Henrik Larson

Henrik Edward Larsson (Helsingborg, Sweden, September 20, 1971), known as Larsson, is a Swedish former soccer player and soccer coach.

Son of a Cape Verdean father and a Swedish mother.

His last job was as an assistant to the coaching staff of F. C. Barcelona in the Spanish First Division. He played and managed Allsvenskan Helsingborgs IF in his country, He also played for Celtic, Barcelona and Manchester United, among other clubs. He is a member of the Order of the British Empire. He is known for being the top scorer in the history of the UEFA Europa League.

On May 14, 2005, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Strathclyde —in Glasgow, Scotland— for his contribution to sport and charity. On May 9, 2006, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire at the request of Celtic supporters and awarded by Queen Elizabeth II, who accredits him as a Member of the British Empire, for his contribution to football in the United Kingdom, despite it being a title rarely awarded to foreign civilians.

Trajectory

Henrik Larsson was born in Helsingborg, the son of an immigrant from Cape Verde. In his professional football career he played as a striker and his first team was Högaborgs BK. He later signed for a Swedish Second Division club, Helsingborgs IF, with whom he got promoted to Allsvenskan. In 1993 he signed for Feyenoord Rotterdam, where he stayed for four seasons in which he won the Netherlands Cup twice.

In 1997 he went to play for Celtic F. C. in Scotland, where he won four League titles, two Cups and a runner-up in the 2002-03 UEFA Cup, after losing in the final against F. C. Porto, in which Larsson scored two goals and was voted man of the match. Furthermore, he was the top scorer in the Scottish Premier League three times. He also won the Golden Boot in 2001, an award given to the top scorer in the European leagues, after scoring thirty-five goals. At Celtic he fractured the tibia and fibula in his left leg. He left the Scottish club in 2004 being considered a legend by the fans. Among the many records he set is the top European scorer in the club's history with thirty-five goals.

In 2004 he signed for F. C. Barcelona. His debut in the Spanish First Division came on August 29, 2004 in a 0-2 victory against Racing Santander. With Barcelona he was proclaimed league champion in the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons. He also won a Spanish Super Cup and had a decisive role in the 2006 Champions League final, with two goal assists that gave the Catalans victory. However, in the first season he played very little, due to a knee injury.

After two seasons at Barcelona, he decided to return to the club from his hometown, Helsingborg, after his contract expired in 2006. He made his debut with the Swedish team on July 6 in a match corresponding to the Swedish Cup, in which they beat Hammarby IF 1-3. In December of the same year, his loan to Manchester United F.C. was announced until the Swedish League resumed in March, due to multiple injuries to the English team. The same day he made his Manchester United debut, he scored his first goal against Aston Villa F.C.. He also scored in a Champions League match. After the completion of his loan, and despite an attempt to extend the contract by Manchester, the player returned to join the Helsingborgs squad. Subsequently, he played in the 2007-08 UEFA Cup, in which his club reached the round of 32, where they lost to PSV Eindhoven. Larsson scored nine goals between the qualifying phase and the tournament, remaining fourth top scorer in the competition.

In 2009 they played again in the UEFA Cup, but were eliminated in the third qualifying round, against FK Sarajevo, in a penalty shootout. Larsson scored three goals in these qualifiers that earned him to become the top European scorer in the history of Helsingborgs, with twelve goals. It was the last time he played in a European competition, from which he left as the sixth top scorer in its history, to date, with fifty-nine goals in one hundred and eight games.

In the summer of the same year, Larsson said that he had 95% thought of his withdrawal; however, on August 1, he suffered an injury that would have kept him off the pitch for eight weeks. Larsson decided to hang up his boots on November 1 after playing his last game with Helsingborgs. Henrik uttered these words: "I'm 38 years old and that's enough. " His last game, on October 28, was against Djurgårdens IF at home.

National team

He was capped by the Swedish national team 106 times, scoring a total of 37 goals. His international debut came on October 13, 1993 in a match against Finland that ended with a 3-2 Swedish victory.

He participated in the 1994 Soccer World Cup, playing five games almost all of them entering the second half, he played against Cameroon, Russia, Brazil, Romania and Bulgaria. In that World Cup Larsson only started in the match against Bulgaria (4-0) in which he scored the third goal for his team, Sweden achieving third place in the competition.

Her next international date was Euro 2000. The Swedish team did not make it past the first phase, finishing last in group B. In the 2-1 defeat against Italy, Larsson scored one of the two goals his team scored in the tournament.

Later, he participated in the 2002 World Cup, playing four games against England, Nigeria, Argentina and Senegal. Larsson started in all the games that the Swedish team played in that World Cup and scored three goals – two against Nigeria and one against Senegal. After this World Cup, he announced his retirement from the national team.

However, for Euro 2004 in Portugal, he decided to return to the Swedish team due to the popular clamor in his country. Sweden was placed in group C, where they won against Bulgaria, a game in which Larsson scored two goals to make it 5-0, and drew against Italy and Denmark, with Larsson's goal from a penalty in a 2-2 draw. After passing first in the group, Sweden faced the Netherlands. After the 0-0, it came to penalties. Larsson scored his, but Sweden were ultimately eliminated. The Swedish Federation and the newspaper Aftonbladet designated one of his goals in this competition as the best of all time for the Swedish national team; It is about the 2-0 against Bulgaria in which he finishes off a cross from Erik Edman with a header. In addition, Larsson entered the ideal eleven of the tournament.

In 2006 he played his last games with the Swedish national team at the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany. He played all four of Sweden's games, against Trinidad and Tobago, Paraguay, England and Germany, until they lost in the round of 16 to the Germans. He started every game and managed to score a goal in the 2-2 draw against England. In the round of 16 match, when his team was losing 2-0 against Germany, he missed a penalty called for a free kick against himself. On July 17, 2006, he announced his withdrawal from the national team for the second time.

Despite this, the call from coach Lars Lagerbäck meant that the player played his last tournament with his team, Euro 2008. Sweden was drawn in Group D, where they won against Greece and lost against Spain and Russia, by what did not pass the first phase. It is the only tournament in which Larsson did not score a goal for his team.

On October 1, 2009, Larsson announced his final retirement from the national team. His last goal was scored in a friendly against France.

Participations in World Cups

World	Headquarters	Outcome	Goles
1994 Football World Cup	United States	Third place	1
2002 Football World Cup	South KoreaSouth Korea and JapanJapan	Final Octavos	3
2006 Football World Cup	GermanyGermany	Final Octavos	1

Participations in European Championships

Edition	Headquarters	Outcome	Goles
Euro 2000	NetherlandsNetherlands and BelgiumBelgium	First phase	1
Euro 2004	Portugal	Final rooms	3
Euro 2008	AustriaAustria and SwitzerlandSwitzerland	First phase	0

Statistics

Clubs

Party and goals for club, season and competition

Club	Div.	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		International		Total
			Par.	Gol.	Par.	Gol.	Par.	Gol.	Par.	Gol.	Par.	Gol.
HögaborgSweden Sweden	3.a	1989	21	1	-		-		-		21	1
		1990	21	7	-		-		-		21	7
		1991	22	15	-		-		-		22	15
		Total	64	23	-		-		-		64	23
Helsingborg IF Sweden Sweden	1.a	1992	31	34	-		-		-		31	34
		1993	25	16	5	1	-		-		30	17
		Total	56	50	5	1	-		-		61	51
FeyenoordNetherlandsNetherlands	1.a	1993-94	15	1	12	5	-		-		27	6
		1994-95	23	8	9	1	-		6	7	38	16
		1995-96	32	10	4	1	-		7	1	43	12
		1996-97	31	7	4	0	-		6	1	41	8
		Total	101	26	29	7	-		19	9	149	42
CelticScotlandScotland	1.a	1997-98	35	16	4	0	5	3	2	0	46	19
		1998-99	35	29	5	5	0	0	8	4	48	38
		1999-00	9	7	0	0	0	0	4	5	13	12
		2000-01	37	35	6	9	2	5	5	4	50	53
		2001-02	33	29	3	2	1	0	10	4	47	35
		2002-03	35	28	2	2	2	2	12	12	51	44
		2003-04	37	30	5	5	1	0	15	6	58	41
		Total	221	174	25	23	11	10	56	35	313	242
BarcelonaSpainSpain	1.a	2004-05	12	3	1	0	-		4	1	17	4
		2005-06	28	10	4	4	-		10	1	42	15
	Total		40	13	4	4	-		14	2	59	19
Helsingborg IF Sweden Sweden	1.a	2006	15	8	5	4	-		-		20	12
		2007	22	9	1	0	-		9	9	32	18
		2008	27	14	1	0	-		2	0	30	14
		2009	20	7	1	0	-		4	3	25	10
	Total		84	38	8	4	-		15	12	107	54
Manchester United (Cesion) EnglandEngland	1.a	2006-07	7	1	4	1	0	0	2	1	13	3
RååSweden Sweden	2.a	2012	1	0	-		-		-		1	0
HögaborgSweden Sweden	3.a	2013	1	0	-		-		-		1	0
Total career			575	325	76	40	11	10	106	59	768	434

As a coach

Club	Country	Year
Landskrona BoIS	Sweden Sweden	2010-2012
Högaborgs BK		2013
Falkenbergs FF		2014
Helsingborgs IF		2015 - 2016
Helsingborgs IF		2019
F. C. Barcelona (3rd coach)	SpainSpain	2020 -

Titles

National Championships

Title	Club	Country	Year
Cup of the Netherlands	Feyenoord of Rotterdam	NetherlandsNetherlands	1994
Cup of the Netherlands			1995
Premier League of Scotland	Celtic F.C.	ScotlandScotland	1998
Scotland League Cup			1998
Premier League of Scotland			2001
Scotland Cup			2001
Scotland League Cup			2001
Premier League of Scotland			2002
Premier League of Scotland			2004
Scotland Cup			2004
First Division of Spain	F. C. Barcelona	SpainSpain	2005
Supercopa de España			2005
First Division of Spain			2006
Sweden Cup	Helsingborgs IF	Sweden Sweden	2006
Premier League	Manchester United F. C.	EnglandEngland	2007

International Cups

Title	Club	Headquarters	Year
UEFA Champions League	F. C. Barcelona	Paris	2006

Individual awards