Bengt Erik Markus Berg (; born 17 August 1986) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently the assistant coach of Allsvenskan club IFK Göteborg.
Beginning his footballing career in Sweden with IFK Göteborg in the early 2000s, Berg went on to play for several clubs across various countries, including Panathinaikos in Greece, PSV and Groningen in the Netherlands, Hamburger SV in Germany, Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, and Krasnodar in Russia before returning to Sweden to join boyhood club IFK Göteborg in 2021.
A full international from 2008 to 2021, Berg won 90 caps and scored 24 total goals for the Sweden national team. He represented his country at the UEFA Euro 2016, the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and UEFA Euro 2020, before retiring from international football inherently in July 2021.
Club career IFK Göteborg After spending two years in the youth team, during the 2005 season Berg was promoted to the regular squad and played for IFK Göteborg in the Allsvenskan. During the time playing for IFK Göteborg, he played alongside his older brother Jonatan.
Berg played for IFK Göteborg until the 2007 summer and put forth an attracting performance throughout his final season, as he maintained a high scoring efficiency throughout the league matches. Göteborg won the league that season and Berg received a standing ovation upon leaving the field after the 5–0 away victory over Kalmar FF where Berg scored, which was his last for the club because of his suspension for the game against Djurgårdens IF.
Among dedicated IFK Göteborg supporters, Berg is known as Svarte-Marcus ("Black Marcus") due to his many goals in the Göteborg youth and reserve teams, and later also senior team. The nickname is an homage to the legendary IFK Göteborg striker Filip "Svarte-Filip" Johansson.
Groningen On 10 August 2007, Dutch club FC Groningen signed Berg for a reported £2.5 million to replace the departing Ajax-bound Luis Suárez.
Berg had a good debut season in the Netherlands. Although he was not the top scorer in the Eredivisie in 2007–08, he scored 18 goals for Groningen, helping the Dutch outfit to a seventh-place finish.
In the 2008–09 season, Groningen remained top of the Eredivisie table after five games played. Berg had a good display as well. He managed to score 13 goals in 15 matches. He also scored four goals in a December game against Roda JC.
Hamburger SV 2009–10 season
On 17 July 2009, German Bundesliga side Hamburger SV confirmed that Berg had signed a five-year contract with the club. The official FC Groningen website mentioned it was a record fee paid for a Groningen player. Dagblad van het Noorden, a Dutch newspaper, stated that Berg swapped clubs for €10.5 million. The contract also mentioned that a friendly match will be played between Groningen and Hamburg in the summer of 2010 or 2011 in the Euroborg, the main stadium of Groningen. Although initially the fee of €9.5 million was too high for Hamburg, Berg's desire of moving to the Bundesliga persuaded Groningen to complete the transfer. In his first Bundesliga game for Hamburg, playing at home against Borussia Dortmund, Berg scored his first goal for the club in the 72nd minute, just 182 seconds after coming off the bench, a record in the club's history. Despite the promising start, his debut season in the Bundesliga would not become a success, with Berg only scoring three additional goals in 30 appearances.
2010–11 season: Loan to PSV On 17 July 2010, PSV and Hamburg agreed to a season-long loan deal for Berg.
2011–12 season: Return from loan After returning from his loan spell at PSV, Berg only made 13 appearances the 2011–12 Bundesliga due to injuries and continued lack of form, scoring once. On 9 November 2012, Hamburger SV athletic supervisor Frank Arnesen stated that the club had to sell five players to raise funds after having invested heavily in new players in the previous summer, including Dutch star Rafael van der Vaart; one of these five players was said to be Berg. After these news, Berg was linked with a return to his former club IFK Göteborg.
Panathinaikos
On 4 July 2013, it was revealed that Berg had travelled to Athens in order to sign with Panathinaikos. On 8 July 2013, Panathinaikos announced that Berg had signed a four-year contract with the club. On 18 August 2013, in his debut appearance, Berg scored his first goal with Panathinaikos, as his team won the game against Panetolikos. On the first derby of the year against PAOK, Berg scored Panathinaikos' goal and lost a penalty, as his team lost with a score of 2–1. On 2 March 2014, Berg was the MVP in the 3–0 away victory against Olympiacos with one goal and one assist for Danijel Pranjić. This was the biggest away victory in the history of the Eternal Rivals. The following week, he scored a hat-trick when Panathinaikos defeated Aris 4–1 at home.
On 26 April 2014, in the Greek Cup final against rivals PAOK, Berg scored a hat-trick to lead Panathinaikos to a 4–1 victory, who won the Greek Cup as they had done in 2010. On 11 January 2015, Berg scored his second hat-trick in a 5–0 home win against Ergotelis in the Super League Greece. On 26 January 2015, he signed a one-year extension contract, until 2018. On 8 March, in a Panathinaikos–PAOK derby, Berg scored his third hat-trick in a 4–3 home win. On 30 March 2015, after two-and-a-half years, Berg scored his seventh international goal on friendly match against Iran.
On 31 August 2015, Panathinaikos rivals PAOK offered to €2 million for Berg, but the "Greens" turned it down. Additionally, Marseille tried to complete a move for the Swedish striker on the deadline date, however, they were put off by Panathinaikos's price tag.Marseille enquiried Panathinaikos over Berg Retrieved 1 September 2015.
On 6 September 2015, Berg was left frustrated as he did not start in the line-up for the game against Russia. Sweden lost 1–0 at the hands of Russia with Berg making his appearance for only 30 minutes on the pitch as he started from the bench. Swedish press criticised this decision and Berg demanded first team football in the National Team after the final whistle."Ola Toivonen is a kind of a different player than me and this decision has been taken. But it's pretty clear that I want to play as I'm in a decent form," the Panathinaikos striker underlined straight after the game.Berg wants first team football in Sweden Retrieved 6 September 2015. On 7 November 2015, he scored the winning goal in the 10th day of the Super League match against Atromitos, It was his 50th goal with the club in all competitions.Επιστροφή στις νίκες με ανατροπή για τον Παναθηναϊκο 2–1 τον Ατρόμητο Retrieved 7 November 2015. On 24 January 2016, almost 2.5 months since his last goal in the Super League, Berg scored leading his club to away 2–0 victory against Levadiakos.Berg and Essien lead Panathinaikos to away victory Retrieved 24 January 2016. On 6 March 2016, Swedish striker and fans of Panathinaikos' favorite Berg reached 100 official appearances with the Greek club at a home game against Atromitos.Berg reaches 100 Panathinaikos' appearances Retrieved 6 March 2016. On 19 March 2016, he scored a brace against Iraklis for the Super League.Μπεργκ: "Πάντα θέλω δεύτερο επιθετικό" Retrieved 20 March 2016.Berg and Moledo score twice, Panathinaikos crash Iraklis Retrieved 19 March 2016. On 17 April 2016, in the last matchday for the 2015–16 season, Berg scored five times (23', 41', 45+2', 51', 62') in his team's 6–1 victory against Panthrakikos.Παναθηναϊκός – Πανθρακικός 6–1 Retrieved 17 April 2016. On 18 August 2016, Berg was the scorer of two goals, helping Panathinaikos win the first leg of the UEFA Europa League play offs and is set to qualify for the group stage, as the Greens crushed Danish Brøndby IF 3–0 at Leoforos stadium.Panathinaikos vs Brøndby 3–0 Retrieved 18 August 2016.
On 6 September 2016, Berg stepped into retired Sweden national team captain Zlatan Ibrahimović's vacant boots to open the scoring in Stockholm just two minutes before the break against Netherlands, as he capitalised on Kevin Strootman's defensive mishap to smash in from outside the box into the top left corner.Sweden vs Netherlands 1–1 Retrieved 6 September 2016. On 18 September 2016, he was the scorer of two goals, helping the club to achieve a 4–0 home win against PAS Giannina. It was his first goals for the 2016–17 season.Ο Παναθηναϊκός έχει τον καλύτερο Retrieved 18 September 2016. On 23 September 2016, Berg extended his three-year contract for an annual fee of €1.1 million and with a €10 million release clause.O Μάρκους Μπεργκ μιλάει για το νέο συμβόλαιό του στο PAO TV Retrieved 23 September 2016. Panathinaikos has 55% of Berg's rights, Hamburger SV has 45% and the rest 10% belongs to the player. On 19 January, was the scorer of two goals, helping the club, to achieve a 2–1 home win against Platanias, helping the club climbing in the third place of Super League.Με τον Μπεργκ να δίνει απαντήσεις, 2–1 ο Παναθηναϊκός τον Πλατανιά Retrieved 19 January 2017. On 30 January 2017, Panathinaikos announced the agreement for the extension of Berg's contract till the summer of 2019. On 12 February 2017, he was the scorer of three goals in a Super League 4–0 home win against Panetolikos. He was named MVP of the match.Παναθηναϊκός – Παναιτωλικός 4–0 Retrieved 12 February 2017. On 4 March 2017, with Swedish international striker grabbing a hat-trick (pen. 18', pen. 39', 41'), Panathinaikos won 5–0 against struggling Veria. He became the leading scorer of Super League so far and named MVP of the march.Σκόρπισε τη Βέροια στους... πέντε ανέμους ο Παναθηναϊκός Retrieved 4 March 2017. On 11 March 2017, Panathinaikos striker scored his 24th goal into the season breaking his own record since he joined the Greens. The Swedish striker continues to be in great form as he scored once again in Panathinaikos's 1–1 Super League draw with Iraklis.Έσπασε ρεκόρ ο Μπεργκ Retrieved 12 March 2017. On 19 March 2017, Berg scored for the third time in his "green" career in the derby against Olympiacos in Panathinaikos's win with 1–0 at home. Berg scored twice on 2 April 2017 against AEK Athens in the away win 2–3 in the Athenian derby. On 6 April 2017, Panathinaikos won 1–0 Panionios at Leoforos Stadium, thanks to a penalty kick by Berg. It was the fifth consecutive game that the Swedish international scored. On 30 April 2017, he scored his last goal for the season, in a 2–0 home win against AEL gaining the title of the 2016–17 League top scorer for first time in his Greek career.
On 18 May 2017, the Swedish striker will miss the remainder of Super League play-offs because he will serve four-game suspension. The 31-year-old international and captain of the Greens showed unprofessional behavior on home clash against PAOK (1–0), which was finally interrupted by referee Giorgos Kominis at 55', and will not perform at the four remaining matches.
On 20 June 2017, the Administration of Panathinaikos rejected the first offer of Al Ain FC (€2.5–3 million) about the purchase of experienced Swedish striker. The Greens are holding the 55% of the rights of 31-year-old international (his former team, Hamburger SV, have the other 35%), whose current contract expires in the summer of 2019, with a buy-out clause of €5.2 million, but the negotiations with the UAE club are expected to be continued, while Berg has already agreed to sign a two (plus one) years' season contract with Al Ain, with an annual salary of €3 million after taxes.
Al Ain