برنامج Hotspot Shield | برنامج Internet Download Manager | برنامج كاسبر سكاى | برنامج جوجل كروم | تحميل فايرفوكس

Rasmus Elm, a reluctant footballer from an extraordinary family, has been scouted by Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal

This article is part of the Guardian's Euro 2012 Experts' Network, a co-operation between 16 of the best media organisations from the countries who have qualified for the finals in Poland and Ukraine. guardian.co.uk is running previews from two countries each day in the runup to the tournament kicking off on 8 June.

When Sweden line up for their Euro 2012 games most TV viewers will recognise the usual suspects. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, of course, will be there, the bearded Olof Mellberg likewise, as will Andreas Isaksson, Kim Kallstrom, Johan Elmander, Sebastian Larsson and Anders Svensson.

But hang on, who is that skinny, ginger-haired player who doesn't look like he belongs? His name is Rasmus Elm and her may just turn out to be the talk of the championship.

Several top European clubs are interested in signing the AZ midfielder but even the best clubs will have to wait until he is sure that it is the right move for him. It certainly will not be about money. Scouts from Manchester United, Liverpool, Milan, Juventus, Arsenal, Valencia and many more visited the small Dutch city of Alkmaar to watch the shy Swede play in the Eredivisie and the Europa League recently. He has been one of the best players of the whole league.

What they may not know yet is that Elm is different. Very different. At a time when football seems to be all about having a big ego and advertising deals, he stands out. If you talk to anyone in football about the Swedish midfielder, they will inevitably use the word "kind".

Two examples. Firstly, one day when he was injured and could not train with Kalmar FF, he did not laze around at home watching DVDs. No, instead he went to IKEA to buy a red carpet, two comfy chairs and a table to create a cosy corner in the club house. He wanted to do something pleasant for his team-mates. Secondly, he once admitted that he sometimes has a bad conscience after training if he has clattered into someone.

Sweden's former national coach Lars Lagerback, who handed Elm his international debut in 2009, is not easily impressed, but he took notice of the maturity the 20-year-old showed: "I have never met such an "A-kid" as Rasmus Elm during all the years that I have worked in football as a coach. And his play without the ball is already world class."

And yet it so nearly came to nothing for Elm. When he was younger he suffered from terrible stage-fright as well as dietary problems. In 2009, he told Svenska Dagbladet how close he had come to quitting. "I was extremely nervous as a kid, I was hardly able to stand up on a football pitch. I was really anxious before every game and I really did not want to play. I faked illnesses and injuries and I could sit there and hope that it would rain so much that the game would be postponed.

"Why was I so afraid? I played against older players and had too much respect for them. When I then played against kids of my age I was nervous in a different way. Then it was more the expectations that had an effect on me, what other people thought. But that has long since disappeared."

Elm dealt with his problems and became more confident. As for the problem with his food, he had to change his diet several times before the doctors diagnosed that he is gluten intolerant. He has described how bad the problem made him feel and that he would have to sit and wait for his food to come in a restaurant when all his team-mates had already finished and left the table. The upshot was that he began bringing his own food from home.

Support from his parents helped him through the dark days. This unlikely and unwilling star grew up in Broakulla, a small village in Smaland, southern Sweden, which consists of a school, a petrol station, a food store, a famous glassworks and museum – and not much else apart from the football club, Johansfors IF.

That is where Rasmus Elm followed his two older brothers David (Fulham and now at Elfsborg) and Viktor (Heerenveen, 10 caps for Sweden) on to the pitch and started the career that would take him a long way from Sweden's sixth division.

Their father Johnny was the coach and mother Ulla was also involved in the sons' football, and Rasmus Elm is grateful that he was allowed to train with his older brothers. In fact, he believes it may be one of the reasons he has made it so far (David is five years older and Viktor three). "I was always allowed to practice and play with them and they never thought it was strange. I have been able to learn from them and see how they've handled different situations, and just go with the flow," he says.

Elm joined the Allsvenskan side Kalmar FF in 2005 as a 17-year-old and stayed there for four years, winning the Cup in 2007 and the league in 2008, together with his brothers. A year later he moved to AZ, where he has played for three seasons.

He operates in central midfield and is a classic playmaker who can score (in April he had got 10 goals in 33 games for the season), take on opponents, win duels and find team-mates with brilliant long and short balls. To top it off he also has a Rory Delap-esque throw-in. And that is without mentioning his dead-ball skills, which are arguably his biggest weapon. He takes the free-kicks, corners and penalties for AZ and this season he struck a corner straight into goal.

And he now has a different outlook to when he left Sweden. He is no longer so diffident. The boy has become a man.

In an interview with the Swedish football magazine Offside this year, he said: "I am more aggressive on the pitch these days. I hope I don't need to become a different, harder, person outside the pitch [to succeed]. Why should it be that way?

"I am not kind any more; not on the pitch, at least. I was young when I moved to the Netherlands, now I am a different person, more prepared to deal with different situations. I don't think you can be too kind outside the pitch. Of course, the climate gets harder the higher up you play, but that is part of the game. You earn more money and people can therefore demand more, which in turns leads to everyone fighting harder.

"I want to become as good as possible and then you have to see where that leads you to. I don't want to reveal my dreams. I don't gain anything from that. If I say I want jump 1.40m from standstill and then only do one metre I won't get anything positive out of that, even if I started on 80cm. I have a lot of things I want to do in life. A lot of thoughts and a lot of dreams."

And the last season has enabled Elm to dream again. In September 2011 Sweden were playing Hungary away in a Euro 2012 qualifier and were struggling badly. Ten minutes into the second half Erik Hamren had seen enough and sent on Rasmus Elm, the forgotten man of Swedish football.

Elm was superb and, although Sweden lost to a last-minute goal, all the talk afterwards was about the reborn player from AZ.

Elm is now a key player for Hamrén, and will be there for everyone to see at the Euros, at least on the pitch. The talking, swaggering and bragging he will leave to the others.

Olof Lundh, is the editor in chief at fotbollskanalen.se

Click here to read the tactical analysis of Sweden

And click here to read the secrets behind the Sweden players Read More

هل تريد وضع المحتوى السابق فى موقعك او مدونتك مجانا؟؟
انسخ الكود التالى و ضعه فى موقعك او مدونتك.

موضوعات عشوائية

الارشيف