Edward Henrik Larsson, MBE [IPA: 'hɛnrɪk 'lɑːʂɔn] (born September 20, 1971 in Helsingborg, Scania) is a Swedish footballer, best known for winning four titles in seven years with Celtic. He subsequently had a two-year spell at Barcelona, where he won two titles and the Champions League. After his contract had expired at Barcelona, Larsson returned to his home town club of Helsingborgs IF, and joined Manchester United on a brief loan spell between January and March 2007.

Prior to his retirement from international football in 2006, Larsson had won 93 caps for Sweden, scoring 36 goals. On 13 May 2008, it was announced that Larsson would once again play for Sweden at the Euro 2008 championships in Austria and Switzerland.
Playing career

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Early career

Larsson started his professional career playing for Högaborg at the age of 17. He subsequently moved to Helsingborgs IF, where he scored 50 goals in 56 appearances. It was this sensational form that attracted the interest of Dutch club Feyenoord, who signed him for £295,000 in 1993. This was despite the fact he was negotiating a contract with Grasshopper-Club Zürich of Switzerland at the time.[1]

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Celtic (1997-2004)

Following a contract dispute with Feyenoord, he was signed by Celtic manager Wim Jansen in July 1997 for a fee of £650,000. His debut against Hibernian at Easter Road was less than spectacular: he inadvertently passed the ball to Hibs player, Chic Charnley who then went on to score, resulting in a 2-1 loss for Celtic. He did not fare much better in his first European game, scoring an own-goal, although Celtic did go on to win 6-3. Few would then have predicted that Larsson would go on to become one of the club's greatest ever players, popularly dubbed the 'King of Kings'; however, his performances improved markedly and Celtic went on to win the Scottish Premier League and League Cup in his first season, ending the run of nine consecutive titles by Old Firm rivals Rangers in the process.

During Celtic's 1-0 defeat in a UEFA Cup tie against Lyon, Larsson suffered a career-threatening injury, breaking his leg in two places. This resulted in him spending eight months on the sidelines.

After recovering from this injury, and following the arrival of manager Martin O'Neill in 2000, Larsson and Celtic began to contest and win silverware on a more regular basis. Celtic won the Scottish Premier League title in three of the subsequent four seasons, as well as two Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup. In 2001 he won the "Golden Boot" award for being Europe's most prolific goal scorer, with 35 league goals. His total in all competitions that season was 53. In 2003, he scored two goals in the UEFA Cup Final, although opponents Porto went on to win 3-2. His goalscoring feats on the continent for Celtic mean he holds the record for number of goals scored for a club from the British Isles in European matches. Celtic fans voted him as the only foreigner in the greatest ever Celtic team.[2]

In his last appearance for Celtic, he scored two goals (with either foot) to defeat Dunfermline Athletic and win the Scottish Cup. He gave a teary goodbye at his testimonial match against Sevilla FC in front of a capacity crowd at Celtic Park, Glasgow. In all, Larsson scored 242 goals for Celtic in 315 matches.

In 2008 Larsson returned to Celtic Park for the Phil O'Donnell tribute match and scored with a scissors kick.

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Barcelona (2004-2006)
 
Warming up for Barça

At the end of the 2003-04 season Larsson left Celtic on a free transfer and signed a one year contract with Barcelona with an option for a second year.

Larsson's first season at Barcelona was plagued by injury, and he played only a nominal part in Barça's La Liga win. He did, however, score against Celtic in a UEFA Champions League match. After the game he said "It was very difficult for me to celebrate my goal because I had so many great times here."[3] Despite having missed most of the 2004-05 season, Barcelona took the option to extend his contract. In 2005-06 Larsson scored 10 goals as Barcelona won La Liga for a second consecutive year.

In January 2006, Larsson announced that at the end of his contract, which ended in July, he would leave Barcelona and return to Sweden to end his career. He revealed that he had politely refused a verbal promise by club president Joan Laporta to extend his contract to the end of the next season. News of his departure provoked praise from his teammates, including Ronaldinho, who said, "With Henrik leaving us at the end of the season this club is losing a great scorer, no question. But I am also losing a great friend. Henrik was my idol and now that I am playing next to him it is fantastic."[4]

In his final game for Barcelona, he won his first UEFA Champions League medal. Larsson came on as a substitute and assisted both of Barcelona's goals in a 2-1 win over Arsenal. Thierry Henry paid tribute to Larsson's contribution to Barcelona's win after the game, saying, "People always talk about Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Giuly and everything, but I didn't see them today—I saw Henrik Larsson. He came on—he changed the game, that is what killed the game. Sometimes you talk about Ronaldinho and Eto'o and people like that; you need to talk about the proper footballer who made the difference, and that was Henrik Larsson tonight."[5] Indeed his ability to give Barcelona the cutting edge required to overcome Arsenal was noted by the international press:[6][7]
 
Henrik Larsson

The New York Times

It was created with a flick of Henrik Larsson's right foot, a moment born of experience and craft. Larsson has said he is retiring from this level of soccer after this game. He had only just come on the field as a replacement but he knew exactly what he was doing. He has vision. He is 34 and he has been in the game for the whole of his adult life and what he could do once he could repeat another four minutes and Larsson again showed the ability to find the pass that destroys defenses. This time he spotted Juliano Belletti, another replacement, who with almost his first touch of the night powered the ball inside the near post of Arsenal's replacement goalkeeper, Manuel Almunia.

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Helsingborgs IF (2006-present)

After Sweden's elimination from the 2006 World Cup on June 24, 2006, Larsson joined up with his former club, Helsingborgs IF. He made his second debut for his home town club against Hammarby in the Swedish Cup on July 6, 2006.

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Manchester United (loan spell 2007)

Shortly after rejoining Helsingborgs IF, Larsson was signed on loan by Manchester United. United announced that Larsson would be on loan from January 1 until March 12, 2007, coinciding with the Swedish league's off season.[8] He scored on his debut against Aston Villa in the FA Cup Third Round on January 7, 2007 at Old Trafford.[9] Larsson scored his first ever Premiership goal on January 31 in a 4-0 win over Watford.[10] Larsson then scored on his last appearance at Old Trafford in a Manchester United shirt in a 1-0 UEFA Champions League win over Lille on March 7, 2007 to give United a 2-0 win on aggegrate.[11]

Whilst United were eager to extend the loan deal, Larsson stated that he had made a promise to his family and his club to return on March 12 2007. This was confirmed on February 20, when Larsson announced that he would not be extending his loan period.[12] Despite this, Sir Alex Ferguson was full of praise for the striker, who scored 3 goals in 11 matches in all competitions during his 3 month stay, saying, "He's been fantastic for us, we tried everything we could to get him to stay longer, but he made a promise and you have to respect that." Larsson made his final appearance for United on Saturday 10 March, in a 6th Round FA Cup tie away to Middlesbrough, ending in a 2-2 draw.

With Manchester United eventually winning the Premier League after Larsson left two months later, although he had not played the required quota of 10 league games to qualify for a Premiership winners medal, he, alongside Alan Smith, was granted special dispensation by the Premier League after the club requested for extra medals for the two.

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International career

Larsson's international record is impressive with 36 goals in 96 games, many of which he played in midfield or as a winger. He has always made his mark on big occasions and has scored at three World Cups (1994 at which Sweden came third, 2002 and 2006), and three European Championships (2000, 2004 and 2008).

Larsson originally chose to retire from International football in 2002. His decision was met with much dismay in his homeland and there was much clamouring for him to return to the team for their campaign at Euro 2004 in Portugal.[13] Despite initially maintaining his decision to retire, he eventually returned to the national side at the behest of his son, and to great effect, scoring three goals in four matches and leading Sweden to the quarter-finals, where they were defeated in a penalty shootout by the Dutch. Larsson's tremendous diving header against Bulgaria was voted Best Goal of the 2004 European Championships.

Larsson also featured at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He scored in the final minute of the match against England for Sweden to draw the match 2-2 in their final game in the group stages, thus becoming only the sixth player to score in World Cup finals which are 12 years apart. The goal also sealed Sweden's qualification for the second round of the tournament. But in Sweden's Round of 16 game against host Germany, he blasted a penalty over the bar which could have given his team a lifeline after trailing 2-0 for most of the match.

He retired from international football for the second time on July 17, 2006.[14] "It is time to quit now. It feels right. I'm done with the national team," the 34-year-old Larsson told TV station Canal Plus. However Sweden boss Lars Lagerbäck managed to lure Larsson out of international retirement once more and on May 13, 2008, the Swedish FA officially declared that Larsson had agreed to make a comeback and play for Sweden once again in Euro 2008.[15]

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Personal life

Henrik's father is from the Cape Verde Islands, off the coast of West Africa, and his mother is Swedish. In 1996 he married his childhood sweetheart, Magdalena. They have two children, Jordan (born 1997) and Janelle (born 2002).

Henrik still occasionally returns to Scotland to visit his long-time conditioning coach Dr Paul Bryson.

Izvor:wikipedia