SWEDEN ARE IN town this week with the likes of Zlatan in tow. But we all know the real stars of Swedish soccer will be watching tomorrow night’s game in slippers.
Here’s some of the stars of yesteryear we used to love.
Tomas Brolin
Best remembered for: Being part of the class Swedish team that performed so well at Euro 92 and the World Cup in America two years later as well as a Parma team — featuring Zola, Asprilla, Dino Baggio — which was loved by many Gazetta Football Italia viewers. He ended up in Leeds but failed to do the business consistently. Piled on the weight.
Football sticker you might have had: Panini 94
Career in one YouTube: This goal against Romania in a World Cup quarter-final summed up that Swedish team: imaginative, exciting, well-done.
YouTube: Blochin
What’s he done since retiring: Well, aren’t we glad you asked. Brolin returned to Sweden, invested in a business selling hoover mouthpieces, had a kid with an ex-girlfriend and became a star on the professional poker circuit.
Martin Dahlin
Best remembered for: Famously in Sweden, this classy striker — named after Martin Luther King — was the first black player to play for Sweden. He scored 29 goals in 60 games for the national team and was a favourite at Borrussia Monchengladbach in two spells. Also ended up at Blackburn in 1997.
Panini sticker: Premier League 1998.
Career in one YouTube: this goal in the Bundesliga. Typical, Marty D.
YouTube: bohemianstylezzz
Now doing? Dahlin set up his own sports agency and represents plenty of the squad in Dublin this week.
Anders Limpar
Best remembered for: Possessing one of the best left feet in the business, baby! The winger was bought by George Graham who liked doing business in Scandanavia (ahem). He fitted into an Arsenal team that reclaimed the league title in 1991 from Liverpool and then did a cup double the following year. He was signed by Everton on deadline day — there was one even before Sky Sports News, kids — and won another FA Cup with the Toffees.
Football sticker you might have had: Panini football league 93
Career in one YouTube: This clever bit of skill against a little team called Manchester United in the English First Division.
YouTube: mayogooner
Now doing? He retired from playing and established a bar in Stockholm and is involved in a plastic box business, glamourously. He was also fooled by a TV show into believing he’d travelled two years into the future.
YouTube: suprzero
