Benjamin Kibebe

Benjamin Kibebe

Personal information
Date of birth	(1981-08-13) August 13, 1981
Place of birth	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Height
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
	Rågsveds IF
	IF Brommapojkarna
	Hammarby IF
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2004	AIK	80	(2)
2005–2006	Tromsø	46	(4)
2007–2008	Aalesunds FK	35	(2)
2008–2010	FC Nordsjælland	56	(1)
2010–2012	FC Luzern	12	(1)
2012–2013	FC Midtjylland	9	(0)
International career
2001	Sweden	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 March 2013

Benjamin Kibebe (born August 13, 1981 in Addis Ababa) is an Ethiopian-born Swedish footballer.

Career

Early career

Kibebe was born in Addis Ababa and moved to Sweden as a child. He began his career with local side Hammarby IF but in 1999 moved to their bitter rivals AIK. He has said that the only reason he crossed the divide is that AIK offered him a professional contract and Hammarby didn't.

Norway

He spent 5 seasons with AIK and in 2005 moved to Norway to play in the Tippeligaen for Tromsø IL, the northernmost top-level football club in the world. Due to this Kibebe said that the team had to travel to most matches via plane. Kibebe had a successful year living in Tromsø as he played in the UEFA Cup. The club beat Danish club Esbjerg fB in the qualifying round then Turkish club Galatasaray S.K. in the First Round to qualified to the group stages. The team were drawn in Group E alongside AS Roma, RC Strasbourg, FC Basel and Red Star Belgrade.

At the end of the 2006 season Kibebe left Tromsø I.K. for Aalesunds FK who had just been promoted from the Adeccoligaen at the end of the 2006 season after finishing as runners up.

Denmark

After a successful time at Aalesunds FK he was sold to Danish team FC Nordsjælland. In Denmark he quickly made a good name for himself where he was a strong contributor to helping the team win the Danish Cup 2010 for the first time in the clubs history. Kibebe is noted for 21 games in the UEFA cup and scored the first goal of the FC Nordsjælland's UEFA Cup contest against the Scottish club Queen of the South F.C. from Dumfries.

Switzerland

On 5 May 2010, the day after FC Nordsjælland's Danish Cup victory he was bought by the Swiss Club FC Luzern. Kibebe signed a three-year contract.

International career

Kibebe has played one match for the Swedish national team, as well as seven age-based international matches.

External links

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixb1YaUy1bc
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WobRQpON1w
• http://www.ethiosports.com/2010/11/01/q-a-benjamin-%E2%80%9Cbenyam%E2%80%9D-kibebe-of-fc-luzern-switzerland/
• FCL buys a Swedish defender (English)