 season, was sent off after spitting towards a linesman during a 1–0 loss at Toulouse. On 29 September 2007, he scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 victory against

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

. A week later, he scored again in a 3–1 win at Bordeaux. On 8 November, he scored in a 4–2 Champions League defeat of

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

. However, Lyon were again knocked out in the round-of-16, losing to eventual winners

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

2–1 on aggregate in March 2008. On 2 December 2007, Källström scored two goals and assisted another as Lyon beat

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

5–0 at the Gerland. On the final day of the league season, Källström scored in a 3–1 win at

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

to secure a seventh league title. On 28 May 2008, he started in the

2008 Coupe de France Final The 2008 Coupe de France final was a football match that was held at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France on 24 May 2008. It was the 90th final in the Coupe de France's history. The final was contested between Paris Saint-Germain and Olym ...

as Lyon completed the club's first league and cup double with a 1–0 win against Paris Saint-Germain at the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

. On 16 November 2008, Källström scored his first goal of the 2008–09 season in a 2–1 win over championship rivals Bordeaux to put Lyon seven points clear at the top of the

table. His only other goal came in a 1–1 draw with his former club Rennes on 1 March 2009. Poor late season form saw OL slip to third in the table, with Bordeaux winning the championship on the final day of the season. Källström scored four goals in

during the 2009–10 season. His first goal came in a 2–0 win against Lens on 3 October 2009. On 20 January 2010, he scored twice in a 3–1 win at

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

. His final goal was scored in a 2–2 draw with

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

on the penultimate matchday of the season. Kallstrom vs Cristiano

On 8 November 2009, he started in a 5–5 ''Choc des Olympiques'' draw with Marseille. OM went on to win the league title, with Lyon six points behind in second place. The 2009–10 Champions League saw Lyon have the club's most successful season in the competition. Källström scored in a 4–0 win at Hungarian champions Debreceni and made eleven appearances overall, helping ''les Gones'' reach the semi-finals where they lost to

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. During

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, Källström occasionally provided cover at

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, in addition to his favoured midfield role. He scored three goals in

, including the equaliser against eventual champions

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

in a 1–1 draw. The 2011–12 season was Källström's last at the club. He made 32 appearances in

without scoring. In the

, he scored one goal and assisted another as Lyon knocked out Paris Saint-Germain with a 3–1 win at the

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

at the quarter-final stage. A 4–0 win against

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

in the semi-finals put OL into the 2012 Coupe de France Final, where Källström played the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win over Quevilly. Lyon also reached the final of the 2011–12 Coupe de la Ligue, with Källstrom scoring in the quarter-final defeat of Lille. However, Lyon's chances of a cup double were ended by a 1–0

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

defeat by Marseille. In August 2012, Källström left Lyon after six seasons. Overall, he made 283 appearances for the club, winning two Ligue 1 titles, two

Coupes de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is ...

and two Trophées des Champions. He was also a runner-up in the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

on two occasions.

Spartak Moscow

On 28 July 2012, it was announced that Källström had signed with

for €3 million plus €600,000 in potential add-ons. On 15 September, he made his

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

debut in a 2–2 draw with Kuban Krasnodar. On 29 September, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 against

Amkar Perm FC Amkar Perm ( ) is a professional football club. Originally founded in 1994, it is based in the city of Perm. It was a participant in second-tier football from 1995 and in the Russian Premier League from 2004 to 2018, after which it was dissol ...

. He played in all of Spartak's

2012–13 UEFA Champions League The 2012–13 UEFA Champions League was the 58th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 21st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was p ...

group matches, receiving a red card in a 2–1 defeat at

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

on 5 December 2012.

Loan to Arsenal

On 31 January 2014, Källström joined

on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season. Although a back injury was discovered during his medical, it was decided Källström would still join and undergo his rehabilitation at Arsenal. Källström made his debut for Arsenal on 25 March against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, coming on in the 79th minute as a substitute for

Tomáš Rosický Tomáš Rosický (; born 4 October 1980) is a Czech former professional association football, footballer who was the Captain (association football), captain of the Czech Republic national football team, Czech Republic national team for a ten-y ...

. His next appearance came two weeks later in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

semi-finals against defending champions

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. Introduced as an extra-time substitute, he scored Arsenal's second spot kick in their 4–2 penalty shoot-out win which saw them advance to the final. Källström has gone on to describe this moment as "the greatest 15 minutes of my life." Three days later, he made his first start for Arsenal in a 3–1 victory against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. Arsenal went on to win the FA Cup; Källström was not in the match day squad for the final. After making four appearances in all competitions, it was announced that Källström would not return to Arsenal once his loan spell with them expired at the end of the season. Despite only making four appearances, Källström said he enjoyed his time at Arsenal.

Grasshoppers

After three years in Russia, Källström left Spartak and signed for

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

club

on 6 June 2015. He scored his only goal for the club on 29 November 2015, the final goal in a 5–0 win against city rivals

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

. Källström was also named

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

upon his arrival at the side. After one and a half years, Källström wanted to leave Grasshoppers, citing personal reasons and dissatisfaction with the club's results. He subsequently ended his contract with the club by mutual consent on 31 January 2017.

Return to Djurgårdens IF and retirement

On 10 February, Källström returned to

, signing a two-year deal with the club. Källström was immediately handed his old number 16. The club's announcement of signing Källström lead to a crash of the official website of Djurgården, dif.se, due to the number of visitors on the website. After playing 28 league games in 2017, scoring three goals and providing seven assists, Källström announced his retirement from football on 15 December that year.

International career

Goteborg Gamla Ullevi SWE-ICE 21 Zlatan Ibrahimovic Kim Kallstrom

Källström made his international debut in 2001 against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. He made the Swedish squad for the

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 association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

, and

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

tournaments. He also scored Sweden's first goal in the 3–2 win over the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

to take the ''Blågult'' to Euro 2012. In a 2014 World Cup qualifier against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

on 16 October 2012, Källström was brought on as a substitute for Pontus Wernbloom at half time with Sweden losing 3–0. Despite conceding another goal, with three assists from him, Sweden earned a 4–4 draw. In the return match against Germany, Källström comforted Max, a team mascot who suffers from

Williams Syndrome Williams syndrome (WS), also Williams–Beuren syndrome (WBS), is a genetic disorder that affects many parts of the body. Facial features frequently include a broad forehead, underdeveloped chin, short nose, and full cheeks. Mild to moderate int ...

, and a photo of this went viral on social media. Max's father Emil wrote to Källström, expressing his thanks. He said: "Because of your actions, Kim, my son could experience precisely the same emotions as everyone else who has been a mascot: pride, a sense of being special, 'I did it' and an immense joy." Källström retired from the national team after

, having amassed 131 caps, scoring 16 goals. He is Sweden's fourth most capped player.

Playing style

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

who could also play on the left side of midfield as a

wide midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, Källström had the potential to work as a deep-lying

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

or as a more attacking influence. He was also known for his left-footed

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

ability.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Källström goal.''

Honours

BK Häcken *

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Djurgården *

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Lyon *

: 2006–07, 2007–08 *

: 2007–08, 2011–12 *

Trophée Des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Arsenal *

: 2013–14 Individual * Årets komet: 2000 * Swedish Newcomer of the Year: 2000 *

Årets Järnkamin Årets Järnkamin ''(literally Iron Stove of the Year)'' is an award given to a Djurgårdens IF player, or coach, voted by the members of the official supporter club Järnkaminerna (The Iron Stoves). A person who they felt represented the core valu ...

: 2002 * Swedish Midfielder of the Year: 2009, 2011, 2012 *

Swedish Goal of the Year Fotbollsgalan is an official and annual Swedish sports awards ceremony honoring achievements in Swedish football. It is organised by Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association (, SvFF) is the governing and body of football ...

: 2011 *

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held across Europe between 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 7 Febru ...

top assist provider *

Team of the Year: 2015–16 *

Player of the Month: September 2017

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kallstrom, Kim 1982 births Living people Swedish men's footballers Swedish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Russia BK Häcken players Djurgårdens IF Fotboll players Stade Rennais FC players Olympique Lyonnais players FC Spartak Moscow players Arsenal F.C. players Grasshopper Club Zurich players UEFA Euro 2004 players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players UEFA Euro 2012 players Sweden men's international footballers Sweden men's youth international footballers Sweden men's under-21 international footballers Allsvenskan players Ettan Fotboll players Ligue 1 players Russian Premier League players Premier League players FIFA Men's Century Club Swedish expatriate sportspeople in France Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Russia Swedish expatriate sportspeople in England UEFA Euro 2016 players Men's association football midfielders Swiss Super League players People from Sandviken Footballers from Gävleborg County Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland 21st-century Swedish sportsmen Expatriate men's footballers in England