Axel Sjöberg
Axel Sjöberg (; born 8 March 1991) is a Swedish former footballer. Career Early career Sjöberg began his career with Helenelunds IK in his hometown at age four before moving to the academy of Djurgårdens IF, long-time member of the Allsvenskan, the top tier of the Swedish football league system at age 6 in 1997. Sjöberg stayed with the club until 2009, when he signed with Sollentuna United FF of Division 2 for 2010. Sjöberg scored three goals during the season and helped the club finish second in the league, seven points behind IK Frej. Sjöberg was selected for the club's Player of the Year award following the season. The club's second-place finish was enough to earn a berth in the 2011 Svenska Cupen. Sjöberg did not appear in the cup matches as Sollentuna advanced out of the preliminary round with a shootout victory over Nyköpings BIS before being knocked out in the next round with a 0–4 defeat to Vasalunds IF. College and semi-professional In 2011, Sjöberg committed to play college soccer with the Marquette Golden Eagles of Marquette University. In his four years with the team before graduating, Sjöberg appeared in (and started) 63 matches and tallied eleven goals and 9 assists. Beginning with his second year with the team, Sjöberg played every minute of every match. For his performances, he was the recipient of numerous awards including multiple Big East Player of the Week awards and being named one of the 10 best defenders in college soccer by TopDrawerSoccer.com. For the 2012 and 2013 seasons, Sjöberg also played semi-professional soccer for the Thunder Bay Chill of the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the United States soccer league system. He and two other Marquette teammates were invited to the club after the Chill played a friendly match with Marquette in Milwaukee. In 2012, he appeared in 15 matches and tallied two goals and an assist. The following season, he appeared in 14 matches and scored four goals for the Canadian club. In 2012, he helped the Chill win the Heartland Division championship. In 2013 the Chill were crowned regular seasons champions of the PDL and advanced to the final match in which they lost to the Austin Aztex. Sjöberg was named the club's Defender of the Year for both seasons. Professional Early career In July 2014, Sjöberg went on trial with GAIS of the Swedish Superettan. During the trial, he appeared in one friendly match, a 3–0 victory over Lärje-Angered IF on 16 July. Also in 2014, Sjöberg trialed with SK Sigma Olomouc of the Czech Synot Liga. After scoring two goals in three matches with the reserve team, he was offered a contract. Colorado Rapids In January 2015, Sjöberg was invited to the 2015 MLS Combine and was projected by some MLS analysts to be a potential first round draft pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. On the night before the draft, Major League Soccer analyst Jonathan Yardley described Sjöberg as the most MLS-ready defender