Sweden – Spain | The historic eleven of the Swedish national team

Thomas Ravelli (goalkeeper)

He is the second player in history with the most games played for the Swedish national team (143) and the oldest Swedish player to play a game for the national team (38 years, 1 month and 28 days). Thomas Ravelli spent his entire career with the Swedish teams IFK Göteborg and Östers SI and his most outstanding milestone was saving two penalties against Romania in the quarterfinals of the 1994 World Cup. His team fell in the semifinals against Romario’s Brazil. He was a goalkeeper with a great temperament and a complicated character.

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Tobias Heyer
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Roland Nilsson (right back)

He is the sixth player with the most caps (116) in the history of Sweden. As a player, he spent seven years of his career – in three different stages – at Helsingborgs. In addition, he played in the Premier League with Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry City. He was part of the Swedish team that reached the 1994 World Cup semi-finals and retired in 2006. He served as player-coach at Coventry and GAIS before becoming a permanent coach, managing Malmö and Copenhagen. He is currently the coach of the Sweden Under-21 team.

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JUDA NGWENYA
REUTERS

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Olof Mellberg (central)

As a professional footballer, he accumulated 117 caps with the Swedish national team, was captain for several years and became a true globetrotter of European football. He spent most of his career at Aston Villa, a club for which he played seven seasons. In addition, he was the first footballer to score a goal in an official match at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal’s stadium. He had two experiences in Spain, where he played three seasons at Racing Santander and another at Villarreal. He had the honor of playing four Euro Cups and two World Cups. Mellberg is currently the coach of Helsingborg.

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Christopher Lee
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Bjorn Nordqvist (central)

He played more than 100 games with the Swedish national team and played three soccer World Cups (1970, 1974 and 1978). He won the Swedish Ballon d’Or in 1968 and was the captain of the national team in the 1960s and 70s. He was league champion with Norrköping and in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven. In addition, he also played in the American league with the Minnesota Kicks. Nordqvist was also a professional ice hockey player.

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PA Images
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Erik Nilsson (left back)

He was a member of the Swedish team that finished fourth in the 1938 World Cup and played in the 1950 World Cup, a competition in which he was elected best left-back. In addition to this, Nilsson was a gold medalist at the 1948 London Olympics. He spent his entire professional career at Malmö, where he stayed from 1934 to 1953. He allowed himself the luxury of rejecting an offer from AC Milan, which became very interested in him. He passed away in September 1995 at the age of 79.

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Anders Svensson (centrocampista)

The Gothenburg midfielder is the player who has played the most games (147) for the Swedish national team. With his country, the midfielder participated in four Euro Cups and two World Cups. His last game with the national team was the defeat against Portugal in the second leg of the play-off to access the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He is one of the country’s living legends and played 18 seasons (in two stages) in the club of his loves, the IF Elfsborg. In between, Svensson went to the Premier League and was part of Southampton for four seasons. He is now scouting for Elfsborg.

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Jamie McDonald
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Bo Larsson (midfielder)

He played 70 games for 14 years with his national team, being voted the best player in Sweden in two years. He attended three World Cups (1970, 1974 and 1978) and scored 17 goals for the Swedish national team. He played 14 seasons, in two stages, at Malmö and tried his luck during three seasons at German Stuttgart. He was an attacking midfielder who reached the area with ease and scored many goals during his career. He retired in 1980, aged 36, and since 2007 has had a statue outside the Malmö stadium.

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Peter Robinson – EMPICS
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Jonas Thern (centrocampista)

He was the great standard of the historic team that finished third in the World Cup in the United States, being the captain of that group that was eliminated against Brazil in the semifinals. Thern was one of the symbols of the triumph of Swedish football in the 90s. He started out at Mälmo, before taking the leap and leaving for Benfica. In the Portuguese club he was part of the Scandinavian group that was created with the arrival of Sven-Göran Eriksson to the Lisbon team. Later, he went to Italy and played for Naples and Rome. He ended his Rangers career and retired at 32 due to injuries.

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Simon Bruty
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Kurt Hamrin (attacking)

He is the first Swedish footballer to make a difference and show the way to the major European leagues. In addition to being part of the team that finished third in the 1958 World Cup, Harmin is one of the best players in the history of Fiorentina. In the ‘viola’ team he played almost 300 games over nine seasons and scored 150 goals. He is currently Calcio’s eighth top scorer with 190 goals. Juventus, Padova, Milan and Napoli also enjoyed his talent. Hamrin was a fast, creative and technically gifted player. A vintage attacker.

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Keystone-France
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Henrik Larsson (attacking)

The Helsingborg-born attacker is one of the best players Sweden has produced in the 21st century. Larsson, with 29 goals, is the second top scorer for a Swedish team with which he touched the sky at the World Cup in the United States. The forward stood out at Celtic, where he played seven seasons and scored more than 170 goals. He is remembered in Spain for his time at FC Barcelona, ​​a club where he won the 2005/2006 Champions League. He retired in Sweden and began his coaching career in 2014. Now he is without a bench. He resigned as Helsingborg coach in August after receiving insults after losing in the Cup against a Third team.

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Laurence Griffiths
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic (attacking)

For many, the best player in the history of the Scandinavian country. He is the footballer with the most goals in the history of the Swedish national team (61 goals in 109 games) and one of the most recognized forwards of the last 20 years. Ibrahimovic began his career at Mälmo before making the leap to Ajax, a club where he became known to the general public. In Italy, where he is almost a legend, he played for Inter and Milan. His fleeting passage through Barcelona is remembered, where he played one season and scored 16 goals. He is a legend of Paris Saint-Germain, a club in which he played 180 games and scored 156 goals. He was the top scorer in the history of the French team until Cavani passed him a while ago.

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Lars Baron
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