Stefan Schwarz was not the one to whine.
There is no better example of this than during the World Cup match against Costa Rica in 1990.
He then received one of the sickest tackles ever – and stood up without blinking.
Stefan Schwarz is one of Swedish football’s toughest players of all time, and few players have embodied the expression “bit together” better than him. It could really hurt to meet the Swede in midfield, and it was not often he held back when he went into duels. And yes, sometimes it could hurt quite a bit to meet him.
Hard, harder, Schwarz
But Schwarz was not only a devil in handing out tackles, he was perhaps the best at receiving as well. Schwarz got the nickname “The Swedish marble” in the club team Fiorentina, because he was so rock hard to meet, and rarely has a nickname fit in better.
Stefan Schwarz was one of the key players when Sweden took a sensational World Cup bronze in 1994, but he was also involved in the failed World Cup in 1990, and it was an eventful tournament for him. In the match against Costa Rica, he was responsible for an insane action against an opponent, but he himself was also subjected to one of the most careless tackles in World Cup history.
Insane tackle
The score was 1-0 to Sweden at the beginning of the second half when Schwarz himself first really jumped into a tackle. However, clear on the ball, and at that time you did not get a direct free kick against you if you went on the ball. How many studs did you even have…
But Schwarz was perhaps not immediately prepared for the opponent Hector Marchena to respond – with an even more violent tackles, with a real jump and two soles right towards Schwarz’s knees.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the clip is that Marchena actually gets away with just a yellow card – which would not have happened if the tackle had taken place in 2022. Another thing to note is really how little Schwarz whines – neither about the tackle nor the referee’s decision. He just stands up, scrapes away the patches of grass and drives on. Hard, harder, Stefan Schwarz!
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