Niklas Sandberg
Encyclopedia
Niklas Sandberg is a Swedish centre-back who plays for second-tier
Swedish club Brage
.
He started his career in the Swedish top flight in AIK
in 1996 but only played two games during two years. After a spell at Helsingborg
he returned to Stockholm
in 2001 to play at FC Café Opera. He played there for three years and then returned to AIK in 2004. In May 2007 he was traded to Romanian first league side CFR Cluj
, becoming the first Swedish footballer ever to play in Liga 1.
Sandberg is tall and powerfully built, and thus physically strong and tough to beat in the air. He reads the game well and is a decent passer. Thus, he can also play as a defensive midfielder.
In December 2009, Niklas Sandberg approached Singapore's S League champions, SAFFC on his own accord and eventually signed for them. SAFFC has qualified for the 2010 AFC Champions League Group Stages and this would make Sandberg a player who has played in both UEFA and AFC Champions League in his entire career thus far.
Career highlights: Capped twice by Sweden (2007). Played for Swedish AIK Stockholm from 1996 to 1998, and 2004 to 2007. Played in 1997 Uefa Cup Winners Cup quarter-final against FC Barcelona. Won Romania League title (2007–08) and Norway League title (2008–09) with CFR 1907 Cluj and Stabaek.
Superettan
Superettan is the second highest league in the league system of Swedish football and comprises 16 Swedish football teams. It was created in 2000. Before that, the second level league in Sweden had been Division 1....
Swedish club Brage
IK Brage
IK Brage is a Swedish football club located in Borlänge. The club, formed 1925, has played 18 seasons in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan. The 2010 season will be played in the second highest Swedish league, Superettan...
.
He started his career in the Swedish top flight in AIK
AIK Fotboll
AIK, , an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben, , when needed internationally AIK Stockholm, is a Swedish football club based at Råsunda stadium in Solna, a municipality in Stockholm County bordering to Stockholm City Centre...
in 1996 but only played two games during two years. After a spell at Helsingborg
Helsingborg
Helsingborg is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city...
he returned to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in 2001 to play at FC Café Opera. He played there for three years and then returned to AIK in 2004. In May 2007 he was traded to Romanian first league side CFR Cluj
CFR Cluj
CFR Cluj is a Romanian professional football club from the city of Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania, Romania. The club had spent most of their existence in the lower divisions, except for a spell in Divizia A in the 1970s, until they received significant financial backing from Árpád Pászkány in 2002...
, becoming the first Swedish footballer ever to play in Liga 1.
Sandberg is tall and powerfully built, and thus physically strong and tough to beat in the air. He reads the game well and is a decent passer. Thus, he can also play as a defensive midfielder.
In December 2009, Niklas Sandberg approached Singapore's S League champions, SAFFC on his own accord and eventually signed for them. SAFFC has qualified for the 2010 AFC Champions League Group Stages and this would make Sandberg a player who has played in both UEFA and AFC Champions League in his entire career thus far.
Career highlights: Capped twice by Sweden (2007). Played for Swedish AIK Stockholm from 1996 to 1998, and 2004 to 2007. Played in 1997 Uefa Cup Winners Cup quarter-final against FC Barcelona. Won Romania League title (2007–08) and Norway League title (2008–09) with CFR 1907 Cluj and Stabaek.