© EuroFootball.com
Glasgow club forward Henrik Larsson's fans can be delighted with good news. Talks about the fast end of the Swedish forward's career seemed a bit exaggerated. Henrik left behind his intentions to go to Qatar, where veterans gather to earn another dollar, and for at least a couple more years he will play on the European courts. However, it is not yet known which team's lineup one of the most artistic modern football forwards will start the next season in.
Watching Larsson is a pleasure. Henrik always manages to combine effective football and a game for the spectators. He scores a lot, even in the not so authoritative Scottish championship. But every other Larsson goal is not like the one before. Here he deceived three defenders and coolly dealt with the goalkeeper. And then Henrik threw himself towards a ball flying who knows where, creating a goal out of nowhere. Please, here's a shot from afar - sharp, strong, unexpected for both teammates and opponents. Or a pass, and jumping over much taller defenders, Larsson heads the ball into the goal.
Celtic's official store makes a significant turnover by selling cassettes with the Celtic leader's goals. Their production line works precisely, and the shelves are constantly replenished with new videotapes. Henrik accompanies each accurate shot with a dramatic gesture - sticking out his tongue. This goal celebration could be patented by the Swede. “I have been doing this tradition for more than ten years. When I took my first steps in football, many looked at me skeptically. Sticking out my tongue was a kind of symbol of self-confidence. Later, I started sticking out my tongue out of habit," said Henrik.
Throughout his football career, Henrik has shown his organ of taste almost three hundred times. There was a period when Larsson was not allowed to celebrate victories in a "Larsson-style". Puritans and moralists (in some Scottish regions, sticking out one's tongue is a very disrespectful gesture, even if it doesn't look so funny) have no place here. The ban was announced by doctors. Two years ago, the seventh "Celtic" player broke his jaw, and to speed up the recovery, he was not advised to open his mouth unnecessarily. "Henrik, I beg you, take care of your health. Let everything heal, and you will still have time to stick out your tongue," asked the senior "Celtic" coach Martin O'Neill. How can you refuse such a noble man's request?
But let's leave Henrik's tongue at rest, as he is known not only for that. There are quite a few interesting facts in our hero's biography. For example, he was the smallest in his class and felt very insecure because of it. Small, but brave. For example, he was not afraid of gangs of hooligans who often confronted him due to Henrik's not quite Scandinavian appearance. And even though he got his fair share in those fights, no one called him "wimp" anymore. In school, the future forward also surprised his teacher. In an essay "What I Will Be When I Grow Up," Henrik wrote that he would be a footballer. The teacher was shocked because she never imagined that such a profession existed.
The fact that such a profession exists was told to Henrik by his father, who had no connection to professional football. Larsson's father, whose Portuguese name was Lima, was a sailor. At least until he found his love in the Helsingborg port in Sweden. The Portuguese ship with sailors from the Green Cape Islands did not return, and he abandoned his career in the northern country.
Henrik should thank his parents for his unusual appearance: light hair and European features - inherited from his Swedish mother, and dark skin color came from his father, a mulatto. His father also instilled a love for football in his son. "Football accompanied me from an early age. The ball was my first toy. I hit it for the first time when I was one and a half years old. Of course, I don't remember it myself, but family members told me. When I was six, I was taken to the local 'Hogaborg' football school. From the very beginning, I was assigned to attack. And in the first match, I scored a goal. I remember it for a lifetime. Father often brought cassettes with football matches. It was mainly games where English clubs played. That's how I developed my first club sympathies - , which is not surprising, as it was at the top of European football then. And , I don't know why. They had something special. When my favorite clubs played against each other, it was extremely difficult to choose who to support."
"Liverpool" and "Tottenham" are good, of course, but Larsson's dream limit at that time was the local "Helsingborg", playing in the Swedish championships. Henrik acquired the basics of football in the amateur "Hogaborg" club, managed by Bendtas Persson. "At some point, I wanted to quit football. I couldn't perform what I used to know. My opponents were taller, bigger, and it became harder for me to play with them. I went to the coach and asked him to let me go. But Mr. Persson managed to convince me not to do that. When I was 15, I grew significantly, and that solved many of my problems."
At the age of 17, Larsson made his debut in the "Hogaborg" club, playing in one of the Swedish football divisions. "Hogaborg" was amateur football, and it did not bring significant income to the young man. He had to work, and Henrik found a job in a vegetable shop. He worked as a loader, salesman, courier. Standing behind the counter, he met a girl named Magdalena, who soon became Mrs. Larsson.
Things started to go well for "Hogaborg", very well indeed. The invitation to "Helsingborg" did not have to wait long. This is where Henrik flourished. An enviable goal-scoring average - just a little less than one goal per game. Over three seasons, the boy from the vegetable seller grew into a national team-level player. He also received invitations to play for foreign clubs. The most active of them was the Swiss club "Grasshoppers" from Zurich. But Larsson was not meant to become a "Zogelis" with the Swiss, as the Dutch "Feyenoord" snatched him from the Swiss under the nose: "I wanted to go, but I felt like I was taking risks. I had never left Sweden for a long time, and here I was moving to another country. But it was too late to change course."
In the early matches, Larsson scored an excellent goal against "Vitesse." But then he seemed to be enchanted. Throughout the second half of the championship, the super-productive Swede did not score even once in his homeland. But the Rotterdam coach Willem Janssen relied on Larsson and constantly included him in the starting lineup. Janssen explained the series of failures only by the complexity of adaptation.
1994, World Cup in the USA. The Swedish national team, known as "Tre kunur," did not perform as well - they finished third, which at the time earned them silver medals. And Larsson, although not a starting player, stood out not only for his "dreadlocks" but also for his performance.
At one point, everything was going well for Feyenoord. But when the team let go of Willem Janssen, who was replaced by Ari Haanas, he decided for some reason to turn Larsson into a left-back: "I went out onto the field, scored, but I no longer enjoyed the game as before. And because of that, I didn't hesitate for long when I received Willem Janssen's offer to play a couple of seasons for "Celtic." In the summer of 1997, Larsson put on the green-and-white jersey with a clover leaf on his chest. He extended a couple of seasons into all seven, during which Larsson became the top scorer and a living symbol of the Scottish powerhouse. By bringing in the tongue-wagging Swede, the "Celts" ended the long-term dominance of the "Glasgow Rangers" in the national championship, if not in the ranks of elite clubs, then at least in the leading positions of European clubs.
The fate of a footballer is as striped as the "Celtic" shirts, only the stripes are not green, but black. A black line was waiting for Larsson in Lyon in the fall of 1999. Facing the French club defender Serge Blanc, Henrik fell unsuccessfully on the hard turf. A complicated double fracture raised the question of the end of his career. There were no more talks about participating in the European championship. But a miracle happened - Larsson healed twice as fast as predicted and played for the Swedish national team. "I wanted so much to return to football that I counted the days until my appearance on the field. After that tragedy, no injury scared me. A broken jaw is a small thing compared to what happened. Truth be told, it caused a lot of discomfort: neither smile nor eat normally. It's a good thing I'm a vegetarian."
Yes, Henrik Larsson has been following a vegetarian diet for almost a year. Only during Christmas and New Year does he allow himself to taste meat dishes: "I became a vegetarian at the Celtic club. I tried a plant-based diet and liked it. As you can see, it has no impact on my game." Henrik has devoted a section on his website to his gastronomic interests. Henrik is very friendly to his fans and finds time to answer their questions even when he is very busy.
- Henrik, who is your favorite attacking partner? - I always got along well with my partners. I don't want to single anyone out to avoid hurting anyone. They were all great guys and strong players. But I would really like to play in a pair with Marco van Basten. I understand that it's impossible, but why not dream? I think together with him, we would have moved mountains. True, Marco moved mountains even without me.
- Why did you radically change your appearance? - It's been almost four years since I cut off my "dreadlocks," but I still get asked this question. I myself don't know why. One day I looked in the mirror and decided to change something in my appearance.
- Why did you leave the Swedish national team? - I found it difficult to make this decision. I left after the World Cup, then I came back. But I still decided to end my international career. The team had many talented guys who needed to play regularly. The team would not be left without an attacker. Meanwhile, I will focus on playing for the club.
-Do you regret not playing in Italy, Spain, or England? - When you're over thirty, it's hardly worth regretting anything. I was invited to , , and . Still, I chose to play for Celtic. It would be a sin to complain about my career. It is more than successful.
- Will you stay at Celtic? - My contract expires in the summer of 2004. I have not decided whether to renew it. I really like "Celtic" club, there are excellent fans here. But we must also consider my age.
Here we end Larsson's dialogue with his talent admirers. The future of the "Celts" number seven is still shrouded in mist. Not long ago, Henrik was contemplating the end of his career at the age of 33. But as summer approached, radical plans slowly turned into thoughts of returning to Sweden, to "Helsingborg". After that, the option of Qatar emerged, gradually becoming an international place for the end of footballers' careers. However, Larsson's successful game in the Scottish championship, where "Celtic" crushes everyone, winning 26 consecutive games, sparked English neighbors' interest. And now, dreams of the veteran striker duo Alan Shearer-Henrik Larsson are brewing. "Barcelona" is also actively working. The chief of the Catalans, Frank Rijkaard, personally calls Henrik and talks to him about moving to "Nou Camp." It seems that Glasgow has already accepted that their long-time favorite will leave "Celtic Park." Or maybe not...
In any case, Larsson will remain visible in European football, and will still show his famous tongue-wagging. The football actor's show continues.
