Fredrik Ljungberg (better known as Freddie) was born on April 16, 1977 in Sweden. His professional football career began in 1996 with Swedish club Halmstad. He played there for three years (helping Halmstad win the Swedish division in 1997) before Arsenal picked him up in September 1998. At Arsenal he was given shirt number 8, which had previously been worn by goalscoring legend Ian Wright. He proved himself worthy of the number quickly, scoring against league rivals Manchester United in his first game. Since then Ljungberg's aggressive playing style, attitude, and (probably most importantly) his ever-changing and colorful hairdos have made him a favorite among Arsenal fans and he is one of the most popular players on the team. He usually plays in the midfield, but when needed he can also play as a striker. So far he's played 151 games for Arsenal and scored 35 goals, many of them under pressure in important games. In the 2001-2002 season he stepped up after Robert Pires was injured and played fantastically in the closing stages of the season, helping his teammates secure the double.
Ljungberg is also a regular on the Swedish national team, for which he debuted in January 1998. He's played 34 games for the team and scored 2 goals. He was a member of the Swedish squad at both the 2000 European Championships and the 2002 World Cup, although injury prevented him from playing more than 2 games there.
Sources: www.arsenal.com, fifaworldcup.yahoo.com