In our first series of MailTelegraph Hall of Fame, we look at former Swedish and Celtic striker Henrik Edward Larsson.
Larsson was born in Helsingborg, Scania Sweden by Francisco Rocha (Cape Verde and father ) and Eva Larsson (Swedish and mother ).
Larsson took his mothers surname after the splitting up of his parents though not legally married. This was a decision made by the parents so he could be fully accepted by the Swedes. He credits his father for his love of football and claims his father gave him his first ball aged 16 months old and that his parents bought him the video of Pele's life story which inspired him.
Larsson started at Hogaborg (lower league) aged six years old and graduated to the senior team aged 17 after combining football with his fruit packing job. He left Hogaborg having scored 23 goals in 74 games and joined Helsingborg in 1992 and left in 1993 scoring 56 goals in 50 games .
Larsson joined Feyenoord in 1993 but struggled all through his time in Holland. He was constantly played out of position and was always substituted in each game due to the clubs rotation policy . He left in controversy in 1997 after winning a legal battle against the club and scored a paltry 26 goals in 101 games .
Larsson joined Celtic in 1997, for £650,000 and scored 18 goals in all competitions for the Scottish giants after a slow start to the season. He won the Scottish League Cup in 1997 and also the Scottish League title in 1998 and the clubs first since the 1987-1988 double winning season . This ended Rangers nine consecutive league title and also ended their hopes of breaking Celtics record of nine straight winning.
Larsson won the European Golden Shoe in 2001 with 38 goals winning the Scottish League Cup, Scottish Cup and Scottish Premier League. The next season he scored his first ever Champions League goal as Celtic ended their first Champions League game with a controversial win over Juventus in Turin. The next season , Larsson's goal saw Celtic move to the UEFA Cup Finals making it their first ever final since the European Final in 1970, Celtic beat the likes of Blackburn , Liverpool and Boavista enroute the final . Larsson equalised twice in the final but lost 3-2 to Jose Mourinho's FC. Porto. He finished the season as the Greatest Swedish Footballer of the Last 50 Years as part of the UEFA Jubilee Awards.
Larsson left Celtic in 2004 and departed having won four SPL titles, two Scottish League Cups, and two Scottish Cups. He was the Scottish League top goalscorer five times in his six years at Celtic with 1999-2000 the only exception after missing more than five months due to a severe leg break. He left scoring 174 league goals in 221 games for Celtic .
He joined Barcelona on a free transfer in the 2004-2005 season and had a minimal impact in their La Liga title win. He scored three goals in 12 La Liga games and tore his cruciate ligament in a November 2004 3-0 derby victory over Real Madrid. In his last and second season he won his only Champions League medal as he came from the bench to assist both of Barcelona's two goals against Arsenal (Samuel Eto'o and Juliano Belletti were the scorers). He left scoring 13 goals in 40 games for Barcelona.
Larsson joined Helsingborg for the second time in 2006 and won the Swedish Cup. He scored eight league goals in 15 games and helped them qualify for the UEFA Cup.
Larsson joined Manchester United on loan in January 2007 which was the Swedish Leagues off season. He scored three goals in 13 games in his three month stay and returned to Sweden in time to start the new season. He was given the Premier League medal along with Alan Smith after Manchester United won the EPL two months after he left. This was after the Premier League granted Manchester United's special dispensation request as Larsson and Smith did not meet the required 10 league games.
He returned to Helsingborg, before moving to Raa IF and ending his career in Hogaberg.
He played for Sweden 106 times and scored 37 goals retiring after Euro 2008. He made his international debut tournament in USA 1994 FIFA World Cup against Cameroon in the first game.
He is currently the first team manage of Hogaborgs BK.
No comments:
Post a Comment