Ljunberg In, Melberg Out as Sweden Captain

Arsenal’s Freddie Ljungberg has been named the new captain of Sweden’s national team after defender Olof Mellberg stepped down on Monday.

Ljunberg will not make his debut as skipper on August 16 when Sweden faces G, Germany in a friendly because he is injured. No surprise there, he has been dinged up a lot over the past couple of seasons. FC Copenhagen’s Tobias Linderoth will take Ljunberg’s place as captain.

Ljunberg won’t be the only one missing. A number of key Sweden players are sitting out the friendly, including forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic who is busy trying to escape the purgatory known as Juventus.

Here are the players that will represent Sweden.

Goalkeepers: Andreas Isaksson (Stade Rennes), Rami Shaaban (Fredrikstad FK)

Defenders: Mikael Dorsin (Rosenborg Trondheim), Petter Hansson (Heerenveen), Mikael Antonsson (Panathinaikos), Mikael Nilsson (Panathinaikos), Fredrik Stenman (Bayer Leverkusen), Karl Svensson (Rangers), Niclas Alexandersson (IFK Gothenburg)

Midfielders: Daniel Andersson (Malmo), Kim Kallstrom (Olympique Lyon), Tobias Linderoth (FC Copenhagen), Christian Wilhelmsson (Nantes), Anders Svensson (Elfsborg), Kennedy Bakircioglu (FC Twente), Johan Elmander (Toulouse)

Forwards: Marcus Allback (FC Copenhagen), Markus Rosenberg (Ajax Amsterdam), Fredrik Berglund (FC Copenhagen)

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