Mattias Jonson

Mattias Jonson ma'tiːɑs 'jʊnsɔn (born January 16 1974) is a Sweden professional football (soccer) player, who plays as a midfielder for Swedish club Djurgårdens IF Fotboll in the Allsvenskan championship. He has played 57 games and scored nine goals for the Sweden national football team, and represented Sweden at two FIFA World Cups and the 2004 UEFA European Football Championship.

Biography

Born in Kumla Municipality, Jonson started playing youth football with IFK Kumla and Karlslunds IF. He moved to Örebro SK in 1992, where he got his senior debut in the top-flight Allsvenskan championship. He moved to league rivals Helsingborgs IF in 1996, and made his Swedish national team debut in February 1996. He won the 1999 Allsvenskan championship with Helsingborg, before leaving the club at the end of the 1999 season.

He moved abroad to join Denmark club Brøndby IF in the Danish Superliga championship. He was brought in by Brøndby's new manager Åge Hareide, and Jonson played several games as a striker, before settling as a left-sided Midfielder Winger. He showed his goalscoring abilities for Brøndby on a number of occasions. In the UEFA Cup 2001-02 tournament, Brøndby had lost 1-3 away to Croatian club NK Varteks. In the return game, Jonson scored a hat-trick which guided Brøndby to a 5-0 victory and advancement in the tournament, on a 6-3 aggregate. Jonson also scored a hat-trick in an April 2002 Superliga game, when Brøndby won 5-0 against Akademisk Boldklub, and helped the club win the Danish Superliga 2001-02 championship.

He was a part of the Swedish national team squad at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where he took part in two games as a substitute, before Sweden were eliminated. He was Brøndby's league topscorer with 11 goals in the Danish Superliga 2002-03, and helped the club win the 2003 Danish Cup trophy. He was called up to the Swedish national squad for the 2004 UEFA European Football Championship. He started the tournament on the bench, but was brought on as a substitute and eventually secured himself a place in the starting line-up. He played in three of Sweden's four games, and scored a goal against Denmark national football team, which secured Sweden advancement from the preliminary group stage.

After the 2004 European Championship, Jonson looked to leave Brøndby. In August 2004, he moved to England and joined the newly promoted FA Premier League side Norwich City F.C.. He transferred from Brøndby for an undisclosed fee, which was believed to be around £850,000. He struggled to make an impact in the Premier League, and left Norwich after one season. In 2005, he returned to Sweden to play for Djurgårdens IF Fotboll. In his first season with the club, he helped Djurgårdens IF win the Double of both the 2005 Allsvenskan and Svenska Cupen trophies. He represented Sweden at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where he took part in all Sweden's four matches. He started the tournament as a substitute, but was included in Sweden's starting line-up for the final two games before elimination. He ended his national team career in August 2006.