Potential

The youthful looking fellow above is one Marcus Berg, and his is another in our long list of stand-in heroes. His actual birthday is August 17th, 1986 (so I am at least close), and he was born in Torsby, Sweden. His is probably, though I have checked it to make sure, by far the youngest hero that I have put onto this list.

I must confess that part of his hero status is based upon hope. Since our boy Marcus is one of Sweden's bright young stars in the footballing world, I based his status on the hope that he will perform heroic deeds for his country on the football pitch. He has already flashed some potential to be a superstar, scoring 7 goals in last year's UEFA under 21 championship held in Sweden, including two lovely goals against perfidious Albion.

His performance in that tournament won him both the Tournament's MVP award, and the Golden Boot. It also raised my hopes that my club, Arsenal, would go out and splash the cash to buy him. Considering is just about the age that the gaffer in charge of my team likes (he likes em young does Arsene), but it was not to be. He moved to Hamburg SV, and has since been loaned out to the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, where he is playing along side his under-21 strike partner Ola Toivonen. Here is hoping that they form a wonderful partnership for both club and country.

He has since been called up to the full Swedish national side, and has managed 3 goals in 14 appearances. I sincerely hope that he continues to perform as well in the years to come. So, for those wonderful under-21 goals that got Sweden into the semis, and for all of the potential he brings to the Sweden national team, Marcus Berg (August 17th, 1986-present), you are my (362nd) hero of the day.