From 1998 to 2009, Ljungberg made 227 appearances and scored 196 goals for Umeå IK in the Damallsvenskan, winning the Diamond Ball (Diamantbollen) in 2002.[4] She also scored a record-setting number of goals that season with 39 goals (roughly 1.78 per game).[5] In the 70th minute of a cup match against AIK on 17 May 2007, Carola Söberg's injury forced Ljungberg to play in goal. Fortunately, Umeå IK held on to their clean sheet.[6]
International career
Ljungberg debuted for Sweden on 6 February 1996 in an 8-0 win over Spain at age 17. As a highly prolific striker, she was instrumental in the Swedish side that were runners-up at the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup held in the United States, scoring three goals and assisting one more. She was also voted as the third-best World Player of the Year by FIFA in 2003. Until October 2014, when she was surpassed by Lotta Schelin, Ljungberg was the goal leader of the Swedish national team with 72 goals.[7] During the UEFA Women's Cup 2002-03, Ljungberg was the top goalscorer in the tournament with 10 goals.[8] Italian men's football club Perugia contacted Ljungberg to hire her for their Serie A roster, but the deal was aborted.[9][10]
Retirement
In August 2009, Ljungberg announced her retirement after a knee injury in a league match on 5 July. Her right anterior cruciate ligament, previously reconstructed in 2004, was again partly torn and she decided with her doctors that to continue to play presented too high a risk of permanent disability. Later on, she helped Joakim Blomqvist and his assistant Maria Bergkvist in the coaching of her old team. At the same time, Ljungberg was studying at Umeå University to become a physiotherapist and graduated in June 2012.[11]
Key (expand for notes on "world cup and olympic goals")
Location
Geographic location of the venue where the competition occurred
Lineup
Start – played entire match onminute (offplayer) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time
offminute (onplayer) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time
(c) – captain
Min
The minute in the match the goal was scored. For list that include caps, blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal.
Assist/pass
The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information.
penalty or pk
Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.)
Score
The match score after the goal was scored.
Result
The final score.
W – match was won L – match was lost to opponent D – match was drawn
(W) – penalty-shoot-out was won after a drawn match
(L) – penalty-shoot-out was lost after a drawn match
aet
The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation
pso
Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parentheses; the match was tied at the end of extra-time
Orange background color – Olympic women's football tournament
Blue background color – FIFA women's world cup final tournament
Matches and goals scored at European Championship tournaments
Hanna Ljungberg appeared at three European Championship tournaments: Norway/Sweden 1997, Germany 2001, and England 2005. In the 2005 Semi-Final, she scored twice against Norway, erasing Norwegian leads each time. Her second goal in the 89th minute knotted the score at 2-2 and forced extra time. Sweden could not find a match winner though, and exited the tournament in a 2-3 defeat.[14]
^While UEFA lists Ljungberg as the scorer of the 4–0 goal in this game,[24] the Swedish Football Association instead recognizes it as an Italian own goal.[25] It is thus not included in Ljungberg's official total of 72 goals.