Facts
 

Name: Patrik Jonas Andersson
Nickname: Bjärred
Born: 18.08.1971 in Borgeby - Sweden
Current club: Bayern München since 1999
Contract till: ??
Former clubs: Bjärreds IF (till 1988), Malmö FF (1988 - 1992), Blackburn Rovers (1992 - 1993), Borussia Mönchengladbach (1993-1999)
Possition: Defender
Height: 1.86m
Weight: 88 kg
Marital status: Married to Jeanette since 1994; they met in Australia when Patrik was on training camp with the Swedish national team, and she was on a holiday with friends
Children: Daughter Alexandra, born September 1993 and son Jesper,  born June 1995
Sibblings: Two younger brothers: Fredrik (born 1973) and Daniel (born 1977); Daniel also plays football, is proff in Bari/Italy and plays also in the Swedish national team, as midfielder
Parents: Mother Soll-britt, father Roy; Roy also played for Malmö FF and the Swedish national team and was Swedish player of the year in 1977
Highlights: Particepated in the European Championsship 1992 (semi finalist), Olympics 1992 (quater finalist), World Championship 1994 where the team won bronse, Swedish Player of the Year 1995, German Cup winner 1995. Team captain of both the Swedish national team and Borussia Mönchengladbach
Future plans: Play the last 3 years of his carreer in Malmö, then get a possition in the club's management. He doesn't want to be a coach

Best Friend: Joachim Björklund, who plays for Valencia
Car: Volvo
Fav. food: Pasta
Fav. drink: Beer
Fav. music: Rock
Admires: His wife Jeanette
Other sports played: Basketball and handball.
What he would have done when not becoming a footballplayer: Fireman
 

Patrik started his football carreer at the age of  7 as a midfielder and played also as forward. He scored frequently when he was playing for Malmö FF. But Tommy Svensson, then coach of the Swedish national team, thought it would be better to put him in the defence as he already had a lot of good midfielders in the team. Patrik was successful in his new rol, but stayed in the offensive in Malmö and also in Blackburn. In the beginning he played every match for Blackburn, but after he went to a training camp with Sweden, apparently not fancied by Blackburn, he never played from the start anymore, he hardly played. In November 1993 he made his debut in the Bundesliga and everybody wondered why they got him. But by now, everybody knows. Soon, Patrik became the best defender in the Bundesliga and also the most fair one, he hardly received a card and when he does, it's ussually nothing serious or even nothing at all. His hard shots at free kicks are feared. Former "Bundestrainer" Berti Vogts once said that he regretted the fact that Patrik was Swedish and not German. Because of Patrik, Borussia Mönchengladbach decided to play with the "Viererkette", four defendrs on a line, which was partly the reason Sweden won brons at the World Championship in USA in 1994. Where other teams failed wih this system, Borussia Mönchengladbach succeeded! As not being spectecular but just being damn good, he became as important as the huge player Stefan Effenberg, who was the team captain. When he left to Bayern Munich with a lot of noise, Patrik became team captain. And he is good at his job. He is frequently said to be the player every coach wishes for; quiet, good, always friendly and not willing to fight things out in the media, which is pretty popular in Germany....
Borussia Mönchengladbach relegated this season and Patrik left the team in style. After his last match he gave everything away to the crowd, except his underwear. He chose Bayern München because he wanted to stay in Germany because he got used to the German lifestyle and (naybe the nost important reason) he wanted to win a price this time. Good luck...