Lars Eriksson

This article is about goalkeeper Lars Eriksson. For the ski racer see Lars-Börje Eriksson .

Lars Eriksson
Personnel
birthday	September 21, 1965
place of birth	Stockholm ,  Sweden
size	186 cm
position	goalkeeper
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1986-1989	Hammarby IF	50 (0)
1989-1994	IFK Norrköping	189 (0)
1994-1995	Sporting Charleroi	9 (0)
1995-1998	FC Porto	9 (0)
1998-2001	Hammarby IF	73 (0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1988-1995	Sweden	17 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Lars "Lasse" Eriksson (born September 21, 1965 in Stockholm ) is a former Swedish football player who worked as a goalkeeping coach and official after his active career . The goalkeeper participated with the Swedish national team in two world championships and one European championship final.

Career

Career start in Sweden and national team

Eriksson joined the youth of Hammarby IF at the age of twelve . As a result, he went through the individual youth teams of the club and moved up as a substitute in the squad of the first division team. In the 1986 season he made his debut for the Stockholm club in the Allsvenskan . After he had occupied places in the middle of the table in the top Swedish league with the team around players like Ulf Eriksson , Thomas Lundin or Peter Gerhardsson , he moved into the field of vision of national coach Olle Nordin . On January 12, 1988 he made his debut on the occasion of a four-nation tournament in Spain in a 4-1 victory over the GDR national team in the jersey of the Swedish national team, in which only Andreas Thom could overcome him. In the national team, however, he was subsequently mainly assigned the role of substitute or spectator, as he faced strong competition with Jan Möller and especially Thomas Ravelli .

At the end of the 1988 season Eriksson missed relegation with the club as bottom of the table. He then moved to IFK Norrköping within the league . With his new employer, he reached the championship finals as runner-up behind Malmö FF . At the side of Jan Hellström , Patrick Andersson , Jonas Lind , Jonny Rödlund and Sulo Vaattovaara , he was one of the regular players who reached the final there with the team. There Göran Holter forced a decider with his goal to win 1-0 away in the second leg after a 2-0 defeat at the beginning. This ended in a 0-0 draw, so the decision had to be made in the penalty shoot-out . With Eriksson in goal, IFK Norrköping triumphed 4: 3 after converting four penalties. Due to his good season performance, he made his second international appearance in the summer of that year, but conceded half a dozen goals in the 6-0 defeat against Denmark . However, the following year he was one of the three goalkeepers at the 1990 World Cup , behind Thomas Ravelli and Sven Andersson , but remained there without a job.

In the summer of 1991 Eriksson won the second title of his playing career with IFK Norrköping. In the Råsundastadion he defeated the Östers IF club 4-1. The new national coach Tommy Svensson also relied on him as the first substitute for Ravelli in the national team. In particular, he was used in international friendly matches, but was also part of the team at the 1992 European championship tournament in Sweden . As a bench press, he reached the semi-finals with the selection team, in which Germany prevailed. In the same year he dominated the regular time in the Allsvenskan with the club. In the final round, the team weakened and had to be content with the runner-up behind AIK . In the following years he achieved good results with the club and qualified with the team for the UEFA Cup on a regular basis . In the national team he was still part of the squad, so that Svensson considered him as a substitute for the 1994 World Cup . Even in his third tournament participation, however, he remained without playing time. In the internationals after the tournament he was still part of the squad and also came to his 17th international appearance, then Bengt Andersson inherited him as the second goalkeeper behind Ravelli.

In the 1995 season , Eriksson and his team were in danger of relegation. As twelfth in the table, the club had two points ahead of the last relegation place occupied by Hammarby IF, but had to play in two relegation games against the Gothenburg club GAIS . Although Eriksson's club decided the playoffs for themselves with a total score of 2-1, he decided to change clubs after the end of the season.

Moved abroad and returned to Sweden

In November 1995 Eriksson hired the Belgian club Sporting Charleroi , who initially loaned him to the beginning of the upcoming Allsvenskan season. His stay in the Belgian First Division was short-lived. After the loan contract expired, the club tried to secure a permanent commitment from the player, but in the meantime he had received an offer from southern Europe.

Eriksson joined FC Porto in late March 1996 , where he was traded as the potential successor to Portuguese goalkeeper Vítor Baía , who had announced his departure from FC Barcelona . Under coach António Oliveira , however, there was a four-way battle between Eriksson, Henrique Hilário , Silvino de Almeida Louro and Andrzej Woźniak in the 1996/97 season , with the young goalkeeper Hilário being used in particular. For the 1997/98 season, the club signed a new goalkeeper with Rui Correia , who had temporarily belonged to the squad of the Portuguese national team. He established himself straight away as a regular player and was able to maintain his place despite numerous goals conceded, so that Eriksson only came as a substitute for the season and in 1998 decided to change clubs.

Eriksson returned to Sweden and signed with his hometown club Hammarby IF. There he was initially only a substitute behind Per Fahlström . When he moved to Denmark in the summer, he inherited him as a regular goalkeeper. During the 2000 season , he also rose to become team captain . In this role, he was also a guarantee that the club with the players around Suleyman Sleyman , Andreas Hermansson , Kennedy Bakırcıoğlu , Peter Markstedt , Jonas Stark and Christer Fursth would win the Lennart Johansson Cup for the first time because of his good performance brought the Swedish national champion. With this success he ended his active career.

As a goalkeeping coach, Eriksson became a direct member of the club's coaching staff. Until 2007, he accompanied the team in this role, which however could no longer build on the great success. He then moved to the management of the club and covered the position of sports director. In May 2009, the club separated from him.

successes

• Swedish champion: 1989, 2001
• Swedish Cup Winner: 1991, 1994
• Portuguese champion: 1997, 1998