Joel Ekstrand
Ekstrand in training with Watford.
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lars Hening Joel Ekstrand | ||
| Date of birth | 4 February 1989 | ||
| Place of birth | Lund, Sweden | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
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Current team
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Rotherham United | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–2005 | Lunds BK | ||
| 2006–2007 | Helsingborgs IF | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008–2011 | Helsingborgs IF | 73 | (1) |
| 2011–2013 | Udinese | 12 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | → Watford (loan) | 32 | (1) |
| 2013–2016 | Watford | 57 | (1) |
| 2016–2017 | Bristol City | 2 | (0) |
| 2017– | Rotherham United | 1 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2004–2006 | Sweden U17 | 5 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Sweden U19 | 11 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | Sweden U21 | 9 | (1) |
| 2010–2014 | Sweden | 2 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:41, 8 May 2017 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 March 2014 |
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Lars Hening Joel Ekstrand (born 4 February 1989) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a defender for Rotherham United. He has also represented Sweden at senior international level and at various youth levels.
Ekstrand started playing football for his home town club Lunds BK as a youth player. In 2005, he moved to Helsingborgs IF. He made his first team debut against PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of the 2007–08 UEFA Cup Round of 32, at Philips Stadion. Ekstrand had developed himself into a key player at Helsingborg before moving on to Udinese in 2011.
On 18 January 2011, Ekstrand penned a four-year deal with Udinese through to 2015. Ekstrand debuted for the club when Udinese faced Lazio in a 2–1 victory in which he came off the bench in the 70th-minute.
Ekstrand made his first start for Udinese in a Champions League qualifying game against Arsenal. For this match, Udinese changed from the previous season's 3–5–2 formation to 4–1–4–1, where wing-backs Mauricio Isla and Pablo Armero became midfielders, thus using 4 defenders instead of 3 centre-backs. Ekstrand remained in the starting XI in the return leg a week later with Udinese losing 2–1 (3–1 agg). Ekstrand went on to make a further 17 appearances in all competitions for the 2011–12 season, picking up a total of seven yellow cards.
On 31 August 2012, Ekstrand joined Watford on a season-long loan from Udinese. He made his debut against Charlton Athletic on 2 October, coming on in the second half to replace Neuton. After recovering from an injury setback, Ekstrand scored his first Watford goal in a 2–1 win over Derby County on 23 February 2013. On 12 May 2013, Ekstrand played in the semi-final second leg against Leicester City. In a dramatic finale, after Watford goalkeeper Manuel Almunia saved both a penalty taken by Anthony Knockaert and a rebound which would have sent Leicester through to the final, Troy Deeney scored in the seventh minute of added time to take Watford through to the Championship Play-off Final on aggregate, Watford losing the final against Crystal Palace.
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