Henrik larsson biography of alberta

So was this legendary player to start with a bang? Yes, but not exactly how it was meant to be written. In his debut, a bad pass to Chick Charnley an opposition player allowed him to score a scorcher against Celtic which allowed him to live off that goal forever more in his dinner speeches. A makeshift squad, having lost many of the better players e.

Larsson struck up a good partnership with his fellow strikers, scoring 19 goals himself, a magnificent return. Larsson recognised this league title as one of the highlights of his Celtic career. The next manager was Jo Venglos, an affable man and a fair manager, but with a Rangers-biased press tearing into him and insulting him at every point, life at Celtic for both himself and the players was never to be easy.

The introduction of Lubo to the Celtic squad was for Larsson a catalyst that helped to push him fully into the limelight, and he lapped up the support and the goals. The golden striker partnership with stroppy Viduka was short-lived due to the attitude of the latter, but when it worked it was magnificent. The standards he set himself and his demeanour were something that was making him increasingly noticed by all within and outside the clubwith respect from everyone.

At the end of it it all, it was still a poor season for Celtic, so was Larsson about to leave? Again thankfully no, despite overtures from other clubs including Manchester Utd. He and his family were happy and nothing else mattered. New set of managers John Barnes with Kenny Dalglish installed at the helm, and at the start there was a new confidence about the place but it turned out to be quite ephemeral, John Barnes being in way over his head.

The pictures made it look even worse than it already was his shinguard popped out and made it look like he now had three jointsbut he was finished for the season. It is painful to look back on that moment, and how everyone all genuinely felt for him as a person let alone as a footballer. It could have been the end of his career, as various footballers have been unable to fully recover from such an injury mentally or physically being out for eight months.

Without Larsson, the season went from bad to worse for Celtic: dumping our manager, humiliating Scottish Cup exit,infighting amongst players and so on. Worst of all were the big defeats by Rangers, watching them outspend Celtic and win the league at a canter. Would it all not have happened? You can only guess now. It was a poor tournament for Sweden but Larsson managed to score one goal in a defeat to Italy, and coming after the pain of the past year it was a sweet moment his first goal in a competitive match since his return.

Having played under four managers already at Celtic, Larsson might have felt a bit tired of the merry-go-round, but the arrival of players such as Sutton, Thompson and Lennon changed both the dynamic and atmosphere surrounding the whole squad that possibly it was like as if he himself had just arrived at the club. Most importantly, Larsson scored in the first league game of the season coincidentally again against Dundee Utd to get him off the starting blocks, his first competitive goal for Celtic in around 10 months.

A great start for Celtic in the first run, with 6 wins on the trot 2 in the UEFA cup and the first team were to next face Rangers who were arrogant and bloated from their pre-season spending. The game has become legendary and Larsson stands out more than anyone else. You could go on. Larsson at this point had made himself a legend with the Celtic fans, and his name was sung more heartily and with greater devotion than ever before.

The match was a turning point for both Larsson and Celtic, and the Larsson Cult was truly born and under way. Larsson cemented a perfect partnership with Chris Sutton, who in many ways was a very different character. In the first 17 games of the season, he only managed to score one goal, but he redeemed himself the following year and won his first football trophies.

The peak of his career came with his performances for Celtic from While he scored 19 goals in his first season, he surpassed this record by scoring 39 goals the following year. Despite the concerns of doctors, he quickly returned to form and even exceeded his previous performance by scoring 53 goals in the next season. Larsson joined Barcelona at the age of 33, but he was mostly used as a rotational player, which reduced his performance.

As a result, he left the henrik larsson biography of alberta after two years and returned to his hometown club Helsingborgs IF, where he played as a forward until Inhe spent the entire year on loan with Manchester United. Despite his constant involvement in football, Larsson started his coaching career in with Landskrona BoIS. Although he was unable to lead the team to the top Swedish league, he started assisting his hometown club, Helsingborgs IF, inwhere his son was already playing.

Larsson played a testimonial match on 25 May against Sevilla in front of a capacity crowd at Celtic Park. At the end of the —04 season, Larsson left Celtic on a free transfer and signed a one-year contract with Barcelona with an option for a second year. He scored 3 goals in 12 Liga games and one goal against his former club Celtic [ ] in four Champions League matches.

After the match against Celtic, he said: "It was very difficult for me to celebrate my goal because I had so many great times here. In DecemberLarsson announced that at the end of his contract, which ended in July, he would leave Barcelona and return to Sweden to end his career. He revealed that he had refused an offer by club president Joan Laporta to extend his contract to the end of the next season.

But I am also losing a great friend. Henrik was my idol and now that I am playing next to him it is fantastic".

Henrik larsson biography of alberta

In Larsson's final match for Barcelona, his substitute introduction was pivotal to win the Champions League final. Larsson assisted both of Barcelona's goals in a 2—1 win over Arsenal. He came on, he changed the game, that is what killed the game. Sometimes you talk about Ronaldinho and Eto'o and people like that; you need to talk about the proper footballer who made the difference, and that was Henrik Larsson tonight.

Helsingborg went on to win the competition, defeating Gefle 2—0 in the final on 11 Novemberearning Larsson another medal. He registered two goals and two assists in three Royal League matches just before leaving on loan. Shortly after rejoining Helsingborg, Larsson was signed on loan by Manchester United from 1 January until 12 Marchcoinciding with the Allsvenskan's off-season.

While United were eager to extend the loan deal, Larsson stated that he had made a promise to his family and his club to return on 12 March. This was confirmed on 20 February, when Larsson announced that he would not be extending his loan period. Manchester United won the Premier League two months after Larsson had left the club, Larsson had not played the required quota of ten league games to qualify for a Premier League winners medal.

Despite media reports to the contrary, [ ] [ ] Larsson stated in that he did not receive a medal. The return leg in Sweden on 4 October saw Helsingborg win 5—1, Larsson again scoring, to win the tie 8—6 on aggregate and qualify for the group stage. Some reports at the time suggested that this in fact was the end of his playing career, with this injury also coming on top of the recent death of his younger brother, Robert.

On 20 OctoberLarsson announced his retirement from playing at the end of the Allsvenskan. Larsson had also stated his desire to move into coaching and expressed his intent to study for coaching qualifications in Scotland under the Scottish Football Association system. As of his retirement, he remains the Swedish player with the most goals scored 59 in UEFA competitions Zlatan Ibrahimovic is next on When he retired at the end of the season, that promise was not fulfilled.

Due to the many injuries, Larsson was included in the first-team squad that beat Tenhult with 4—2 on 19 June He came off the bench in the 85th minute, and played alongside his son, Jordan. Larsson scored 37 goals in matches for the Sweden national team. Larsson began Sweden's first game of the tournament, against Cameroonon the bench, but came on as a substitute with Sweden trailing 1—2.

Larsson struck a fierce, long-range shot against the crossbar, with Dahlin reacting quickly to score the rebound to give their country a 2—2 draw. The match finished 2—2 after extra time, with Sweden winning on penalties, one of which was scored by Larsson. Larsson became a regular in the side after that, playing in six of his country's qualifiers for Euro He did not score in any of these matches and Sweden failed to qualify for the henrik larsson biographies of alberta. Sweden succeeded in qualifying for Eurowith Larsson scoring three goals during the qualifying matches.

Larsson was selected for the Sweden squad despite having only just recovered from a broken leg sustained playing for Celtic. Larsson helped guide Sweden out of the group of death and into the knockout round with a 2—1 win over Nigeria in which he scored both goals. Larsson's decision to retire from international football was met with dismay in Sweden and there was much clamoring for him to return to the team for their campaign at Euro in Portugal.

Larsson's diving header against Bulgaria was voted best goal of the tournament. He scored in the final minute of the match against England for Sweden to draw the match 2—2 in their final match in the group stages. In Sweden's last 16 game against hosts GermanyLarsson missed a penalty and Sweden went out with the score at 2—0 to Germany.

He retired from international football for the second time on 17 July It feels right. Following former team captain Freddie Ljungberg 's decision to quit the national side after the tournament, Larsson was chosen to become the new captain in a friendly match against France on 20 August[ ] He scored his 37th goal for Sweden in that match, although France ended up winning 3—2.

At the age of 38 years and 20 days, Larsson became the oldest outfield player in the history of the Sweden national team with his last ever appearance against Denmark on 10 October Larsson made clear his intentions to take up coaching once his playing career came to an end, having also expressed an interest in returning to Celtic in a coaching capacity.

On 14 December Larsson was appointed manager at Landskrona BoISa Swedish second division football club, on a one-year contract. The news that Larsson would take over Landskrona was received with mixed feelings, as his former club Helsingborg traditionally were their main rivals. The Superettanthe first season for Larsson as a manager, started off positively for Landskrona.

With an aggressively attacking 4—3—3 formation Larsson's club lined up victories and fought for the top positions and promotion to Allsvenskan, until the very end of the season. They finished in fifth place. The Landskrona BoIS board was satisfied with the results, and both Larsson and his assistant manager Hans Eklund renewed their contracts for another year.

On 23 MarchLandskrona BoIS announced the recruitment of the Sweden national team qualified midfielder Marcus Lantz from Helsingborg, a solicitation that was largely thanks to Larsson. Before the Superettan season, the managers of the other Superettan clubs had tipped Landskrona as the likely champion. Instead of being in the top of the table, Landskrona was stuck at the bottom more than halfway into the season, with relegation looming.

Some fans protested against both the board and Henrik Larsson, sarcastically suggesting that the club had used an impostor instead of the real Larsson. On 21 NovemberLarsson signed a new one-year contract, making him manager for Landskrona during the Superettan as henrik larsson biography of alberta. On 4 DecemberLarsson was appointed manager of Falkenbergsigning a one-year rolling contact with the newly promoted club.

After leaving Falkenberg, Larsson was appointed manager of Helsingborg. After the final whistle, a minor group of disappointed home fans attacked both Larsson and his son, Jordan. First match with Larsson in the staff was three days later against Utsiktens BK away. Larsson, along with head coach Alexander Tengryd, left the club at the end of the season.

On 16 JuneHelsingborg announced that Larsson had returned to the club as their new manager. On 23 AugustHelsingborg announced that Larsson had decided to quit as head coach after being verbally assaulted on social media following the club's loss to third tier club Oskarshamns AIK in the qualification to Svenska Cupen group stage. In September he began talks with English club Southend United about becoming their manager, [ ] but these collapsed when proposed assistant Tommy Johnson accepted another offer.

Larsson also played floorball at a competitive level in On 23 Novemberhe resumed his floorball career when he played his first Swedish Super League game for Helsingborg. In his second game for the club, he made two assists, and was voted man of the match. Larsson stood out for his discipline, professionalism and work-rate throughout his career.

On 21 JuneLarsson married Magdalena Spjuth, [ 11 ] whom he had met in a restaurant when he was 19 years old. On 6 Junebefore Sweden's 1—0 loss against DenmarkLarsson's younger brother Robert, who had a troubled personal life, was found dead in his flat in their hometown of Helsingborg. Feyenoord [ ]. Celtic [ ]. Barcelona [ ]. Helsingborg [ ].

Sweden [ ]. Individual [ ]. Orders and special awards [ ]. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikidata item. Swedish footballer and manager born This article is about the Swedish footballer. For the sprinter, see Henrik Larsson sprinter.

For the Danish footballer, see Henrik Larsen. For the Swedish pool player, see Henrik Larsson pool player. Medal record. Early life [ edit ]. Club career [ edit ]. Early career [ edit ]. Helsingborg [ edit ]. Feyenoord [ edit ]. Celtic [ edit ]. Legacy [ edit ]. Barcelona [ edit ]. Return to Helsingborg [ edit ]. Loan to Manchester United [ edit ].

Playing activity after retirement [ edit ]. International career [ edit ]. Euro [ edit ]. Managerial career [ edit ]. Landskrona BoIS [ edit ]. Falkenberg [ edit ]. Return to Helsingborgs IF [ edit ]. Floorball career [ edit ]. Style of play [ edit ]. Personal life [ edit ]. Career statistics [ edit ]. Club [ edit ]. International [ edit ]. Managerial statistics [ edit ].

Honours [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Premier League. Archived from the original on 18 April Retrieved 21 March Swedish Football Association in Swedish. Archived from the original on 27 October Retrieved 4 November Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 11 February Retrieved 10 February STV Sport. Archived from the original on 4 March Retrieved 20 October Retrieved 19 July Archived from the original on 23 August But for me as a professional player, I never cared about money.

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