Tomas Antonelius

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Tomas Antonelius

| image =

| caption =

| fullname = Tomas Emil Rune Antonelius

| birth_name = Tomas Gustafsson{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/FOOTBALL%3A+NEW+NAME+IN+CITY+SQUAD%3B+Familiar+face+makes+unusual+switch.-a076743264|title = FOOTBALL: NEW NAME IN CITY SQUAD; Familiar face makes unusual switch. – Free Online Library}}

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|5|7|df=y}}

| birth_place = Stockholm, Sweden

| height = {{height|m=1.79}}

| position = Defender

| currentclub =

| clubnumber =

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 =

| years1 = 1991

| years2 = 1991–1996

| years3 = 1996–1999

| years4 = 1999–2002

| years5 = 2002–2003

| clubs1 = Winnipeg Fury{{Cite web|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/player/22496/Tomas_Antonelius.html|title = Tomas Antonelius}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.aik.se/fotboll/historik/500aikare/tomagust.html|title = De skapade vår historia – Tomas Gustafsson (Antonelius)}}

| clubs2 = Brommapojkarna

| clubs3 = AIK

| clubs4 = Coventry City{{cite web |url=https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=17793&season_id=131 |title=Thomas Antonelius career stats |publisher=Soccerbase |access-date=14 December 2008}}

| clubs5 = Copenhagen{{cite web |url=http://nipserstat.dk/nipserstat/SimpleResponse?player=Tomas+Antonelius&queryType=PlayerQuery&playerOperator=or&scorerOperator=or |title=Thomas Antonelius |work=Nipserstat |accessdate=15 February 2011 |language=Danish}}

| caps1 = 14

| goals1 = 0

| caps2 = 102

| goals2 = 4

| caps3 = 75

| goals3 = 2

| caps4 = 15

| goals4 = 0

| caps5 = 27

| goals5 = 2

| totalcaps = 234

| totalgoals = 6

| nationalyears1 = 1999–2002

| nationalteam1 = Sweden

| nationalcaps1 = 8

| nationalgoals1 = 0

}}

Tomas Emil Rune Antonelius (born Tomas Gustafsson; 7 May 1973) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played professionally in Sweden, Canada, England, and Denmark, before injuries cut his career short. He won eight caps for the Sweden national team between 1999 and 2002, and represented his country at UEFA Euro 2000 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

=Early career=

Antonelius had a brief stint with Canadian side Winnipeg Fury, during a year in college in North America.{{cite web|title=Exilgnagare – AIK:are som spelat utomlands|url=http://www.aik.se/aikindex.html?/fotboll/historik/exilgnagare.html|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429211506/http://www.aik.se/aikindex.html?%2Ffotboll%2Fhistorik%2Fexilgnagare.html|archivedate=29 April 2014|accessdate=13 May 2012|work=AIK Fotboll official website|language=Swedish}} Whilst at AIK, he played against Arsenal in the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League.{{cite news |title=Arsenal break Wembley hoodoo |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/football/champions_league/454989.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=23 September 1999 |accessdate=12 May 2012}}{{cite news |title=Gunners sink battling Swedes |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/football/champions_league/503409.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=2 November 1999 |accessdate=12 May 2012}} At the time, Arsenal were playing their home European games at Wembley Stadium, giving Antonelius a run out at the famous ground.

=Coventry City=

In December 1999, Antonelius joined Coventry City for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract.{{cite news |title=Swede with Coventry |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1309&dat=19991209&id=bv1OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fRQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1570,6378334 |newspaper=New Straits Times |agency=Reuters|date=9 December 1999 |accessdate=14 May 2012}}{{cite news |title=Football: Guilty Forest fined pounds 25,000 over payments |first=Nick |last=Harris |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-guilty-forest-fined-pounds-25000-over-payments-1130906.html |work=The Independent |publisher=Independent Print Limited |date=7 December 1999 |accessdate=14 May 2012}} He made his debut against Arsenal, coming on as a late substitute for Youssef Chippo, as Coventry won 3–2.{{cite news |title=Coventry City 3–2 Arsenal |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/football/fa_carling_premiership/578694.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=26 December 1999 |accessdate=12 May 2012}}{{cite news |title=Football: Arsenal's ambition checked by Keane |first=Glenn |last=Moore |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-arsenals-ambition-checked-by-keane-1134696.html |work=The Independent |publisher=Independent Print Limited |date=27 December 1999 |accessdate=12 May 2012}}

=Copenhagen=

In February 2002, he joined Danish Superliga side Copenhagen.{{cite news |title=Antonelius til FCK |first=Michael |last=Winther-Rasmussen |url=http://ekstrabladet.dk/sport/fodbold/dansk_fodbold/article133498.ece |work=Ekstra Bladet |publisher=JP/Politikens Hus A/S |date=4 February 2002 |accessdate=14 May 2012 |language=Danish}} However, he suffered a serious knee injury, 1.5 years after joining the club and never played football again. He announced his retirement in September 2003, due to this failure to recover from the injury.{{cite news |title=Tomas Antonelius karriär är över |url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/article10396945.ab |work=Aftonbladet |date=17 September 2003 |accessdate=12 May 2012 |language=Swedish}}

International career

Antonelius made his full international debut for the Sweden national team on 18 August 1999, in a friendly 0–0 draw with Austria. He made his competitive international debut for Sweden against Italy at UEFA Euro 2000, playing for 75 minutes before being replaced by Kennet Andersson in a 1–2 loss.{{Cite web |title=Italien – Sverige – Matchfakta – Svensk fotboll |url=https://www.svenskfotboll.se/matchfakta/italien-sverige-landskamper-herr-senior/1569965/ |access-date=2022-11-29 |publisher=Swedish Football Association |language=sv}} He was also selected for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but did not play.{{cite news |title=Sweden squad |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/euro2000/teams/sweden/squad/default.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=22 June 2000 |accessdate=12 May 2012}}{{cite news |title=Squad Profiles – Sweden |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/team_pages/sweden/squad/newsid_1961000/1961314.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=3 May 2002 |accessdate=12 May 2012}} He won his eight and final cap on 12 October 2002 in a UEFA Euro 2004 qualifier against Hungary, playing for 67 minutes before being replaced by Mattias Jonson.{{Cite web |title=Sverige – Ungern – Matchfakta – Svensk fotboll |url=https://www.svenskfotboll.se/matchfakta/sverige-ungern-landskamper-herr-senior/1570203/ |access-date=2022-11-29 |publisher=Swedish Football Association |language=sv}}

Personal life

Antonelius began his career playing as "Tomas Gustafsson", before changing his name in 2001. The reason for this change was that "Gustafsson" is a very common name in Sweden, and he chose "Antonelius" as it was the married name of his older sister.{{cite news|last=Turner|first=Andy|date=24 July 2001|title=Football: New name in City squad; Familiar face makes unusual switch.|work=Coventry Evening Telegraph|publisher=The Free Library|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/FOOTBALL%3A+NEW+NAME+IN+CITY+SQUAD%3B+Familiar+face+makes+unusual+switch.-a076743264|accessdate=13 May 2012}}

Career statistics

= International =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+Appearances and goals by national team and year{{Cite web \|title=Tomas Antonelius – Spelarstatistik – Svensk fotboll \|url=https://www.svenskfotboll.se/spelarfakta/tomas-antonelius/3c691022-c66f-4ec4-bf4a-534013cc7306/ \|access-date=2022-11-29 \|publisher=Swedish Football Association \|language=sv}} !National team !Year !Apps !Goals
rowspan="4" \|Sweden \|1999 \|2 \|0
2000 \|3 \|0
2001 \|0 \|0
2002 \|3 \|0
colspan="2" \|Total !8 !0

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Appearances and goals by national team and year{{Cite web |title=Tomas Antonelius – Spelarstatistik – Svensk fotboll |url=https://www.svenskfotboll.se/spelarfakta/tomas-antonelius/3c691022-c66f-4ec4-bf4a-534013cc7306/ |access-date=2022-11-29 |publisher=Swedish Football Association |language=sv}}

!National team

!Year

!Apps

!Goals

rowspan="4" |Sweden

|1999

2000

2001

2002

colspan="2" |Total