Sven Pontus Kåmark (born 5 April 1969) is a former Swedish professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for Västerås SK, IFK Göteborg, Leicester City and AIK, and won 57 caps for the Sweden national team. He was part of the Swedish team that finished third at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Pontus Kåmark
Kåmark in 2010
Personal information
Full name Sven Pontus Kåmark
Date of birth (1969-04-05) 5 April 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth Västerås, Sweden
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1975–1976 IK Franke
1977–1984 Västerås SK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1988 Västerås SK 55 (6)
1989–1995 IFK Göteborg 144 (4)
1995–1999 Leicester City 65 (0)
1999–2000 AIK 11 (0)
2001–2002 IFK Göteborg 24 (0)
Total 299 (10)
International career
1984–1985 Sweden U17 17 (1)
1985–1986 Sweden U19 5 (1)
1988–1990 Sweden U21 13 (0)
1990–2002 Sweden 57 (0)
Medal record
 Sweden
FIFA World Cup
Bronze medal – third place 1994
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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Kåmark started off his career with IK Franke before making his senior debut for Västerås SK.[1]

IFK Göteborg

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Kåmark signed with IFK Göteborg ahead of the 1989 season and made his debut on 11 May 1989 in a league game against GAIS that ended 2–2.[2] In 1990, Kåmark won his first league title with Göteborg, appearing in 8 league games.[2] The following season, he appeared in 16 league games and 6 cup games when Göteborg won both the Allsvenskan and the Svenska Cupen.[2] Between 1993 and 1995, Kåmark played in more than 60 league games as IFK Göteborg won three straight Allsvenskan titles.[2]

In the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League, Kåmark scored the last goal in a 3–1 win against Manchester United as IFK Göteborg won Group A ahead of FC Barcelona, Manchester United and Galatasaray.[3][4] Kåmark played in all 180 minutes as the captain when IFK Göteborg was eliminated by FC Bayern Munich on away goals in the quarter-finals.[5][6]

Leicester City

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Kåmark was bought by Leicester City from Göteborg for £840,000 in September 1995, but did not join the team until IFK Göteborg had lifted the 1995 Allsvenskan trophy.[7] Only three days after making his debut for the club, Kåmark tore his ACL in a League Cup game against Bolton Wanderers, which ruled him out of football for a year.[7] Kåmark eventually recovered from his injury and made his comeback in January 1997, eventually helping his team win the 1996–97 Football League Cup, playing in all 120 minutes in the final.[7]

Kåmark signed for the 1998 Allsvenskan champions AIK in the summer of 1999, ahead of their 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League campaign.[8] AIK was able to keep a clean sheet in all 12 of Kåmark's first games for the club.[8] He eventually helped the team qualify for the Champions League group stage by playing at left back when AIK eliminated AEK Athens in the qualifying stage.[8] AIK finished last in Group B, competing with Barcelona, Arsenal and Fiorentina.[8] He tore his ACL once again during the 2000 spring season and left AIK at the end of the season.[8]

Return to IFK Göteborg and retirement

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After recovering from his third ACL injury, Kåmark return to IFK Göteborg for the 2001 Allsvenskan season.[8] He retired from professional football in 2002.[2]

International career

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Youth

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Kåmark won a total of 35 caps for the Sweden U17, U19, and U21 teams and represented his country at the 1990 UEFA European Under-21 Championship where Sweden reached the semifinals.[9]

Senior

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He made his senior debut for Sweden in a friendly against the United Arab Emirates on 14 February 1990.[9]

Kåmark played in three games as Sweden qualified for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.[9] At the final tournament, Kåmark appeared in four games as Sweden finished third behind Brazil and Italy.[9] He appeared in five games as Sweden failed to qualify for Euro 1996, and in four games as Sweden missed out on qualifying for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.[9] He helped Sweden qualify for both Euro 2000 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but missed both final tournaments because of injuries.[9]

He made his last international appearance in a friendly against Greece on 13 February 2002.[9] Kåmark ultimately won 57 caps for Sweden without scoring.[9]

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[2][8][10]
Club Season League National cup EFL Cup Europe Other[a] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Västerås SK 1985 Division 2 Norra
1986 Division 2 Norra
1987 Division 1 Norra
1988 Division 1 Norra
Total 55 6 55 6
IFK Göteborg 1989 Allsvenskan 18 3 3 0 2 0 23 3
1990 Allsvenskan 8 0 2 0 10 0
1991 Allsvenskan 16 0 6 0 3 0 10 0 35 0
1992 Allsvenskan 15 0 1 0 6 0 9 0 31 0
1993 Allsvenskan 26 0 3 0 4 0 33 0
1994 Allsvenskan 22 0 1 0 7 1 30 1
1995 Allsvenskan 20 1 5 0 4 0 29 1
Total 144 4 21 0 26 1 19 0 191 5
Leicester City 1995–96 First Division 1 0 1 0 2 0
1996–97 Premier League 10 0 2 0 3 0 15 0
1997–98 Premier League 35 0 2 0 2 0 39 0
1998–99 Premier League 19 0 1 0 20 0
Total 65 0 4 0 5 0 2 0 76 0
AIK 1999 Allsvenskan 9 0 1 0 8 0 18 0
2000 Allsvenskan 2 0 2 0 4 0
Total 11 0 3 0 8 0 22 0
IFK Göteborg 2001 Allsvenskan 21 0 3 0 24 0
2002 Allsvenskan 3 0 3 0
Total 24 0 3 0 27 0
Career total 299 10 31 0 5 0 36 1 19 0 360 11
  1. ^ Includes Mästerskapsserien.

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[9]
National team Year Apps Goals
Sweden 1990 2 0
1991 0 0
1992 1 0
1993 4 0
1994 12 0
1995 9 0
1996 0 0
1997 6 0
1998 5 0
1999 10 0
2000 4 0
2001 3 0
2002 1 0
Total 57 0

Honours

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IFK Göteborg

Leicester City

Sweden

References

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  1. ^ ""Det är sjukt att en förortsförening kan få fram såna spelare"". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Pontus Kåmark - ifkdb.se". ifkdb.se. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Här är Blåvitts tio mest klassiska Europacupmatcher". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  4. ^ UEFA.com. "Season 1994 | UEFA Champions League". UEFA.com. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  5. ^ UEFA.com. "Bayern-Göteborg 1994 History | UEFA Champions League". UEFA.com. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  6. ^ UEFA.com. "Göteborg-Bayern 1994 History | UEFA Champions League". UEFA.com. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  7. ^ a b c "Former Player Remembers: Pontus Kåmark". lcfc.com. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "500 AIK:are - Pontus Kåmark". aik.se. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Pontus Kåmark - Spelarstatistik - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se. (in Swedish). Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Leicester City football club overview". www.11v11.com. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  11. ^ Moore, Glenn (16 April 1997). "Claridge's five-star silver service". The Independent. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Nielsen nicks it for Spurs". BBC Sport. 22 March 1999. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
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