Junior Eldstål

Junior Eldstål

Eldstål training with Johor Darul Ta'zim in 2014
Personal information
Date of birth (1991-09-16) 16 September 1991
Place of birth Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Defensive midfielder / Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Johor Darul Ta'zim FC
Number 25
Youth career
2004–2007 Aldershot Town
2008–2011 Farnborough
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 UWE Hartpury Football
2012–2013 Slimbridge 11 (2)
2013–2014 Sarawak 55 (2)
2015– Johor Darul Ta'zim FC 31 (2)
National team‡
2013–2015 Malaysia U-23 11 (1)
2013– Malaysia XI 8 (0)
2014– Malaysia 9 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of November 17, 2016.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of November 17, 2016

Junior Gunnar Putera Eldstål (born 16 September 1991) is a Malaysian-Swedish footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for a Malaysian club Johor Darul Ta'zim FC and the Malaysian national team.

A defensive midfielder by nature, he can also appear as a central defender. Eldstål is known for being pacy, a fluid force from box to box, decent tackler and blessed with a good shot, passing and huge natural stamina.

He started his career with Aldershot Town, but represented mostly the reserve team, going on to have a three-year spell with Farnborough in English non-League football. In May 2013, he signed with Sarawak FA after a successful trial then to be bought by JDT after the 2014 transfer window.

Eldstål represented Malaysia at various levels, namely appearing with the under-23s at the 2013 Pesta Bola Merdeka.

Early life

Born in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, Eldstål's family moved to Sweden when he was at the age of two, then onto England.[1]

Club career

Youth academy

Eldstål previously played for two Football Conference clubs, before having a trial with Malaysian outfit. With a Swedish father, Eldstål holds a Swedish passport but decided to pursue Malaysian citizenship because his mother is Sabahan.[2]

He was with Aldershot from 2004 to 2007, then he joined Farnborough from 2008 to 2011. When he turned 19, he was enrolled in UWE Hartpury College Football Academy, where he studied a Sports Coaching degree while also being a part of the elite football programme.[3][4] During his time with UWE, he also played for Slimbridge in 2012 on a part-time basis in the Hellenic Football League before he decided to play for Sarawak in the Malaysia Premier League.

Sarawak FA

2013–14 season

In April 2013, Eldstål signed with Sarawak FA and made his league debut on 17 April 2013 in a second leg FA Cup Malaysia 0–2 home defeat against Kelantan FA as a last minute substitution.[5] Since Eldstål joined the Crocs in April, he helped Sarawak FA win their first premiership domestic trophy in almost 16 years. Sarawak had an unbeaten run which was the league record.[6] Eldstål, who had yet to score his first goal for Sarawak, had the distinction of providing two assists leading to two goals as the other goal scored by Zamri Morshidi was a similar result provided by his back-flick again. Sarawak officially booked their spot in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Malaysia Cup as they smashed in six goals against Perak to secure an impeccable 6–1 win.[7]

In 2014, Sarawak were back in the Malaysia Super League since 2012, Eldstål was awarded a new, improved contract for his progress that would keep him at Sarawak FA until the end of 2014 season, but his debut for the league was delayed after suffering a back injury setback on 14 September 2013, followed by his operation in November then a two months program of rehabilitation. His first full start for the season started in March and assisted a good few goals for Suppiah Chanturu and Ryan Griffiths. In April 15, he produced a display with influential in scoring a goal to a 3–2 win at home over ATM FA.[8] Eldstål subsequently ended 2013–14 season with 55 appearances in all.[9]

Johor Darul Ta'zim FC

On 11 November 2014 (2014 season), Eldstål announced that he had signed a contract with one of the top teams in Southeast Asia, Johor Darul Ta'zim FC under coach Bojan, playing in the Malaysia Super League,[10] until 2015.[11] On his move, he was promptly inserted into the starting eleven playing as a centre back for the first pre-season matches against Johor Darul Ta'zim II, PKNS and Penang FA.

Eldstål would also like to break into the Malaysia national football team, unfortunately being unselected to Dollah Salleh's squad for the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup.[12] Despite all that, Eldstål has made an impressive debut against Pahang FA in the MSL 2015 opener.[13] He led the team to their first silverware of the season winning the Charity Shield Malaysia.

On 14 March, JDT fell behind to a 35th-minute goal by Sime Darby to trail 1–0 at half time. Eldstål was then played in midfield again alongside Hariss Harun and regular defender Marcos António, where Junior scored his first-ever Super League goal of this season in the 61st-minute equaliser in a 1-1 away game over Sime Darby.[14] He scored his second goal for the club on 24 April 2015 in the 2–1 defeat for Perak.

International career

Malaysia XI

In July 2013, Eldstål was called up to join the Harimau Muda A squad for the World University Games in Kazan, but due to some technical issues he was not allowed to be registered for the tournament.[15] On 11 July 2013, Eldstål was named in the senior squad for the first time in K. Rajagopal 23-man shortlist for the upcoming July friendly against Chonburi FC on 16 July 2013.[16] He later received a call-up for a match against Chelsea and Barcelona.[17]

Eldstål playing at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea

Malaysia U-23

On 7 September 2013, Eldstål earned his first under-23[18] cap in a game against Singapore U-23 and scored his first goal for the squad on 14 September 2013 in the Merdeka cup final against Myanmar U-23 and Malaysia emerged as Asia Cup Champion after defeating Myanmar 2–0 at the Darul Makmur Stadium, which concluded with his goal in the 90th minute.[19]

In September 2014, Ong Kim Swee named Eldstål in his final 23-man squad for the 2014 Asian Games, playing in Group A for the tournament in Incheon, South Korea.[20] Eldstål played just two games in the tournament, a 3–0 lost in the first round match against the host South Korea.[21] He missed the second round match, a 4–0 win over Laos, due to a minor calf injury.[22]

With only playing two games during the tournament, Malaysia finished third in the group after being knocked out of the tournament as they lost 0-3 to Saudi Arabia on the September 21st.[23]

Personal life

Eldstål is half-Swedish and half-Malaysian.[24]

Eldstål was raised Christian despite having an Islamic Malaysian-sounding name Putera. However that notion only applies in Malaysia since the name Putera or Putra is a Sanskrit term for "Son".[25][26]

Honours

Eldstål received the FAM Most Promising Player Award 2013

Club

Sarawak FA
Johor Darul Ta'zim

International

Malaysia U-23

Individual

References

  1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlr-wXJBWWY – Junior Interview
  2. ↑ Sarawak may enlist M'sian-born footballer in England – New Straits Times, 30 March 2013.
  3. ↑ http://www.hartpury.ac.uk/news/december-2014/from-hartpury-to-malaysia-junior-s-star-is-on-the-rise/
  4. ↑ http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Hartpury-College-pupil-Junior-Eldstal-rises/story-25701848-detail/story.html
  5. ↑ http://www.stadiumastro.com/Arena/BolaSepakMalaysia/Artikel/tabid/464/ArticleID/80817/Alberts-kecewa-Bojan-puji-anak-buahnnya.aspx – Alberts disappointed, Bojan praises his boys
  6. ↑ http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/09/17/junior-eldstal-back-for-crocs-clash-with-lions/#ixzz2fhiMGIlY – Junior Eldstal back for crocs clash with lions.
  7. ↑ http://www.goal.com/en-my/match/120571/sarawak-fa-vs-perak-fa/report – Sarawak 6–1 Perak: Crocs tear Seladangs apart on home turf
  8. ↑ http://www.matchendirect.fr/live-score/sarawak-atm.html
  9. ↑ Seng-Foo Lee (7 October 2014). "Junior Eldstal: "I'm Malaysian, lah!"". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  10. ↑ http://www.fourfourtwo.com/my/news/jdt-sign-junior-eldstal
  11. ↑ http://www.espnfc.com/blog/football-asia/153/post/2142955/junior-hopes-move-to-jdt-will-boost-his-malaysia-hopes
  12. ↑ Jason Dasey (12 November 2014). "Junior hopes JDT move will boost his Malaysia national team hopes". ESPN.com. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  13. ↑ http://www.fourfourtwo.com/my/features/fourfourtwo-preview-jdt-vs-pahang
  14. ↑ http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Football/2015/03/14/JDT-draw-with-minnows-Sime-Darby/
  15. ↑ Eldstål the unknown to make Malaysia proud – Sports 247, 11 July 2013.
  16. ↑ http://www.goal.com/en-my/match/116816/malaysia-xi-vs-chonburi-fc/report? -Malaysia XI 0–0 Chonburi FC: Dominant Tigers stumped by the Sharks
  17. ↑ Croc gets national team call-up – Borneo Post, 11 July 2013.
  18. ↑ http://pestabolamerdeka.my/?p=456
  19. ↑ http://english.astroawani.com/news/show/malaysia-beat-myanmar-to-clinch-merdeka-cup-22226 –Malaysia beat Myanmar to clinch Merdeka Cup
  20. ↑ http://www.fourfourtwo.com/my/features/2014-asian-games-review-south-korea-u23-3-malaysia-u23-0
  21. ↑ http://article.wn.com/view/2014/09/30/South_Korea_seeking_Asiad_football_finals_berth/
  22. ↑ http://www.themalaymailonline.com/sports/article/coach-says-red-card-cause-of-harimau-mudas-failure-at-incheon
  23. ↑ http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Football/2014/09/18/Junior-Eldstal-banking-on-birthday-luck-to-beat-Saudi-Arabia/
  24. ↑ Seng-Foo Lee (30 June 2015). "A starting XI of Malaysians with foreign heritage". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  25. ↑ Matthew T. Umpang (30 July 2013). "Junior Eldstal: From Japan with thanks". Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  26. ↑ "Open letter from Malaysia's Junior Eldstal". Goal.com. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  27. ↑ "Most promising Malaysian player goes to Junior Eldstal!". Retrieved 17 January 2014.
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