Robin Söder

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Robin Söder

| fullname = Robin Mikael Söder

| image = Robin Soder.jpg

| image_size = 200

| caption = Söder with IFK Göteborg in 2009

| height = 1.77 m

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1991|4|1|df=y}}

| birth_place = Magra, Sweden

| currentclub =

| clubnumber =

| position = Forward

| youthyears1 = 1995–1998

| youthclubs1 = Magra IS

| youthyears2 = 1998–2002

| youthclubs2 = Sollebrunns AIK

| youthyears3 = 2002–2005

| youthclubs3 = Morlanda GoIF

| youthyears4 = 2008

| youthclubs4 = IFK Göteborg

| years1 = 2005–2006

| clubs1 = Morlanda GoIF

| caps1 =

| goals1 =

| years2 = 2006–2007

| clubs2 = Stenungsunds IF

| caps2 =

| goals2 =

| years3 = 2008–2014

| clubs3 = IFK Göteborg

| caps3 = 125

| goals3 = 23

| years4 = 2014–2017

| clubs4 = Esbjerg fB

| caps4 = 61

| goals4 = 18

| years5 = 2017–2018

| clubs5 = Lokeren

| caps5 = 35

| goals5 = 7

| years6 = 2018–2021

| clubs6 = IFK Göteborg

| caps6 = 61

| goals6 = 18

| totalcaps = 282

| totalgoals = 66

| nationalyears1 = 2006–2008

| nationalteam1 = Sweden U17

| nationalcaps1 = 19

| nationalgoals1 = 9

| nationalyears2 = 2008–2009

| nationalteam2 = Sweden U21

| nationalcaps2 = 5

| nationalgoals2 = 1

| nationalyears3 = 2020

| nationalteam3 = Sweden

| nationalcaps3 = 1

| nationalgoals3 = 0

}}

Robin Mikael Söder (born 1 April 1991) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He spent the majority of his professional career at IFK Göteborg, but also represented Esbjerg fB in Denmark and Lokeren in Belgium. He won one cap for the Sweden national team in 2020.

Club career

=Early career=

Söder began his football career 1995 in Magra IS. After a couple of years, he started to play for Sollebrunn AIK. He moved out from Magra at the age of 12 and started to play for Morlanda GoIF in Orust. He changed club to Stenungsunds IF, where he also played senior football.

=IFK Göteborg=

Söder was signed for the youth team of the Swedish champions IFK Göteborg in December 2007, but soon began to train and play with the senior squad.

He made his debut in Allsvenskan on 1 July 2008 when he came on as a substitute against Trelleborgs FF. Only eleven days later, he made his first Allsvenskan goal for the club, securing three points against Djurgårdens IF by scoring 2–1 in the 91st minute.

After his debut season he was awarded Newcomer of the Year at the annual Fotbollsgalan, beating Sebastian Rajalakso, Rasmus Jönsson and Joel Ekstrand.{{cite news|title=Robin Söder årets nykomling|url=https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/2451122|newspaper=Sveriges Radio|date=18 November 2008|access-date=2 January 2022|language=sv}}

=Esbjerg fB=

After six seasons in IFK Göteborg, Söder decided to move to Danish side Esbjerg fB on 22 August 2014. He signed a three-year contract.{{cite web|title=Officiellt: Robin Söder klar för Esbjerg|url=https://fotbolltransfers.com/site/news/44252|publisher=Fotbolltransfers|date=22 August 2014|access-date=2 January 2022|language=sv}} After scoring 9 goals in 11 matches during the 2016–17 season, he was mentioned as a potential player for the national team by national team manager Janne Andersson.{{cite web|title=Mardrömsbeskedet: Skadan stoppar Guidetti|url=https://www.gp.se/sport/fotboll/mardr%C3%B6msbeskedet-skadan-stoppar-guidetti-1.4203342|publisher=Göteborgs-Posten|date=20 March 2017|access-date=3 January 2022|language=sv}}

=Lokeren=

On 22 May 2017, Söder joined Belgian First Division A club Lokeren on a free transfer. He signed a three-year contract.{{cite web|title=Officiellt: Robin Söder klar för Lokeren|url=https://fotbolltransfers.com/site/news/78654|publisher=Fotbolltransfers|date=22 May 2017|access-date=2 January 2022|language=sv}}

= Return to IFK Göteborg and retirement =

On 10 August 2018, Söder returned to his old club IFK Göteborg, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract.{{cite web|title=Söder glöder hos oss igen|url=https://ifkgoteborg.se/nyheter/nyheter/2018/soder-gloder-hos-oss-igen/|publisher=IFK Göteborg|date=10 August 2018|access-date=2 January 2022|language=sv}} On 24 February 2019, he was voted as 2018 Årets ärkeängel (Archangel of the Year), an award given to a player who is considered to have shown great loyalty to the club.{{cite web|title=Robin Söder – ärkeängel 2018|url=https://ifkgoteborg.se/nyheter/allmant/2019/robin-soder-arkeangel-2018/|publisher=IFK Göteborg|date=24 February 2019|access-date=2 January 2022|language=sv}}

In the 2019 season, Söder became the top scorer of the club with 14 goals in Allsvenskan, one goal less than top scorer Mohamed Buya Turay. For his performances during 2019, he was awarded Kristallkulan (The Crystal Ball), given to the best player in West Sweden.{{cite web|title=Kristallkulan till Robin|url=https://ifkgoteborg.se/nyheter/a-lag/2019/kristallkulan-till-robin/|publisher=IFK Göteborg|date=18 November 2019|access-date=2 January 2022|language=sv}} Following the departure of Lasse Vibe, Söder was chosen as club-captain at the start of the 2020 season.{{Cite tweet |user=IFKGoteborg|number=1271374215900520449|title=Robin är vår nya lagkapten!}} When Marcus Berg returned to the club in July 2021, he took over the captaincy from Söder.{{Cite tweet |user=IFKGoteborg|number=1416775544063074307|title=Marcus Berg tar över bindeln}} Söder was instead picked as vice-captain.

On 26 November 2021, it was announced that Söder would leave IFK Göteborg after the season, when his contract expired.{{cite web|title=Tack för allt, Robin|url=https://ifkgoteborg.se/nyheter/a-lag/2021/tack-for-allt-robin/|publisher=IFK Göteborg|date=26 November 2021|access-date=2 January 2022|language=sv}} He played his last game for the club two days later against Östersunds FK. On 11 January 2022, he officially retired from professional football and began working as a scout for IFK Göteborg.{{cite web|title=Robin ny scout|url=https://ifkgoteborg.se/nyheter/a-lag/2022/robin-ny-scout/|publisher=IFK Göteborg|date=11 January 2022|access-date=28 January 2022|language=sv}}

International career

= Youth =

Söder was a regular in the Swedish national youth teams, and he was the captain of the Swedish U17 team in 2 matches in 2007. He became the youngest person ever to play in the Swedish U21 team, being 17 years and 157 days old when he played against Poland on 5 September 2008. The record was previously held by Leif Eriksson, who was 17 years and 212 days when he made his debut in 1959.{{cite web|title=Robin Söder alla tiders yngste i U21-landslaget|url=https://www2.svenskfotboll.se/arkiv/tidigare/2008/09/robin-soder-alla-tiders-yngste-i-u21-landslaget/|publisher=Swedish Football Association|date=10 September 2008|access-date=2 January 2022|language=sv}}

On 23 May 2009, he was selected for the Swedish squad competing in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.{{cite web|title=U21 herr: EM-truppen uttagen|url=https://www2.svenskfotboll.se/landslag/u21-herr/arkiv/tidigare/2009/05/u21-herr-em-truppen-uttagen/|publisher=Swedish Football Association|date=23 May 2009|access-date=2 January 2022|language=sv}} Söder played one game in this tournament, coming as a substitute in the semi-final against England. He assisted Marcus Berg to the 3–3 equaliser.{{cite web|title=EM-sorti på straffar efter mirakelvändning|url=https://www2.svenskfotboll.se/landslag/u21-herr/arkiv/landslag/2009/05-06/england-sverige/|publisher=Swedish Football Association|date=26 June 2009|access-date=2 January 2022|language=sv}} In the overtime that followed, he suffered a serious ligament injury.{{cite web|title=Söder injury blow hits Sweden|url=https://www.uefa.com/under21/news/0257-0de97308aaed-e1fb2535babe-1000--soder-injury-blow-hits-sweden/|publisher=UEFA|date=28 June 2009|access-date=2 January 2022}}

= Senior =

After his successful 2019 season, Söder was called up to the national team by Janne Andersson for the friendly games against Moldova and Kosovo in January 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.svenskfotboll.se/nyheter/landslag/2019/12/jannejt/|title=Truppen till januariturnén|publisher=Swedish Football Association|language=sv|date=9 December 2019|access-date=3 January 2022}} He made his senior debut for Sweden against Kosovo on 12 January 2020, a game in which he was captain.{{Cite web|url=https://www.svenskfotboll.se/nyheter/landslag/2020/1/startelva-kosovo/|title=Andra 1–0-segern på turnén|publisher=Swedish Football Association|language=sv|date=12 January 2020|access-date=2 April 2021}}

Career statistics

=Club=

rowspan="2"\|Club !rowspan="2"\|Season !colspan="3"\|League !colspan="2"\|Cup{{efn\|Includes appearances in the Svenska Cupen, Danish Cup and Belgian Cup.}} !colspan="2"\|International{{efn\|Includes appearances in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.}} !colspan="2"\|Other{{efn\|Includes appearances in the Svenska Supercupen, Danish Superliga relegation play-off and Belgian First Division A Europa League play-off knockout stage.}} !colspan="2"\|Total
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition{{Soccerway\|robin-soder/40491}}
Division !Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
rowspan="8"\|IFK Göteborg \|2008 \|Allsvenskan \|14	5	5	0	4	2	0	0	23	7
2009 \|Allsvenskan \|12	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	13	2
2010 \|Allsvenskan \|13	3	2	0	2	0	0	0	17	3
2011 \|Allsvenskan \|18	0	3	1	colspan="2"\|—	colspan="2"\|—	21	1
2012 \|Allsvenskan \|23	2	1	1	colspan="2"\|—	colspan="2"\|—	24	3
2013 \|Allsvenskan \|26	9	2	0	2	0	1	0	31	9
2014 \|Allsvenskan \|19	2	5	6	5	0	colspan="2"\|—	29	8
colspan="2" \|Total !125	23	18	8	13	2	2	0	158	33
rowspan="4"\|Esbjerg fB \|2014–15 \|Danish Superliga \|21	4	4	0	colspan="2"\|—	colspan="2"\|—	25	4
2015–16 \|Danish Superliga \|12	4	1	2	colspan="2"\|—	colspan="2"\|—	13	6
2016–17 \|Danish Superliga \|28	10	2	1	colspan="2"\|—	4	1	34	12
colspan="2" \|Total !61	18	7	3	0	0	4	1	72	22
rowspan="3"\|Lokeren \|2017–18 \|Belgian First Division A \|35	7	1	1	colspan="2"\|—	1	0	37	8
2018–19 \|Belgian First Division A \|0	0	colspan="2"\|—	colspan="2"\|—	colspan="2"\|—	0	0
colspan="2" \|Total !35	7	1	1	0	0	1	0	37	8
rowspan="5" \|IFK Göteborg \|2018 \|Allsvenskan \|9	2	1	0	colspan="2"\|—	colspan="2"\|—	10	2
2019 \|Allsvenskan \|27	14	1	0	colspan="2"\|—	colspan="2"\|—	28	14
2020 \|Allsvenskan \|9	0	3	3	0	0	colspan="2"\|—	12	3
2021 \|Allsvenskan \|16	2	4	3	colspan="2" \|—	colspan="2" \|—	20	5
colspan="2" \|Total !61	18	9	6	0	0	0	0	70	24
colspan="3" \|Career total !282	66	35	18	13	2	7	1	337	87

=International=

National team	Year	Apps
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
+Appearances and goals by national team and year{{NFT player\|76594\|Robin Söder\|access-date=2 January 2022}}
rowspan="1"\|Sweden \|2020	1	0
colspan="2"\|Total	1	0

Honours

Stenungsunds IF

Division 4 Bohuslän/Dalsland: 2006

IFK Göteborg

Svenska Cupen: 2008, 2012–13, 2019–20

Individual

Swedish Newcomer of the Year: 2008
Årets ärkeängel (IFK Göteborg player who have shown great loyalty to the club): 2018
Kristallkulan (best player in West Sweden): 2019