Tomas Brolin

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Tomas Brolin
Tomas Brolin.jpg
Tomas Brolin (2013)
Personnel
birthday November 29, 1969
place of birth Hudiksvall ,  Sweden
size 178 cm
position midfield player
Juniors
Years station
1976-1983 Näsvikens IK
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1984-1986 Näsvikens IK 36 (10)
1987-1989 GIF Sundsvall 55 (13)
1990 IFK Norrköping 9 0(7)
1990-1995 AC Parma 133 (20)
1995-1997 Leeds United 20 0(4)
1996 →  FC Zurich  (loan) 3 0(0)
1997 → AC Parma (loan) 11 0(0)
1998 Crystal Palace 13 0(0)
1998 Hudiksvalls ABK 1 0(0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1990-1995 Sweden 47 (26)
1 Only league games are given.

Tomas Brolin (born November 29, 1969 in Hudiksvall ) is a former Swedish football player .

Career

society

Ascent to the "golden boy"

Brolin started his career at Näsvikens IK in 1984 at the age of 14 . With the fourth division team at the time, he quickly developed into a regular player. In 1986 GIF Sundsvall lured him to his football academy, where he received further training and also made his professional debut. After two years - Sundsvall was relegated - the offensive all-rounder decided to switch to the first division club IFK Norrköping .

Success at AC Parma

After only a short time, Brolin signed a contract with Serie A promoted AC Parma and went to Italy. In the same year he was voted Sweden's Footballer of the Year for the first time. In Parma, the midfielder formed a top offensive duo together with Alessandro Melli . Both came in the 1990/91 season on a total of 20 goals (7 goals Brolin) and placed their club in fifth place in the league. The club qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time in club history . There they were eliminated in the first round against the Bulgarian representative CSKA Sofia . The following season was again very successful nationally. Brolin completed all league games and led his team in the competition for the Coppa Italia until the final against Juventus Turin . After a 1-0 win and a 2-0 win the first trophy in the club's history was won. As a result, the team started in the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1992/93 .

Via Újpest Budapest , Boavista Porto , Sparta Prague and Atlético Madrid , AC Parma reached the final, in which Royal Antwerp was the opponent. After goals from Lorenzo Minotti , Alessandro Melli and Stefano Cuoghi for Parma and a goal from Francis Severeyns for Antwerp, the Nevio Scala team won 3-1. It was both Brolin's and Parma's first ever international title win. Up until the final, Brolin and new buyer Faustino Asprilla fought for the regular place, with Asprilla usually being preferred and the Swede often watching the game from the bench. In the encounter with Antwerp, however, Brolin was given preference and completed the full ninety minutes. In the summer of 1993, the club signed the offensive forces Gianfranco Zola and Massimo Crippa . Coach Scala continued to bet on Brolin, but ordered him further behind in the game system, in the defensive area. Again, the team made it to the final of the Cup Winners' Cup. But this time the team drew 1-0 against Arsenal London . Brolin was again on the field for the full season.

On November 16, 1994, the midfielder was injured in a game of the national team. This resulted in a broken foot, which should put him out of action for some time. At the time, Parma led the Italian league first. On April 23 of the following year, Brolin returned. By then, his team was already far behind in the sun in 13th place. Until the end of the season, the Swede had to struggle to find his form. He came to work regularly. In the summer of 1995 the AC board member signed Christo Stoitschkow , because it was feared that Brolin would no longer achieve his old form. Despite good performances in the preparation time for the 1995/96 season, coach Scala relied less and less on the Swedes. On November 17, 1995, he therefore announced his move to the traditional English club Leeds United .

Change to England and loss of performance

Leeds had brought Anthony Yeboah from Frankfurt at the beginning of the 1995 season and Leeds coach Howard Wilkinson planned with Brolin as a template for Yeboah. Brolin made his Premier League debut a day after signing a contract with England . In the game against Newcastle United , the offensive player came on in the 82nd minute for Mark Ford . Four days later he was already in the club's starting line-up. But in the following years things went rather badly for Brolin. After initial problems with coach Wilkinson and discussions about Brolins weight, there was an exchange of blows between him and his trainer on April 1, 1996. As an April Fool's joke, Brolin announced a move to his former club IFK Norrköping on Swedish television and annoyed his boss. That same day he had to apologize personally to Wilkinson. The relationship between the two did not improve in the months to come and the signs quickly pointed to separation again.

In the summer of 1996 Brolin set out to find a new club. After no club agreed to buy the Swede for a long time, the Swiss club FC Zurich loaned him out. Brolin felt comfortable with his new employer and strove to stay. But Leeds new coach George Graham ordered Brolin back to England in October. Although the loan period was only valid until September 30th, Brolin played again for Zurich against FC St. Gallen on October 9th . Graham then gave him an ultimatum until November 6th to report to the club after the club failed to reach him.

On November 13th, a loan deal with Sampdoria Genoa failed after Brolin failed the medical test. The reason was still the aftermath of his injured leg. Leeds then had the player examined thoroughly, fearing that he would end his career early. On December 24th, the midfielder was about to end the Leeds United chapter when it became known that his former club AC Parma was planning to loan him out and had an option to buy. With a financial contribution, Brolin bought himself free from the English and returned to Italy. It wasn't until February 23, 1997 that the midfielder made his comeback with the yellow-blue team . The team celebrated the runner-up at the end of the season, with Brolin only having short appearances. Finally, the board decided against a firm commitment from the Swede because of concerns about his fitness. On June 16, 1997, the loan contract with Parma expired, shortly afterwards he had to come back to Leeds. Manager Graham cut the offensive all-rounder from the squad and suggested that he look for another club. On August 29, Brolin was supposed to move to the Spanish club Real Saragossa , but this failed because the Spanish transfer window had already been closed. Another move to the Heart of Midlothian also failed shortly thereafter. After a long argument between Brolin, his advisors and the Leeds board, an agreement was reached on October 28th to terminate the contract.

End of a meteoric career

On November 16, 1997, Steve Coppell , coach of Crystal Palace asked him whether Brolin would support the club on a tour of Sweden as a player, as the financially troubled club hoped to earn income. Brolin agreed and joined the team on January 5th of the following year. After the two-week tour, the club offered him a contract until the end of the season. Already on January 10th Brolin made his league debut for Crystal despite being overweight and in poor form. At the end of the season, when Crystal was relegated, both parties parted ways and Brolin returned to his Swedish homeland. On April 27, 1997, he wore the shirt of the London club for the last time.

On May 12, 1998, when Brolin was 29 years old at the time, he announced that he would end his career as a professional player. His last appearance was on August 29, 1998 with Hudiksvalls ABK against Kiruna FF , when he came on as a goalkeeper for the last 15 minutes.

National team

Brolin made his debut in Sweden in 1990 against the Wales team . He scored two goals in a 4-2 win over the British team. Shortly afterwards, he was part of the 1990 World Cup squad . As the youngest player in the team, he was used in all three preliminary round games, with the Swedish team eliminated. He also scored his first World Cup goal in the opening game against Brazil .

At the Euro 1992 Brolin was one of the pillars of the team that left Denmark , France and England behind in the preliminary round . Brolin was the match winner in the 1-0 win against the Danes with his goal . In the semifinals, the team met Germany , but were eliminated after 2: 3. In the meantime, Brolin scored the 1: 2 connection goal with a penalty.

Shortly afterwards he went to the 1992 Olympic Games with his country's Olympic team . There the team made it to the quarter-finals. At the age of 24, in the prime of his career, Brolin went to the 1994 World Cup in the USA. Back then, the Swedes were only promised small tournament chances. But the young team with players like Patrik Andersson , Stefan Schwarz , Henrik Larsson and Martin Dahlin knew how to convince. After two draws and one win, the team qualified for the knockout round. There they made it to the semi-finals and met Brazil again, which they had wrested a 1-1 from in the group stage. With a goal from Romário , the game had to be lost 0: 1. In the game for third place, the elk kickers rehabilitated themselves and won 4-0 against the team from Bulgaria . Brolin brought his team through the 1-0 lead on the road to victory.

He scored three goals in seven games at the World Cup. Together with three other Swedes, the midfielder never missed a minute of his team. During the qualifying game on November 16, 1994 against Hungary for the 1996 European Football Championship , Brolin broke his foot. This injury set him back and he should never be able to build on his past performances. On May 7 of the following year, a week after his league comeback, the offensive player made his comeback in the dress of Sweden against the team from Iceland . After the Swedish national coach Tommy Svensson no longer considered him in early 1996 and said Brolin was not at 100%, this was the end of his national team career. With a total of 26 goals, he is among the top ten goal scorers in his country.

See also:

Career after football

Since he left football, Tomas Brolin has been working as a businessman and, among other things, runs a Swedish-Italian restaurant called “Undici” in Stockholm . The translation of the Italian word “Undici” is “11” and is a reference to his shirt number during his time in Parma.

Trivia

  • Together with the Swedish-Nigerian singer Dr. Alban , Mattias Frisk and tennis personality Björn Borg recorded the title Alla Vi in 1999 as the group Friends in Need .
  • Brolin has a son

successes

society

National team

  • EM medals: 1 bronze ( 1992 )
  • World Championship medals: 1 bronze ( 1994 )

Individually

Web links

Commons : Tomas Brolin  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Friends in Need - Alla Vi on youtube.com
personal data
SURNAME Brolin, Tomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH November 29, 1969
PLACE OF BIRTH Hudiksvall