Dynamo Sundgren: Meet the new right-back of Maccabi Haifa

A late flower, overcame health problems, shook off comparisons to his father and worked his way up to the Swedish national team.

With a winning mentality and tons of energy, Daniel Sundgren arrives to burn the line at Maccabi Haifa

Inbal Manor

16/06/2022

Thursday, 16 June 2022, 17:00 Updated: 17:07

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Maccabi Haifa Championship Celebrations (Photo: Shlomi Gabay Video Editing: Aviad Balili)

Daniel Sundgren was born into a fairy tale.

He was less than two years old when his father, Gary, scored the winning goal against Malmo and set up AIK, his youth team, first championship after 55 years.

Gary later played five years in Zaragoza and also made an appearance with the Swedish national team at Euro 2000, one of his 30 in total in the national uniform.

Daniel's journey went a little differently, but 26 years after Dad, in 2018, he also won the championship with AIK.

This happy moment of a child growing up as a fan and continuing his father's path, made him realize that he wants to experience more great achievements of his own outside of Sweden.

At the age of 31, his journey will continue in Israel.

Maccabi Haifa is everything he wants at this stage of his career: a tidy club, a high salary and an opportunity to win titles and maybe play at a European home stage.

A bit quiet after the roller coaster he experienced in three years in Greece.

This is what made him localize on the Greens' offer and prefer it over other teams.

What do the Greens get?

Meet the champion's new defender.

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He already has one championship.

Sundgren in AIK Stockholm uniform (Photo: GettyImages, Michael Campanella)

"Daniel Sundgren is a strong player with a tremendous mentality. He is loyal and works hard," complimented Swedish journalist Daniel Christopherson as soon as he was asked to give his opinion on the defender.

This is a prominent feature that is important to dwell on before analyzing football.

He's a fighter.

A strong guy who faced difficulties on and off the field.

The first difficulty was Dad's shadow.

"It was hard growing up with Dad who is a famous actor. I always heard that I play only because of him, I always had to prove to everyone what I know and it strengthened me. I wanted to silence everyone and show that I deserve to be in AIK," he said in the past.

Sundgren comes from a family of sports.

He's a cousin of Mikael Bucklund, a Calgary Flames player from the NHL, another cousin of his is a Paralympic swimmer and his younger brother Robin is a footballer who also moved to a club where Dad became a legend.

Daniel grew up in IQ.

As a young player he was sent for questions, but realized that in order to get back through the front door, he had to leave.

He spent a few years in the lower leagues until he returned at the age of 25. For him, it was a dream come true.

"I am happy and grateful for the opportunity to return. Now I will fight to fulfill more dreams like opening a home game against our fans."

It has happened over 100 times in all settings.

"Gary and Daniel are very similar in character and style of play, but Daniel went his own way. They are both lite bloomers. Daniel worked very hard to get the chance, left for the second division to return to AIK he loves the club and there eventually came the big break "He has progressed a lot in recent years. He has improved his technique and understanding of the game. He has always been a fighter, but now he is also a more mature player in his game," Christopherson said.

The dream was almost cut short for Daniel in 2017.

One evening he had difficulty breathing and was rushed to the emergency room where a healthy blood clot was discovered.

"My girlfriend forced me to go to the hospital and the doctors there said that if it had not happened, I could have died," he later said.

Weeks passed by him with uncertainty, when at first, all the doctors estimated that he would not play football again.

In the difficult moments, Sundgren thought of his cousin Mikael Friedrexon: "He can not move his limbs and still represented Sweden in swimming at the Paralympic Games. Just thinking about it strengthens me. If he can swim without limbs, why should I not get what I want ? ".

He achieved.

The father was also Lite Blumer.

Gary Sundgren (Photo: GettyImages, Graham Chadwick)

He is back in time for the start of the 2018 season.

The Armenian was driven away and raged.

At the end he claimed that while he was off the field, he heard Sundgren laughing.

Jurgarden fans sent abusive messages to Sundgren.

Write to him: "Hope you do not recover" and worse things.

He laughed again.

At the end of that season, Sundgren and AIK celebrated their first championship after nine years in a season in which they lost once and conceded 16 mandatory goals in 30 rounds.

Half a year after the festivities, Sundgren left the house in jarring tones.

The season in Sweden as mentioned opens in April, but Sundgren has already been looking for a new destination.

The move to Aris Thessaloniki closed in early June, after the start of the season, but AIK insisted the defender play with them in the Champions League qualifiers against Armenian Ararat.

Sundgren refused on the grounds that he was ill and the club was furious.

"We are disappointed with the way Daniel behaved before his release. He had a wonderful career and to finish in such a way it is sad," said sporting director Bjorn Westrum.

"It was mentally difficult for me," the defender clarified on the networks.

"I tried to give 100 percent in the last games I played. I was not afraid to get injured even though it went through my head. It is not common to continue playing when you are already closed in another team. I felt I was no longer able to give 100 percent and did not want to disappoint the fans with a bad performance. "

Eris was his first experience outside of Sweden.

Professional and economic upgrade.

A late opportunity to do something else.

"I will soon be 30," he said in one of the interviews.

"I fought all my life to build something for the future. When we won the championship, I wanted a chance to play outside of Sweden. I miss Swedish football and not AIK. If I had earned what I earn here, I would never have left in life. We talk 6-7."

Stockholm remembers the 2018 hot derby.

Sundgren on the left (Photo: GettyImages, Nils Petter Nilsson)

The period in Greece was positive for him, but complex.

During the first season, Eris changed coach and appointed German Michael Oning.

Sundgren was deleted from the coach's rotation and also from the books of accounting.

"Only the players who play get paid. Those who do not play are ignored. Sometimes you pay a little less, sometimes small sums pop up out of nowhere. It is important to write everything because it is just chaos. When I complained and harassed, they did not like it. It is better to be silent and wait," he said.

"The new coach benched me without explanation. We do not get along. I do not know if it is because of my ability or my character. Ask him because he does not talk to me. This situation is annoying. I wish he would tell me what is wrong: if I am not good morals or "Defensively I would at least understand. I fight training and it does not matter. It makes me feel like a ghost. This coach hates me."

The Corona caught Sundgren alone in Thessaloniki.

The girlfriend, who has since become his wife, just flew back to Sweden to adopt a puppy and could not return.

On the face of it, it was a perfect situation to go home.

The Swede thought about it, but felt he had not exhausted, that it was not the time.

Things did turn in his favor.

"He is the best right-back in the Greek league or at least getting better ... he was treated rudely, almost finished his career, but he acted like a pro while others would run away. When he realized he would get a chance, he immediately showed what he knows," it read.

Greece also remembers an incident in which a boy pushed a ball and was sent off in an away game against Lamia and another strange case in which he was fined by the team for 20,000 euros after he asked to be released from an away game in Crete to stay with his pregnant wife.

Towards the end of last season, when the contract was about to expire and the initial contacts did not mature into extension, Sundgren lost his place, but overall left a positive impression.

"He is a player with a presence in his position and plays with a lot of passion and enthusiasm. Eris wanted him to stay, but they could not cope with the financial offers he received. AEK Athens also wanted him very much, but in Haifa they probably pay better," Greece explains.

Another fighter, more toughness.

Sundgren (Photo: GettyImages, Marcus Ericsson)

Barak Bachar is a coach who strongly believes in refreshing staff.

Continuous successes have taught him that it is difficult to get out of a team as a whole and of the Israeli player in particular the same level of hunger over time.

So after degrees he is looking for what can be changed to maintain the same level of energy in the faculty.

He is looking for positions that can be upgraded and certain players that also aim to wake other players.

In short, shake up the hierarchy in the staff.

Bachar's current plan includes signing six players including three foreigners.

The position of the right defender for him was necessary.

The Greens built on Ryan Strain for the future and believed in him, but the injuries prevailed.

Mikael Alphonse was not a bad solution in the short term, but for Bachar he was one who could be sacrificed for the big picture.

Sundgren is suitable for what was built in Haifa.

A group of "bastards".

Another fighter, more toughness, a defensive player who is used to playing in several methods, who will add a dimension of physicality, strength and rhythm to the games in Europe and will also connect better than Alphonse to a noble Omar.

Christopherson analyzes: "He is good defensively, strong in physical struggles and plays at a high pace. He has improved a lot in recent years, the move to Greece has done him good and the move to Haifa is a great step for him. He will get a chance to play in a European factory and win another title."

The player also testified about himself: "I developed a lot in Greece as a player. In AIK we played with five on defense and the move to a quartet was a big change. I thought I was good defensively, but now I think I took it a step further."

Sundgren arrives in Haifa after staying with the Swedish team.

He was jumped on the roster during the games to fill the place of the yellowed Emil Kraft, but was not given a chance to play.

Sundgren has one appearance on the team, in a friendly match last year.

Since then, he has been included in the faculty several times and is not a partner.

He, too, understands that competing with the defensive force of Newcastle and Joel Anderson (Mitiolan) younger than him is difficult, but for him, after all he has been through, being part of the squad is an achievement.

Being there means an opportunity to practice and prove yourself.

Perhaps through successful performances with the Greens in Europe he will be able to upgrade his status.

While training with the team, he admitted to the Swedish reporters that in recent months he sometimes feels accelerated heartbeats and difficulty breathing after strenuous training, or headaches in the mornings.

"Post Corona matters," he said.

"I went through tests and everything looked good. I know my body and I learned to train with it. I'm not one to give up. All the doctors have told me in the past that I've finished football and refuted it. It's something I'm very proud of.

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• Maccabi Haifa