PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Henrik Larsson is one of Swedish football’s great heroes.
But when he was to make his debut for Sweden’s A national team, not even his own mother was allowed to come and watch.
– I told her that she must stay at home, says “Henke” in an interview.
There are few Swedish footballers who can match Henrik Larsson’s amazing track record. He has played for some of the world’s biggest clubs in Manchester United, Barcelona and Celtic – and won titles with all of them.
Mother’s name
“Henke” grew up in Helsingborg with a Swedish mother and a father from the Cape Verde island of Boavista. Already at an early age, the parents decided that the son would have a mother Eva Larsson’s surname, to protect him.
– Instead of giving me my father’s surname, they decided that I should get my mother’s. It was a way of protecting me, which shouldn’t be needed, but that was the climate at the time. It is unfortunate that they had to reason like that and consider what it would have meant for me to have a foreign surname versus a Swedish one, the football legend has told in a Uefa interview.
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With Larsson on his back, the young striker would conquer Swedish football. Henke was a great success in Helsingborgs IF with 48 goals in 52 games and was then sold to the Dutch big club Feyenoord.
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Larsson’s career
In Rottendam, an incomparably good foreign career would then take off and the great recognition came in connection with the move to Scotland and Glasgow. The Swede absolutely poured in goals for Celtic, won nine titles, took home the Golden Shoe as Europe’s best goalscorer in 2001 and was bestowed with the iconic nickname “The King of Kings”.
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Then the dream move to the giant Barcelona went with five new titles and where the Champions League trophy in 2006 weighs the most, as Larsson was also the top contributor in the final match against Arsenal. When he then decided to wind down his career with a return to Helsingborg, Manchester United suddenly got in touch and that would lead to a Premier League title to crown his career with.
READ MORE: Henrik Larsson’s absolutely perfect welcome to Johan Mjällby before the move to Celtic: “He tanned…”
Henke’s debut
Even at national team level, Henrik Larsson has been masterfully good. There were 37 goals in 106 international matches during 16 years in the blue-and-yellow shirt, and the finest memory is of course the impressive World Cup bronze in 1994.
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The debut in the Swedish A national team came on 13 October 1993 in a World Cup qualifying match against Finland. It was a nervous 22-year-old who received reassuring advice from the national team captain Tommy Svensson infront of.
– Tommy has said: “Play as usual, just. Do what you’re good at,” said Henke in an interview with Expressen before the match.
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Forbidden mother
Larsson also revealed the most unexpected before the historic debut match in Blågult. Namely that he forbade his own mother Eva from taking a seat in Råsunda’s stands to watch her son’s very first match for Sweden.
– I never score when my mother is watching, that’s why I told her that she has to stay at home, said a very shocked Henke to the evening newspaper.
But Henke Larsson would also be right because the debut match in the national team was a great success for the striker. Sweden won the World Cup qualifying match in 1993 with 3-2 and the debutant Larsson scored directly followed by two goals from the attacking colleague Martin Dahlin.
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