PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Today, it is Swedish football history that no one forgets.
But now Tomas Brolin reveals the truth behind the famous free kick variant in the 1994 World Cup.
– With hindsight, it still turned out well, he says in the documentary “World Cup 94 – a sports saga”.
It is the goal that has really been etched in the Swedish people’s soul. No one forgets when Sweden met Romania in the quarter-finals of the 1994 FIFA World Cup and Blågult got a free kick just outside the penalty area at 0-0.
Brolin reveals
The midfield shadow Stephen Schwarz put the ball right on the grass and what happened next is pure and simple sports history in our long country. The teammate Thomas Brolin made a run behind the defensive wall but instead of shooting at goal Schwarz jumped over the ball and Håkan Mild suited a deep-running Brolin.
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The Romanians understood nothing and just seconds later the ball was in the goal and the Swedes cheered wildly. The free kick variant from the WC 94 became famous throughout the world and the Swedes’ genius was widely praised.
READ MORE: Tomas Brolin reveals the toughest man he has met – knocks Maldini, Baresi and Maradona(!): “He was rock hard”
“Screamed in my ear”
But 29 years later, the protagonist himself now admits the truth behind the free kick goal which was actually a mistake, see it again below.
– Tommy Svensson found this free kick variation when we tried it in Parma earlier in the year, he noted it in his book and took it out a few days before the Romania match. We knew spies were watching our training so we didn’t even want to try it, we just talked about how to do it. And if we were to get a location, we would try it, says Tomas Brolin in the documentary “VM 94 – a sports saga”.
– But the funny thing about it all is that I would pass the ball diagonally towards the back.
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The target king Kenneth Andersson also recalls and recounts his unexpected reaction after Brolin scored.
– If you look in retrospect, you can see that there are quite a few of us who fill up the penalty area. We know that the ball will go in front of the goal, says the former national team striker in the documentary.
– He wouldn’t shoot at goal there, he wouldn’t score. I ran up to him after the goal and shouted in his ear: “You made a mistake! You would record it in front of the goal”.
READ MORE: Here is the new world eleven for the World Cup 1994 and two(!) Swedes take their place – but Tomas Brolin is completely snubbed: “Decent eleven”
Admitting mistakes
Brolin admits his mistake and explains why he did what he did on that summer day 29 years ago, watch the free kick again below.
– There will be three-four-five hungry wolves in the middle who are prepared for me to pass the ball in, but I think I have an open goal and think: “Shit, here I can score myself”. Then I shot instead!, says Brolin with a laugh.
– With hindsight, it still turned out well.
You can safely say that, as the goal contributed to taking the match to a penalty shoot-out where Sweden won and went on to the World Cup semi-finals. As we all know, it ended with a successful WC bronze for Blågult and Tomas Brolin was selected for the world team as one of the WC’s very best players.
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Watch the free kick: