About Anders Svensson
Anders Gunnar Svensson (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈânːdɛʂ ˈsvɛ̌nːsɔn]; born 17 July 1976) is a Swedish former professional footballer. He was a central midfielder, known for his passing, free kicks, and set piece-taking abilities, who usually operated in a playmaking role. He was capped 148 times for the Sweden national team, many times as a captain, before he retired from international football in 2013. He is the most capped male player for Sweden, beating Thomas Ravelli's previous record of 143 caps. As well as being named captain of Sweden on several occasions, Svensson also captained Southampton and Elfsborg. He played important roles in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, in which he proved his leadership skills, resulting in him being named captain of that Sweden national team in 2009. He is the eighth-most capped European player in history, after Lothar Matthäus, Martin Reim, Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas, Vitālijs Astafjevs, Sergio Ramos, and Gianluigi Buffon. Svensson also represented the Sweden national team at three consecutive European Championships, in 2004, 2008, and 2012. Svensson has three brothers, the oldest one, Thomas, Kristoffer, and the youngest one, Marcus. In his first season in the Premier League, Svensson scored four goals in 35 appearances for the Saints, and the club finished in 11th place, missing the UEFA Cup participation by just one point. Svensson also played in the 2003–04 UEFA Cup for the Saints, but the club was knocked out of the tournament in the first round.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.