Limpar is different

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Limpar is different
Not so Limpar.jpg
Limpar (2011)
Personnel
birthday September 24, 1965
place of birth SolnaSweden
size 174 cm
position Attacking midfield
Juniors
Years station
1971-1973 Spårvägens FF
1973 AIK Solna
1973-1980 IF Brommapojkarna
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1981-1985 IF Brommapojkarna 77 (20)
1986-1988 Örgryte IS 47 0(9)
1988-1989 BSC Young Boys 27 0(7)
1989-1990 US Cremonese 24 0(3)
1990-1994 Arsenal FC 96 (17)
1994-1997 Everton FC 66 0(5)
1997 Birmingham City 4 0(0)
1998-1999 AIK Solna 22 0(2)
1999-2000 Colorado Rapids 36 0(3)
2000 Djurgårdens IF 0 0(0)
2000-2001 IF Brommapojkarna 19 0(3)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1987-1996 Sweden 57 (6)
1 Only league games are given.

Anders Limpar (born September 24, 1965 in Solna ) is a former Swedish football player . The offensive player, who took part in two world and one European championships with the Swedish national team , played in his home country, Switzerland, Italy, England and the United States over the course of his career. With Arsenal FC in 1991 English champions, he received the Guldbollen as Sweden's Footballer of the Year in the same year. In 1998 he also won the Swedish championship with AIK .

Career

Career start in Sweden and first international experience

In 1971 Limpbar began his club career as a football player and joined the youth department of Spårvägens GoIF . At the age of eight he joined the youth team of the traditional club AIK , but only stayed here until the end of 1977. He then moved to Stockholm's local competitor IF Brommapojkarna , who is known for its youth work. Here he went through the individual youth teams and advanced to the men's squad as a junior player of the then second division club.

It was there that the people in charge of the Göteborg club Örgryte IS discovered the young talent Limpar. The reigning Swedish champions piloted the player to Allsvenskan in early 1986 , where he immediately established himself as a regular. At the side of Jan Hellström , Conny Karlsson , Sven Andersson and Gunnar Samuelsson , he was on the field in 19 games and scored five goals this season. Nevertheless, the success of the previous year could not be repeated and the club found itself ninth in the table just before relegation places. However, the U-21 international moved up to the squad of the senior national team. Under coach Olle Nordin , he made his debut in April 1987 in a 3-1 away win against the Soviet team and signed the scorers list next to the two-time goalscorer Mats Magnusson . As a result, he established himself in the squad of the selection team, but initially he mostly remained the role of substitute player.

In the 1987 season , the club remained in the midfield of the league, but was able to report back in the title fight the following year. In the summer of 1988 he was also taken by youth coach Benny Lennartsson to the Olympic Games in Seoul . In the first game, still a substitute, he benefited from a dismissal for Jonas Thern and moved into midfield of the national team in the following games. At the side of Roger Ljung , Hans Eskilsson , Joakim Nilsson , Martin Dahlin and Leif Engqvist , he moved into the quarter-finals with the team after a draw against Tunisia and victories over the Olympic selections of China and the Federal Republic of Germany as group winners, where they finished in the game against the Italian team around Massimo Mauro , Ruggiero Rizzitelli and Ciro Ferrara scored a goal from Massimo Crippa in the extension of the medal dreams.

Following the tournament, Limpar left ÖIS and moved abroad. At the Swiss club BSC Young Boys he met his compatriot Tord Grip , who worked there as a coach. At the side of Peter Közle , Uwe Rapolder and René Sutter , he reached the championship final, which was finished fifth in the table. At the same time, he returned with the Swedish national team in the front row of the national teams. Although he had mostly only been a substitute player in the course of the qualification, the team around Glenn Hysén , Klas Ingesson , Peter Larsson and Johnny Ekström had qualified as group winners before England for the 1990 World Cup finals without defeat .

This was enough as a reference for Italian club US Cremonese to lure Limpar into Serie A in November 1989 . Under coach Tarcisio Burgnich he advanced straight away as a regular player and played 24 games of the season, despite the commitment of players like Gustavo Dezotti or Fulvio Bonomi , the team around Giuseppe Favalli , Enrico Piccioni and Dario Marcolin had no chance in the top division and rose second to bottom straight off again. Nevertheless, the Swede had established himself in the national team in the spring of 1990 and was therefore part of the 22-player squad for the World Cup tournament in summer. In the first two tournament games against Brazil and Scotland he was in the starting line-up, but after each 1: 2 defeat, national coach Nordin was forced to change the line-up for the last group game against the national team of Costa Rica . Without Limpar's participation, this game was also lost, so that the selection started their journey home early.

In the Premier League and third in the World Cup

Following the tournament, Limpar moved to the English First Division . Under coach George Graham , he was a regular on the island right away and won his first championship title alongside Nigel Winterburn , David Seaman , Tony Adams and Steve Bould , to which he contributed eleven goals this season. He was behind Alan Smith , who also got the Golden Boot as top scorer with his 22 goals this season , and Paul Merson was the third best club scorer. At the end of the year, Svenska Fotbollförbundet and Aftonbladet honored his achievements and crowned him Footballer of the Year in Sweden.

The following season was mixed on a club basis - Arsenal lost in the 1991/92 European Cup against Portuguese champions Benfica Lisbon and in the FA Cup against low-class club AFC Wrexham and missed out on a fourth place in the championship into the European Cup - with a goal from almost 40 meters away in the game against FC Liverpool , Limpar set a personal highlight. After the end of the season, he also joined the national team at the 1992 European Championship , which was held in his home country. The selection supervised by Tommy Svensson surprised and left the favored English and French national teams and outsiders Denmark behind as group winners . In the group stage, alongside Stefan Schwarz , Tomas Brolin , Klas Ingesson and Patrik Andersson in the starting line-up, he was initially only on the bench in the semi-final against Germany . After the opponent had earned a 2-0 intermediate lead, he replaced Joakim Nilsson from the 59th minute of the game. With a 2-3 defeat he was eliminated from the competition with the team.

In the course of the following season Limpar was injured while the Arsenal team reached the final in both the FA Cup and the League Cup . As a spectator, he followed the first cup double in English football history, when the final opponent Sheffield Wednesday was beaten. After his recovery, however, he could no longer stay in the starting line-up and fluctuated between the field and the bench.

In February 1994 Limpar decided to change clubs and after 17 goals in 76 Premier League games for Arsenal, he joined the league rivals FC Everton for a transfer fee of 1.6 million pounds . With his new club he played against relegation from the Premier League, it was only on the last day of the match that the team trained by Mike Walker saved themselves with a 3-2 win over Wimbledon FC - with a 0-2 deficit in the meantime - as Limpar on the one hand indebted a hand penalty and on the other hand provoked a penalty with a swallow , which initiated the turning point.

As with Arsenal, Limpar fluctuated in the national team between starting line-up and being a supplementary player. After he had only played as a substitute in the last preparatory games for the 1994 World Cup finals , for which the Swedish team had qualified as group winners before Bulgaria , he found himself on the bench at the start of the tournament. At most with his moral support, the team with Henrik Larsson , Thomas Ravelli , Roland Nilsson , Tomas Brolin, Kennet Andersson and Martin Dahlin made it to the semifinals of the tournament. There he watched the 1-0 defeat against Brazil by a late goal by Romário from the edge of the field, before he was a substitute for Henrik Larsson in the final game for third place in the 4-0 win over Bulgaria just over ten minutes in the World Cup -Go playtime.

In the subsequent Premier League season, Limpar found himself in a relegation battle with the club. After the team under Walker won none of the first twelve games of the season, the club signed a new coach with Joe Royle . Under his leadership, the club moved into the lower midfield of the league, but Limpar was no longer a permanent regular due to fluctuating performance. Nevertheless, he ran for the club in the summer of 1995 in the cup final against the favored Manchester United . After Limpar had initiated a counterattack that led to the 1-0 lead by Paul Rideout , United dominated the game, but could not overcome goalkeeper Neville Southall . Although their stay in the European Cup ended in the second round against Feyenoord Rotterdam , in the league the club played for qualification for the UEFA Cup . With three goals in 28 games this season, Limpar was one of the regulars alongside the newly signed Andrei Kantschelskis , who was among the top five goalscorers of the season with 16 goals this season, Daniel Amokachi and David Unsworth . Ultimately, with two points behind Aston Villa and Arsenal FC , the team missed out on the European Cup as sixth in the table.

After Limpar was only used sporadically at the beginning of the 1996/97 season, he lost his place in the Swedish national team on the one hand and decided to change clubs on the other. In January 1997 he joined the second division side Birmingham City . Here, too, he was mainly left with the role of the substitute, until the end of the season he played in four league games for the club.

Return to Sweden and US interlude

In the summer of 1997 Limpar returned to Sweden, where he was initially only the role of the supplementary player. In the 1998 season he showed his talent on the left wing and led the Stuart Baxter- trained club alongside Tomas Gustafsson , Thomas Lagerlöf , Mike Kjølø , Michael Brundin , Patrik Fredholm and Johan Mjällby to the tenth championship title in the club's history. His contract, which expired at the end of the season, was not extended.

Limpar decided to move abroad again and joined the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer . However, his stay in the United States was overshadowed by bad luck with injuries, so that he was used in less than half of the games. In 1999, the team around Marcelo Balboa , Paul Bravo and Jorge Dely Valdes reached the final of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup , without his involvement they lost to the Rochester Raging Rhinos .

In autumn 2000 Limpar returned to Sweden and settled in Stockholm. Although he initially trained with the AIK team, the club decided against a commitment. Therefore, he signed a contract with local rivals Djurgårdens IF , but due to a lack of fitness he decided to retire from competitive sports before the start of the 2001 season . He joined the Stockholm third division club IF Brommapojkarna , with whom he rose to the Superettan at the end of the season . After ten second division games, he ended his active career in 2002 and stayed with the club as a junior coach until 2005.

In 2006 Limpar returned to the football field for the sixth division Djursholm United , before he went to the fourth division Sollentuna United as an assistant coach in 2008 .

Besides the sport

After his return from the United States, Limpar opened a cocktail bar in the Norra Bantorget district of Stockholm under the name “Limpbar”. Shortly after his signature at Djurgårdens IF, the location furnished with devotional items for his play stations was the target of an attack by AIK fans. He later closed the bar and opened a gaming room.

Individual evidence

  1. independent.co.uk: "Football: Peacock goes but Francis stays: Mixed day at Queen's Park Rangers while Limpar joins Everton and Beagrie hops to City" (accessed August 20, 2010)
  2. independent.co.uk: "The ten best relegation escapes - Everton, Premier League, 1993-94" (accessed August 20, 2010)
  3. bbc.co.uk: "When Everton won the FA Cup" (accessed August 20, 2010)

Web links