Tom Gunnar Söderberg (born 25 August 1987) 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

center back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Beginning his 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 ...

in 2006, he went on to represent

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional association football, football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Alls ...

Apollon Smyrni Apollon Smyrnis Football Club () is a professional football club based in Athens, Greece, which competes in the Athens FCA first division. It is part of GS Apollon Smyrnis (Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Απόλλων Σμύρνης), ...

, and

Sogndal Sogndal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansv ...

before retiring at

Dalkurd FF Dalkurd Fotbollsförening, commonly known as Dalkurd FF or simply Dalkurd () is a Swedish football club based in Uppsala. The club competes in Division 4, the sixth tier of football in the country. On 26 September 2004, the club was originally ...

in 2016. He won one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the Sweden national team in 2010.

Club career

After spending his youth years in Norwegian side

Viking FK Viking Fotballklubb, commonly known as Viking or Viking Stavanger internationally, is a Norwegian professional football club from the city of Stavanger. The club was founded in 1899. It is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian football, ...

, he transferred to Häcken in his home country in 2006. He stayed there for six seasons, playing a total of 108 games in all competitions and scoring 10 goals. As a Bosman player before the 2013 season, he signed a three-year contract for

. Although he played 18 games and scored 3 goals for Elfsborg, he was loaned out to

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

side

. After six months in the Greek club, the loan deal ended, and a new loan deal to Norwegian side

was signed. The club has secured an option to buy the player after the 2014 season. On March 25, 2015 he returned to

International career

On 20 January 2010, Söderberg made his full international debut for the Sweden national team in a

friendly game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

. He played the entire 90 minutes as a

centre 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 ...

alongside Per Karlsson in a game that ended 1–0 in Sweden's favor after a 35th-minute goal from Anders Svensson. This turned out to be Söderberg's sole international appearance for Sweden.

Personal life

He is the older brother of fellow professional footballer Ole Söderberg.

References

External links

* * 1987 births Living people Swedish men's footballers Sweden men's international footballers Swedish expatriate men's footballers Allsvenskan players Super League Greece players Hisingsbacka FC players BK Häcken players Dalkurd FF players IF Elfsborg players Apollon Smyrnis F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Footballers from Norrköping Men's association football defenders 21st-century Swedish sportsmen {{Sweden-footy-defender-stub