Tommy_Svensson

Tommy Svensson

Tommy Svensson

Swedish footballer and manager


Leif Tommy Svensson[2] (born 4 March 1945) is a Swedish former football manager and player. He is best known for playing for Östers IF and the Sweden national football team. He won the Guldbollen in 1969. He managed Sweden between 1991 and 1997 and led them to a bronze medal at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

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He is the son of Stig Svensson and the uncle of Joachim Björklund.

Early years

Svensson was born 4 March 1945 to father Stig Svensson. Stig was a footballer who played for Östers IF and dubbed Mr. Öster.[3]

Svensson, like his father, had a natural talent for football. At just eleven years-old, he debuted for Östers youth team, and allegedly scored eight goals in the match.[4] However, news paper headlines said he was too weak. Tommy bought a barbell and trained. Morning, noon and night, he lifted weights in order to bulk up.[5]

Playing career

Svensson's playing career took him to Östers IF as well as Belgian Standard Liège. Throughout his career, he suffered from knee injuries. His injuries almost stopped him from competing in 1968.[6] However, Svensson persevered. He was awarded Guldbollen in 1969 and played at the 1970 FIFA World Cup.[7]

Managing career

After retiring, Svensson started working as the Östers IF team manager while Lars "Laban" Arnesson was the coach. He later had a successful period with Tromsø IL, and became national team coach in 1991.

He led the Swedish team to the 1992 European Football Championship semi final as well as a bronze medal at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He resigned in 1997 after failing to qualify for UEFA Euro 1996 and 1998 FIFA World Cup, and later worked in television with match commentary as well as coaching Tromsø for a second period in 2001.

Outside the Azteca Stadium, there is a statue of the best players of each nation was erected. Sweden's representative was Tommy Svensson.

Honours

Player

Östers IF

Individual

Manager

Öster
Sweden

References

  1. "Sweden national football team stats". passagen.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 9 June 2001.

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