5 of the Greatest Scandinavian footballers of all time

The geographical dimensions of Scandinavia consists of countries like Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and has given birth to some great footballers over the years. The footballers who hail from this region are typically big and strong physically, and also possess consummate ball-skills. Some of them have played successfully in the biggest leagues of Europe and also performed creditably in major tournaments like the World Cup and European Championship.

Denmark and Sweden are the stronger of the Scandinavian nations in terms of footballing prowess. Norway have also played in World Cups. We would now take a look at the 5 greatest Scandinavian footballers of all time.

#5 Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Ibrahimovic is a Swedish footballer of Croatian descent, and currently plays in Major League Soccer. The 37-year-old has already played for the biggest clubs in world football and remains one of the finest players his country has ever produced. He is a big and strong striker who can change the complexion of any match with a moment of individual brilliance.

Ibrahimovic has played for giants like Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Manchester United and AC Milan. He rose to prominence while playing for Ajax in the early 2000s and has never looked back since. He also played quite successfully for Juve and Inter and made a move to FC Barcelona in 2009. He played for the Catalan giants for a few seasons. Ibrahimovic also spent a year in England and played his part in winning the UEFA European League with Manchester United.

In all, Ibrahimovic has played in 710 club matches and scored 425 goals. He has also won 4 Serie A and 1 LaLiga titles. He has been quite successful for the national side too, and scored 61 goals in 107 matches for Sweden. He has also played in a few World Cups and European Championships.

Ibrahimovic is a complete footballer with great dribbling skills and shooting prowess. He is very strong in the air too, and nobody can forget the outrageous goal he scored against Italy in Euro 2004 with a wonderful back heel.

#4 Henrik Larsson

There have been very few strikers like Henrik Larsson in world football in the last 20 years. He had a brilliant header, was a swift mover inside the penalty box and could score from a seemingly awkward position. He also played for big clubs like Barcelona, Manchester United and Celtic quite successfully.

Larsson would be remembered primarily for his wonderful exploits for the Scottish club Celtic. He made Celtic a force in European football, and remains one of their finest footballers of all time. Larsson also played for Barcelona from 2004 to 2006 and scored some very important goals for them.

However, his best night in football came in the Champions League final in 2006, when he was instrumental in Barcelona’s victory over Arsenal, and was arguably the best player on the pitch. He also played for Manchester United for a solitary season on loan and won the Premier League with them.

Larsson scored 134 goals in 341 matches in his club career and won 2 LaLiga, 1 Premier League and 1 UEFA Champions League title. He also scored 29 goals in 86 matches for the Swedish national team and was a member of the bronze medal winning side in the 1994 World Cup.

#3 Gunnar Nordahl

Nordahl was quite possibly the first global star in Scandinavian football and remains a legend for the Italian giants AC Milan. He was among the finest forwards in world football in the 1940s and 1950s, and was a member of the Swedish national team that remained among the strongest in Europe.

Nordahl also played very successfully for Milan from 1949 to 1956 and won quite a few honours for them. He was their most important player in the 1950s and scored a lot of crucial goals for them.

Nordahl was a very good dribbler and passer, and lit up the Serie A with his great performances for Milan. He scored 228 goals in 296 matches in his club career and also won 2 Serie A titles with Milan. He also played for AS Roma for a couple of seasons.

Nordahl also scored 43 goals in 33 matches for the Swedish national team and played in a few World Cups. He also became the top scorer in Serie A for a record 5 seasons. He passed away in 1995 at the age of 74.

#2 Peter Schmeichel

Schmeichel was probably the greatest goalkeeper of his generation and one of the greatest of all time. He was signed by Manchester United from Danish club Brondby for a paltry amount and went on to spend around a decade with them. He remains the greatest goalkeeper in the history of United, and won every possible title with them.

Schmeichel is a giant of a man and 6 feet 5 inches tall. He had a great presence inside the penalty box and was a great shot-stopper too. He gave some stellar performances for United and won the Champions League with them in 1999.

He also won 5 Premier League titles with United. He played for clubs like Aston Villa and Manchester City too. In all, he played 429 matches in his club career and was also selected in Premier League’s team of the century in 2007.

Schmeichel performed creditably for the Danish national team as well and won the European Championship with them in 1992. He also captained the national team for a while and earned 90 caps for them.

#1 Michael Laudrup

Laudrup remains the greatest player Scandinavia has ever produced and also one of the greatest attacking midfielders of all time. He was a very elegant footballer and seemed to play the game with effortless ease. Laudrup also remains one of the finest passers of all time, and played for some big clubs like Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

He rose to prominence while playing for the Danish national team in the 1986 World Cup. He played for Juventus from 1984 to 1989 and joined Barcelona thereafter. He was a part of Johan Cruyff’s Dream Team in Barca and won the European Cup with them in 1992. He joined Real Madrid in 1994 and played for them for two more seasons.

Laudrup is one of the very few players to have performed creditably for both Barca and Madrid. He played in 547 matches in his entire club career and scored 120 goals. He was also voted as the greatest foreign player in LaLiga in the previous 25 years in 1999. He won 5 La Liga and 1 Serie A title in his career.

Laudrup also played in some World Cups for the Danish national team, but could not feature in the European championship winning squad of 1992 owing to an injury. He earned 79 caps for Denmark and scored 28 goals. He was also selected as one of the greatest 100 footballers of all time. The great man retired from football in 1998 and remains the finest player his country has produced.

Edited by Kingshuk Kusari