Henrik Larsson was a target for bullies at school, then a punchbag for critics in his early career. No wonder Sweden’s favourite player now revels in his hard-earned acclaim...
The more arduous a journey, the more satisfying it is to complete. Henrik Larsson never set out to win the love of a nation, yet he now stands one successful tournament away from eternal worship in Sweden.
It is the result of one man’s remarkable stubbornness. He was bullied at school because of the colour of his skin, struggled desperately at his first club abroad, Feyenoord, and it took him a long, long time to convince the national coaches – and the Swedish public – that he was worthy of a place in the starting XI. With his floppy hair and fancy touches there was a feeling that it was all style and no substance. Larsson, for a long time, was considered a luxury player.
He scored one of the best goals in the 1994 World Cup in the third place play-off against Bulgaria. The image of Bulgarian defender Trifan Ivanov falling over as Larsson whizzed past him to make it 3-0 is etched in the minds of Swedish fans. Larsson was 22 at the time and, although he had operated mainly from the bench, the goal confirmed his emergence as world-class footballer.
Then he disappeared off the radar. Feyenoord, whom he had joined in 1993, appointed Arie Haan as their coach and the Dutchman showed less and less faith in him. It started with Larsson being substituted around the 70th-minute mark, then his appearances became 65 or 60 minutes and finally he was withdrawn just after half-time towards the end of his time at the club.
Celtic, whose manager Wim Jansen had brought Larsson to the Netherlands, showed an interest but Feyenoord held out for more money and the transfer had to be referred to a tribunal. Larsson broke down in tears and threatened to quit football. But he didn’t. He was – and is – far too determined and pig-headed to give up. And it is that attitude that has turned him from perceived underachiever to worshipped elder statesman of a Sweden team playing in their fourth consecutive major finals.
“Henrik is a leader,” said Sweden coach Lars Lagerbäck, “and his attitude is very important to our team. He is so determined to always do his best and to win that it permeates the whole squad. And I think that some of the younger players look at him and think that anything is possible if you just have the right attitude. Henrik has had some bad injuries but has never given up and is now playing at the highest level at the age of 34.”
Lagerbäck’s words would please Larsson. Almost all of his life, he has been out to prove people wrong and that nothing is impossible. It has been a long struggle, but it has made Larsson the ultimate competitor. “I guess it has to do with my upbringing,” he said last year. “The fact that I, from an early age, had to hear that certain things wouldn’t always be possible meant that I have always had an inner voice saying: Well, we’ll have to wait and see about that.
“I was short as a kid, I was weak and I was this and that. Maybe I should thank everyone who has had a go at me. That is what has made me incredibly stubborn. But it got me into trouble at school. I couldn’t just sit there and listen to it all. I was involved in a lot of fights. Unfortunately it seemed that fighting was the only solution.”
The Barcelona striker admitted that his pig-headedness is a positive attribute when it comes to football, but that it may not always be helpful in other areas of life. “I have learned to compromise,” he said. “I didn’t find it especially easy but I have learned to compromise. And if I hadn’t I would be impossible to live with.”
Larsson’s decision to retire from the Swedish national team after the 2002 World Cup to spend more time with his family may have been a compromise with his wife Magdalena, though it has been reported that he quit at the request of his son Jordan. But the 22-month absence from the yellow-and-blue shirt only increased his popularity in Sweden.
60,000 Swedes signed a petition begging him to come back and after one of the most consistent and concerted media campaigns in Sweden’s sporting history, Larsson returned and scored one of the most beautiful goals of Euro 2004. Erik Edman sent the ball in from the left and Larsson launched himself forward to arrow the ball into the bottom corner with his head.
Sweden reached the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated on penalties against Holland. Larsson naturally converted his and afterwards there was no talk about hanging up his boots. “I want to carry on playing for Sweden as long as they want me to. I feel that I can still do it at the highest level and I don’t ever want to talk about retirement again,” he said.
Larsson will leave Barcelona at the end of the season, rejoining his former club Helsingborg. For a while he pondered over the possibility of joining his first club, Högaborg, in the Swedish third division, but felt that he could still play in the Swedish premier league. He has focused on the challenge to prove to everyone that he could still deliver as a 35-year-old and there was no stopping him.
“I have always been like that, always wanting to do my absolute best, ever since my dad told me that I should always be as prepared as possible,” Larsson said. “I could have quit football or joined Högaborg and played for fun but after I returned from the [cruciate ligament] injury I felt that I still had a lot to offer.
“I wasn’t that old when my dad said that, about preparation, but it stuck. I have used that mantra since I was a young player but when you get older you realise even more how important it is to be well prepared. You have to give yourself the chance to do your best. Only through preparation can you do your best. I might have been a bit too serious a few years ago, but when you get older you get a bit of distance to what you are doing. I am not a robot and when I have got time off I play golf and spend time with my friends like everyone else. But during the season the football always comes first.”
Larsson scored five goals in the qualifying campaign for Germany, despite a cruciate knee ligament that kept him out for most of the 2004-05 season. And Lagerbäck praised his contribution: “There were times when we struggled in qualifying and Henrik’s experience helped us. Against Hungary away, which turned out to be a crucial game, he worked selflessly for 82 minutes up front to exhaust the defenders and in the end we got the winner.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who had done next to nothing in the game until the 90th minute, won the game with his late strike from the corner of the area, and Lagerbäck believes that the two strikers and their contrasting styles will give Sweden the chance of going far in Germany.
“Before, our attacking play may have been a bit static but now we have Zlatan and Henrik up front as well as Fredrik Ljungberg, Christian Wilhelmsson and Kim Källström or Anders Svensson coming forward,” he said, while adding that the Larsson-Ibrahimovic partnership is “one of the best in the world” and “at least level with Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney”.
“They have got so much to offer together,” he said. “They have experience and youthful energy. They have strength and great technique and they work well together. I wouldn’t want to swap them for any other strike pair in the world.”
It is a view shared by the Swedish public. Their love for Larsson is unrestrained. Ibrahimovic is the more aloof, cocky youngster who refuses to speak to the Swedish press, but Larsson can do no wrong. Swedes do not consider his seven years at Celtic as taking the easy option, scoring goals in a weaker league when he could have tried to establish himself in Italy, Spain or England. The Scottish league, after all, is more high-profile than the Swedish league and the Swedes are immensely proud that he was a hero in at least one half of Glasgow.
The fact that he has then managed to score regularly when he has been playing for Barcelona is a bonus. He has already secured his status as being one of the best footballers Sweden has ever produced. Late last year, the newspaper Aftonbladet organised a vote to decide the best player to ever have graced the yellow-and-blue shirt.
110,000 Swedes took part in the vote and, despite facing competition from players such as Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl, Nisse Liedholm, Ralf Edström, Patrik Andersson and Tomas Brolin, Larsson won it.
The paper organised a big award ceremony and hired Sir Bobby Charlton to present the trophy to Larsson. Charlton turned up, but Larsson didn’t. He had a game in the Catalan Cup with Barcelona. “It may not be the biggest game in the history of football,” he said, “but I always want to do my best and sitting four hours in an aeroplane is not the best preparation.”
It was a typical Larsson response, and one that Swedes will miss if, as expected, he stops playing international football beyond this summer. “If you want to do something you might as well do it as well as you possibly can,” he added. “I love playing football and always, always want to do my best. It is what has made me the player I am.”
