Henrik Larsson

Henrik Larsson

Henrik Edward Larsson (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈhɛnːrɪk ˈlɑːʂɔn]; born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional football manager and former player. He was known as a striker, whose main attributes were his goalscoring prowess and on-field intelligence.Larsson began his career with Högaborg. In 1992, he moved to Helsingborg where in his first season his partnership up front with Mats Magnusson helped the club win promotion to Allsvenskan after 24 seasons in the lower tiers. He moved to Feyenoord in November 1993, staying for four years before leaving in 1997. During his time in the Dutch Eredivisie, he won two KNVB Cups with Feyneoord. He also broke into the Swedish national football team, and helped them finish in third place at the 1994 World Cup. Wim Jansen signed Larsson for Scottish club Celtic in July 1997 for a fee of £650,000. In his first season at the club, he played a crucial role in stopping Rangers winning a 10th league title in a row. However, he suffered a broken leg in a UEFA Cup tie against Lyon in 1999. Despite this setback, Larsson came back stronger, netting 53 goals in a 2000–01 season that saw him claim the European Golden Shoe. Larsson went on to win four league titles in his seven years at Celtic. He also helped the team reach the 2003 UEFA Cup Final against Porto, scoring both goals in a 3–2 defeat in extra time. However, his 242 goals in 315 matches saw Celtic fans nickname him The King of Kings. Larsson then joined Barcelona in 2004, where he won two league titles and the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League with a pivotal two assists in the final. Following the expiration of his contract at Barcelona, Larsson returned to his hometown club Helsingborg, during which time he joined Manchester United on a brief loan between January and March 2007. He announced his retirement from football on 20 October 2009.Regarded as one of the greatest Swedish players of all time, Larsson played for Sweden in three FIFA World Cups and three UEFA European Championships, winning a bronze medal at the 1994 World Cup, and is a former captain of the national team. He ended his international career with 37 goals in 106 matches. He also won the Golden Ball (Guldbollen), the annual Award for best Swedish footballer twice, first in 1998 and again in 2004, while in 2003 he was named the Greatest Swedish Footballer of the Last 50 Years as part of the UEFA Jubilee Awards. In 2010, Larsson began his career as a football manager at the Superettan club Landskrona BoIS during three seasons. He later managed Falkenberg in Allsvenskan, and eventually he took over at Helsingborg in 2015, where his son, Jordan was one of his players. However, Helsingborg were relegated to Superettan in 2016 and Larsson left the club.

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