Henrik Edward Larsson MBE [IPA: 'hɛnrɪk 'lɑːʂɔn] (born September 20, 1971 in Helsingborg, Skåne) is a Swedish footballer, best known for helping win four titles in seven years for Scottish club Celtic . He subsequently had a two-year spell at Barcelona of Spain, where he won two titles and the Champions League. In the summer of 2006 he retired from international football and returned to his home town club of Helsingborgs IF. He later joined Manchester United on a brief loan spell between January and March 2007.
He is the top scorer of all time in the UEFA Cup and one of the top ten scorers of all time in all UEFA club competitions.
In the 1990s, Larsson was famous for his unique high-flying, blonde dreadlocks. However, in 2000 not long after recovering from a career-threatening leg injury, Larsson had his head completely shaven. He has not let his hair grow back since. In spite of this time out of the game, Larsson amassed 93 caps for Sweden, scoring 36 goals. He has now retired from international football.
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.
Early career and Celtic
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]
Following a complicated contract dispute with Feyenoord,[specify] 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 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 than during the 1990s. 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 superb 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 the only foreigner in the greatest ever Celtic team.
In his last appearance for Celtic, he scored two excellent 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.
Posted: Sun 30 Mar 2008 21:19 Post subject: Henrik
Henrik Larsson is one of the most humble and nice celebrities and athletes there are. I know because I live in the same neigbourhood as he is. All people here in Sweden loves him and we are very proud of him here in Helsingborg.
His children are adorable.
Th thing is that here in Sweden we don't view mixed people as black, we view them as mixed. It is really hard for me to understand the way americans say that all people of colour are black. And that black and mixed people themselves does it. For me it is like you are agreeing with the Jim crow law.
Posted: Sun 30 Mar 2008 23:13 Post subject: Re: Henrik
Lill wrote:
Henrik Larsson is one of the most humble and nice celebrities and athletes there are. I know because I live in the same neigbourhood as he is. All people here in Sweden loves him and we are very proud of him here in Helsingborg.
His children are adorable.
Th thing is that here in Sweden we don't view mixed people as black, we view them as mixed. It is really hard for me to understand the way americans say that all people of colour are black. And that black and mixed people themselves does it. For me it is like you are agreeing with the Jim crow law.
Posted: Mon 31 Mar 2008 02:56 Post subject: Re: Henrik
Lill wrote:
Henrik Larsson is one of the most humble and nice celebrities and athletes there are. I know because I live in the same neigbourhood as he is. All people here in Sweden loves him and we are very proud of him here in Helsingborg.
His children are adorable.
Th thing is that here in Sweden we don't view mixed people as black, we view them as mixed. It is really hard for me to understand the way americans say that all people of colour are black. And that black and mixed people themselves does it. For me it is like you are agreeing with the Jim crow law.
I didn't think he still lived in Sweden, I thought he returned to the Islands
Posted: Wed 02 Apr 2008 07:41 Post subject: Henrik Larsson
Henrik has never lived in the Cape Verde Islands, his father is from there but Henrik is born in Helsingborg, Sweden and has lived here for all his life, except for when he played soccer for Celtic in Scotland and for Barcelona in Spain.
I don't think he has been to the Cape Verde Islands. His father came to Sweden before Henrik was born and met Henriks mother. His father still lives here in Helsingborg also.
I think Henriks father is mixed also because he has the same light skin as Henrik has.
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