Hjalmar Ekdal on Albin’s support: “Damn picky”

The new acquisition from Djurgården could not have wished for a better start in his new club. In Saturday’s league game away to Norwich, Hjalmar Ekdal’s first with the team, the Swede pounced on a corner and scored 3-0 to Burnley, who after another victory are storming into the Premier League.

The 24-year-old centre-back’s football career has otherwise been bumpy. Ekdal was brought up in Brommapojkarna and then took the road via college games in the USA past IK Frej and Assyriska before he ended up in Hammarby in 2019. Success was not forthcoming, but after a successful loan period in Sirius, he caught the interest of Djurgården, where the big breakthrough took place in recent seasons.

“A Childhood Dream”

Big brother Albin, 33, didn’t need any shortcuts to professional life. As an 18-year-old, he was recruited by Italian giants Juventus and has been out in Europe ever since. If Hjalmar had decided, however, Albin would have moved home to Sweden and Djurgården last year instead of signing for the Serie A club Spezia, as it now turned out.

One day playing together is still a hope, says Hjalmar Ekdal.

— It’s a childhood dream, which you hardly dared to dream about. I guess I never really dreamed about it until a few years ago, when I really felt it was possible. It would have been surreal. But it might be difficult, says Hjalmar Ekdal.

In many ways, they are already teammates. Or rather: Albin has taken on the role of Hjalmar’s personal advisor and gives his little brother guidance on a daily basis.

— He is absolutely my toughest critic. I usually say he’s more like my dad than my dad is my dad. He checks that the situation is good, he checks that I’m taking care of myself, that I’m doing the right thing for myself every day. He is damn picky when it comes to football, that you are professional with food and recovery and rehab and treatment. Everything is basically pointed out every day, which proves that he really cares, says Hjalmar Ekdal.

Don’t repeat the mistakes

One reason for the consideration may be that the injured Albin Ekdal has learned from his own mistakes. And then it seems to be just as much about caring for the body as the bud.

– This particular thing about treatments and counteracting injuries, I think it is based on the fact that he wishes he had done it himself. He knows what he didn’t do. But it’s also about school. He knows he was slack in high school when he practiced a lot with the A team. There he also lies on me a lot.

Sometimes it can be difficult to separate caring from nagging, admits Hjalmar Ekdal. In the end, however, he knows that all of his brother’s advice – some of it unsolicited – is rooted in love.

However, perhaps not always in fact.

— He’s good at guessing, he knows most about everything. He speaks about things that he may not always have a full grasp of, but it sounds like he’s an expert.

— He’s also good at being an afterthought if I’ve got a feeling in a groin, for example, then it’s “I told you to take treatment for the groin, I told you to stretch more carefully.” So it’s a lot like that, he’s on top of me. It is clear that sometimes it gets annoying, but he does it with warmth and with love, and for my good. I know that and I appreciate that.

National team news

By the way, the dream of playing together is very much alive. On March 15, national team captain Janne Andersson takes out the squad for Sweden’s upcoming EC qualifying matches against Belgium and Azerbaijan.

Both Hjalmar and Albin Ekdal should be highly relevant.

— That is probably what is most relevant. Let’s hope that I show my front legs, so that I am included. And that he is healthy enough to join. It would be damn cool, says Hjalmar Ekdal.

— We have shown two opposite sides of how to build a career. That’s cool and he probably thinks it’s cool too. And he is probably a little proud that it has worked out for the little brother too.