Many will acknowledge that without Henrik Larsson, there would be no Barcelona Champions League win in 2006. At the time, Frank Rijkaard was the coach of the Catalans, and his team consisted of stars such as Lionel Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Thiago Motta, Pujol, Ronaldinho, Deco and Samuel Eto‘o (who was the man of the match), but non of these extraordinary and skillful players didn‘t provide two assists which helped Barca overturn the 1-0 deficit and win the game. It was Henrik Larsson who came in the 61st minute and ‘decided‘ the game, as later confirmed by Arsenal‘s captain Thierry Henry. “You want to talk about people that make the difference. That was Henrik Larsson, with two assists. I didn’t see no Ronaldinho, no Eto’o” said Henry after the match. In a big interview for the Guardian, former Feyenoord, Celtic, Barcelona and Manchester United striker talked about his African heritage in native Sweden, his former clubs, a private plane hired by Sir Alex Ferguson and his lost love for football. The 2006 UEFA Champions League Final:HT: Barcelona 0 – 1 Arsenal’61 mins:🔄Henrik Larsson subbed on’76 mins: Larsson assist’80 mins: Larsson assistFT: Barcelona 2 – 1 Arsenal The King of Kings. 👑pic.twitter.com/kaXvwtkgzb— Celtic Soccer Show (@CelticSoccrShow) May 5, 2020 Born in Helsingborg, Sweden, the 52-year old former player played for his national football team, but still feels like he is not a Swede. His father is from Cape Verde, and his skin color was a factor from his early ages. “I see myself as foreign. I don’t know what I am, to be honest. I know I have 106 caps for Sweden. I know I’m Swede-ish, yes. But I never felt 100% Swede. I have to respect my father’s Cape Verde heritage, so maybe that’s why, but I don’t think I felt Swedish until I succeeded on the football pitch. When you’re nothing, you don’t matter. When you’re something, you’re part of this society. Then people forget where you’re from, what your race is. There were foreigners living here, coming from Yugoslavia, Greece, Finland. But here in this estate I was the only one with a darker complexion. I had a few fights here. If they call you the N-word, or something else, I used to hit them. I think that mentality comes from home. You have to stand up for yourself. It wasn’t an easy upbringing. But you have two options: you lay down and cry or you get on with it. I chose the second option” he admitted.Former Premier League legends team up to buy a football club in EnglandHis football career started of with local Hogabords and Helsingborgs before he moved to Feyenoord, but meteoric rise came in Celtic. In seven glorious seasons in Glasgow, Larsson scored 242 goals in 315 games, including 35 goals in 58 European matches, beating Hernán Crespo to the 2001 European Golden Boot after a 53-goal season. There is no doubt that he played his best football at the peak of his career in Glasgow, but at one point came time to move. It was Barcelona, where he stayed for two seasons, but won the Champions League. “I got about 30 offers after announcing I was leaving Celtic, from Spain, Italy, Germany, France, something from the UAE. I got a phone call from my wife, Magdalena, saying Barcelona was interested. I was in my bubble with Sweden at the 2004 Euros. I said: ‘Tell them they have to wait,’ as I didn’t want to disturb my preparations. She laughed and said: ‘I don’t think they are going to wait.’ So she went straight over to Spain with my agent and took the negotiations herself. Obviously it was a very different dressing room to Celtic. Coming to Barcelona, we had Ronaldinho, they also signed Deco, Ludovic Giuly, Samuel Eto’o at the same time as me. I enjoyed not being the main man any more. Ronaldinho had the pressure. And he dealt with it completely differently” he said.🚨🔴🎙️| Henrik Larsson: “I was living at the Lowry. Louis Saha & Patrice Evra would take me to lunch, Wayne Rooney too. I thought: ‘Oh, they really care.’ So you want to do good by them. It was an honour to represent #mufc.” pic.twitter.com/U0eUq2KkT0— The MU Stand (@themustand) March 4, 2024 It was not such as well known fact, but Larsson got the nod over Lionel Messi in that famous Champions League final. But, there was a reason for that. He and Lionel Messi had hamstring injuries in the buildup. “It was touch and go between me and Messi. But he sat in the stands and I went to the bench. Messi wasn’t the Messi then that he became. He was really, really good but not the player he was a year or two later. But also playing an English team, Frank Rijkaard knew I was used to that physical game” explained the Swede.R10 knew that the silent one and the only Argentine at the Brazilian table would be the greatestAnd then came the shock. At the age of 34, he made a switch from Barcelona to Helsingborg, but went to Manchester United on a loan for only three months. Nevertheless, he felt right at home there. “When I joined Manchester United, my brother Kim had a christening for one of his boys, I asked Sir Alex if it was possible. He arranged a private jet for me to get home after a game. I was only there for 10 weeks but he made me feel so welcome. I was living at the Lowry hotel. Louis Saha and Patrice Evra would take me to lunch, Wayne Rooney too. I thought: ‘Oh, they really care.’ So you want to do good by them. It was an honour to represent Manchester United“ he says. 🇸🇪🗣️ Henrik Larsson: “I’m tired of the game because more than ever it’s about the money.” “I understand I made good money from my career. You can’t compare me to a factory worker.” “For me as a professional player, I never cared about money. It was about playing football, The… pic.twitter.com/cFwBoKq2Bx— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) March 4, 2024 After ending his career, he head a brief stint as a manager, and recently was part of the Ronald Koeman‘s coaching staff, but got tired of football.“I’m so tired of the game. I felt that when I was in Barcelona as a coach, but I just wanted to check one more time what I already knew. The demands are so high. It was terrible the way Koeman got sacked, the way we got sacked. I’m tired of the game because more now than ever it’s about the money. I understand I made good money from my career. You can’t compare me with a factory worker. But for me as a professional player, I never cared about money. It was about playing football, the love of the game. I had an opportunity to go to Manchester United in the 1990s from Celtic. I would have earned more, maybe 10,000 or 15,000 pounds a week more. But I had just come off three and a half years at Feyenoord where it had been up and down. I had just found my feet at Celtic and I wanted to go on with that. We’d played in the Uefa Cup, I played for Sweden, I didn’t feel I needed to go somewhere else. I didn’t become a superstar at Barcelona, I became a superstar at Celtic” he admitted.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE1/8 finals – second legTuesday23:00: (2.55) Sociedad (3.45) PSG (2.90)23:00: (1.30) Bayern (5.80) Lazio (9.00)Wednesday23:00: (1.60) Real Madrid (4.20) RB Leipzig (6.00)23:00: (1.15) Man.City (8.00) Copenhagen (16.0)Tuesday the 12th23:00: (1.77) Barcelona (3.60) Napoli (4.80)23:00: (1.28) Arsenal (5.70) Porto (10.5)Wednesday the 13th23:00: (3.05) Atl.Madrid (3.30) Inter (2.55)23:00: (2.15) Dortmund (3.50) PSV (3.30)***odds are subject to change***
