Benjamin Kibebe (born August 13, 1981[2]) is a Swedish former footballer who played as a defender. He won one cap for the Sweden national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1981-08-13) August 13, 1981 (age 40) | ||
| Place of birth | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| 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[1] | 56 | (1) |
| 2010–2012 | FC Luzern | 12 | (1) |
| 2012–2013 | FC Midtjylland | 9 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 2001 | Sweden | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 March 2013 | |||
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 as a senior played. He has said that the only reason he crossed the divide is that AIK offered him a professional contract and Hammarby didn't. During his time at AIK he was capped once for Sweden.
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 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 IL for Aalesunds FK who had just been promoted from the 1. divisjon at the end of the 2006 season after finishing as runners up.
After a successful time at Aalesund 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 club's 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.[3]
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.[4]
Kibebe has played one match for the Swedish national team, as well as seven age-based international matches.[5]