Going into his 6th and last championship, Mellberg’s experience could be …
Sweden’s Olof Mellberg speaks to the media prior to a training session on the Koncha Zaspa Training Centre near Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, June 9, 2012. The team will be based in the capital of Ukraine for the Euro 2012 soccer championships. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
KYIV, Ukraine — Olof Mellberg has been the ever-present central pillar of the Swedish defense for more than a decade, the ultimate work horse who doesn’t grab a lot of headlines but whose tournament experience is matched by few in modern football.
Going into his sixth major championship — which he says will be his last — Mellberg may hope some of that experience rubs off on the team’s other defenders, none of whom have played a single minute at a World Cup or Euros.
The 34-year-old Mellberg played every minute of Sweden’s games in his previous five tournaments, and was the captain in three of them.
Among his fellow defenders, Andreas Granqvist is the only one to have been to a major tournament but remained on the bench for all three games at Euro 2008.