Glenn Strömberg

Glenn Strömberg
Strömberg (2007)
Personnel
Surname	Glenn Peter Strömberg
birthday	5th January 1960
place of birth	Brämaregården ,  Sweden
size	190 cm
position	midfield
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1979-1982	IFK Gothenburg	97 0(9)
1982-1984	Benfica Lisbon	32 (10)
1984-1992	Atalanta Bergamo	219 (18)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1982-1990	Sweden	52 (7)
1 Only league games are given.

Glenn Peter Strömberg (born January 5, 1960 in Brämaregården , Gothenburg , Sweden ) is a former Swedish football player . The midfielder , who took part in the 1990 World Cup finals with the Swedish national team , played in his home country, Portugal and Italy over the course of his playing career. In 1985 he received the Guldbollen as Sweden's Footballer of the Year.

Career

Career start in Sweden and European Cup triumph

Strömberg began playing football at Lerkils IF , for whom he also played table tennis as a teenager . In 1976 he joined the youth department of IFK Göteborg . There, the newly signed coach Sven-Göran Eriksson brought him at the beginning of the 1979 season in the first division squad and made his debut in April on the occasion of a home game against Kalmar FF in Ullevi in the Allsvenskan . Thanks to his powerful commitment and willingness to run, the young player quickly established himself in the team around Conny Karlsson , Håkan Sandberg , Torbjörn Nilsson and Jerry Carlsson , which won the Swedish national cup in the summer of 1979 with a 6-1 win over Åtvidabergs FF .

In his debut season in 1979, Strömberg finished second with the team behind Halmstads BK . In the following years he played regularly with her for the Swedish championship title, but the big hit was missed. After another runner-up in the 1981 season , the team overseen by Eriksson entered the UEFA Cup . Here he played in the games against Valkeakosken Haka , SK Sturm Graz , Dinamo Bucharest , FC Valencia and 1. FC Kaiserslautern and moved with the team in the finals of the 1981/82 UEFA Cup against Hamburger SV . In the first leg in Gothenburg, a late goal from Tord Holmgren achieved a 1-0 win and a consistent counterattack from a safe defensive chain in the second leg led the scorers Dan Corneliusson , Nilsson and Stig Fredriksson the team to a 3-0 away win, which the European Cup triumph meant. After Östers IF was beaten in the cup final in the summer, Strömberg and the club reached the triple win at the end of the 1982 season - after regular time had ended in first place in the table, the club prevailed in the final of the championship finals against Hammarby IF .

With his good performances and the successes behind him, Strömberg national coach Lars Arnesson attracted attention. In June 1982 he made his debut on the occasion of a preparatory game of the national team of the Soviet Union for the 1982 World Cup , to which the Swedish selection as third in the qualifying group behind Scotland and Northern Ireland had not qualified in the national jersey. As a result, he developed into a core force in the middle of the selection.

Years abroad

Known abroad for his European Cup success, Eriksson had given up his coaching position at IFK Gothenburg in favor of his former assistant Gunder Bengtsson and accepted an offer from the Portuguese club Benfica Lisbon . After the end of the Swedish championship in autumn, he brought Strömberg to his new club, with whom he almost repeated the triple win. With the team around Diamantino Miranda , Fernando Chalana and Humberto Coelho , he won the national championship on the one hand when FC Porto was relegated four points ahead of second place in the league, and on the other hand with a 1-0 final win against rivals from Porto on August 21, 1983 the national cup. He also reached the finals of the UEFA Cup 1982/83 , against RSC Anderlecht he missed after a 1-0 defeat in the first leg by a goal by Kenneth Brylle due to a 1-1 draw after goals from Shéu and Juan Lozano on the opposite side renewed European Cup triumph. In the following season, Strömberg dominated the championship again with his club. In the European Cup of National Champions 1983/84 he reached the quarter-finals with him after successes over Linfield FC and Olympiacos Piraeus , in which the later title holder FC Liverpool prevailed with two wins.

After a year and a half in Portugal, Strömberg followed the call of the Italian Serie A and signed a contract with the newly promoted Atalanta Bergamo . At the Lombard club he was a regular player straight away and was one of the pillars of the team in the relegation battle. In particular, thanks to good performances in the national team as part of the qualification for the 1986 World Cup - in the meantime there was much evidence of participation, only the first defeat of the German national team in a World Cup qualifier with a 1-0 defeat against Portugal robbed the Swedes with one point Falling behind the southern Europeans of the World Cup dream - Svenska Fotbollförbundet and Aftonbladet named him Footballer of the Year at the end of 1985.

After an eighth place with Atalanta in the 1985/86 season, Strömberg rose in the following year with the team as penultimate. Parallel to the disappointing league season, the team was more successful in the national cup and reached the final. They had no chance against the champions SSC Napoli , but after defeats there and back, Strömberg was able to console himself by participating in the 1987/88 European Cup Winners' Cup . There he reached the semi-finals with the second division team after successes over Merthyr Tydfil FC , OFI Crete and Sporting Lisbon . Against the eventual European Cup winner KV Mechelen , he lost both games with the team. In addition to the success on an international level, the season was also successful in Serie B and he managed direct resurgence with the club.

While Strömberg moved into the UEFA Cup with the club in the following two years , he returned with the Swedish national team in the circle of the leading teams. Only in the duels against England , each of which ended in a 0-0 draw, did he lose points alongside Glenn Hysén , Anders Limpar , Roger Ljung and Mats Magnusson with the national team and qualified as first group for the 1990 World Cup tournament in Italy . However, this turned out to be disappointing for the Scandinavians. In a group with Brazil , Costa Rica and Scotland, the team suffered three 1: 2 defeats and, despite a goal from Strömberg in the game against Scotland, left early in the group. He then ended his national team career.

In the Serie A season that followed the World Cup, there was no success for Strömberg's club either. In tenth place in the table, the midfielder missed an international competition with the team. In 1992 he finally ended his active career.

After the active career

Strömberg worked as a media expert for soccer. On the one hand he appeared here on Swedish television, on the other hand he worked for Italian television and Italian newspapers.

Having come into contact with the local lifestyle during his time in Italy, Strömberg founded his own delicatessen company. Under his name he sells various products such as grappa . He also published cookbooks on Mediterranean cuisine.

Web links

• Official website
• svenskafans.com: "Intervju med Glenn Strömberg" (Swedish)