Joel Ekstrand

Lars Hening Joel Ekstrand (born 4 February 1989) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Born in Lund, Sweden, Ekstrand started playing football for his home town club Lunds BK as a youth player before moving to Helsingborgs IF in 2005.

Two years later, he signed his first professional contract with the club in the summer.

Beginning his career with Helsingborgs IF in 2008, he moved on to represent Udinese, Watford, Bristol City, and Rotherham before retiring at AIK in 2019.

In February 2008, Ekstrand was called up by the Helsingborgs IF squad for the first time, He made his first team debut against PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of the UEFA Cup Round of 32, at Philips Stadion, which saw Helsingborgs lose 2–0.

Ekstrand was featured again in the second leg of the UEFA Cup Round of 32, at Olympia stadium and played 45 minutes before being substituted, due to a groin injury, as the club lost 2–1, resulting in their elimination from the tournament.

But he soon recovered and made his league debut for Helsingborgs IF, starting the whole game, in a 3–0 win over GIF Sundsvall in the opening game of the season.

During a 2–2 draw against IFK Norrköping on 20 April 2008, Ekstrand started the game but was substituted in the 7th minute following a collision and suffered a broken nose and concussion.

But he quickly recovered and made his return to the first team from injury, starting the whole game, in a 4–2 win over Malmö on 28 April 2008.

Since then, Ekstrand had developed himself into a key player at Helsingborg IF with the likes of Marcus Nilsson, Andreas Granqvist and Samir Beloufa.

Despite missing three matches throughout the 2008 season, he went on to make twenty–eight appearances in all competitions.

Following this, Ekstrand was nominated for the Newcomer of the Year but lost out to Robin Söder.

At the start of the 2009 season, Ekstrand helped Helsingborgs IF side go to their winning form in the first three league matches to the season.

However, in a match against Örebro on 20 April 2009, he received a straight red card in the 44th minute, just one minute before the half–time, in a 2–0 loss.

After serving a one match suspension, Ekstrand returned to the first team and provided a goal for Rasmus Jönsson, who went on to score a hat–trick, in a 3–0 win over AIK on 29 April 2009.

This was followed up by helping the club keep two clean sheets in the next two matches against Malmö and IF Brommapojkarna.

Following his return to the first team from suspension, he continued to regain his first team place for Helsingborgs IF, forming a centre–back partnership with Nilsson.

On 11 June 2009, Ekstrand, along with Nilssson, signed a contract with the club, keeping him until 2012.

He then scored his first goal for Helsingborgs IF in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League second round, in a 2–2 draw against Zestafoni to help the club advance to the next round.

In a match against FK Sarajevo in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League third round, Ekstrand played 120 minutes, resulting in a penalty shootout with the opposition team winning 2–1 and missed the penalty, which saw Helsingborgs IF eliminated from the tournament.

However, he received a straight red card in the 24th minute for giving away a penalty, in a 3–0 loss against Örgryte on 18 October 2009.

Despite being sidelined, due to suspension and injuries much further, Ekstrand went on to make thirty–two appearances and scoring once in all competitions.

A full international between 2010 and 2014, he won two caps for the Sweden national team.

At the start of the 2010 season, Ekstrand was in defensive first team position when he helped the side go on unbeaten run for Helsingborgs IF's first twelve matches to the start season.

While the club go on the unbeaten run, he received a straight red card in the first half, in a 1–0 win over Mjällby on 26 April 2010 and served a two match suspension.

After returning to the first team, Ekstrand scored his first league goal for the club, in a 3–1 win over Gefle on 10 May 2010.

Since returning from suspension, he continued to regain his first team place for Helsingborgs IF, forming a centre–back partnership with Nilsson and helping the club to keep their league title chance alive.

However, Ekstrand faced further setbacks later in the 2010 season when he was suspended on two occasions, including another straight red card in a 0–0 draw against Göteborg on 15 August 2010, as well as, facing his injury concern.

It wasn't until on 6 November 2010 when he returned to the starting line–up in the Helsingborgs IF's last game of the season against Kalmar and played 76 minutes before being substituted, in a 1–0 draw but cost the club to win the league title, as title contender rival, Malmö FF, won the league following their win.

In a follow–up match, Ekstrand started in the Svenska Cupen Final against Hammarby and helped Helsingborgs win the tournament by beating the opposition team 1–0 on 13 November 2010.

At the end of the 2010 season, he went on to make twenty–five appearances and scoring once in all competitions.

Following this, Ekstrand was nominated for the player's defender of the year but he lost out to Olof Mellberg.

With the 2010 season ended, Ekstrand was linked a move away from Helsingborgs IF, as clubs from Italy were keen on signing him.

The club confirmed that Ekstrand was expected to leave the club.

This turns out to be his only appearance of the 2010–11 season.

After a much speculation over his future, it was announced that Ekstrand joined Udinese in 2011.

On 18 January 2011, Ekstrand penned a four-year deal with Serie A side Udinese, keeping him through to 2015.

Prior to the move, he spoke out about joining Udinese, quoting: "It has always been a dream. It is a big football country that took World Cup gold not long ago. Here are big clubs and the best Swedish is playing in Serie A. For me it will be an honor to join."

Since joining the club, however, Ekstrand found himself out of first team, as he mostly sat out from the squad, as well as, facing competition from Andrea Coda.

It wasn't until on 8 May 2011 when Ekstrand made his debut for Udinese, coming on in the 70th minute in a 2–1 win against Lazio.