World Cup ’94 : WORLD CUP USA ’94 / GROUP B PREVIEW : Northern Exposure : Players May Balk at Publicity, but Sweden Is Good Enough to Make Some News
The road to the World Cup is fraught with bruised shins, battered bodies, trampled egos, frayed emotions and, if one happens to play for Sweden, one too many moose.
Klas Ingesson, star midfielder for the Swedish national soccer team, was nearly knocked out of the World Cup tournament in early May when the car he was driving struck a moose. Ingesson suffered a badly sprained neck in the collision and was forced to wear a neck brace for more than three weeks before receiving medical clearance to compete in the United States.
This is something that seldom occurs in Cameroon, but for the Swedes, it’s merely another occupational hazard.
One day you’re a national hero after scoring a goal in a Cup tuneup against Nigeria, the next you’re sidelined for three or four weeks with a sprained antler cruciate.
It has been a rough go all around for the Swedes as they prepare for World Cup ’94. Four players were injured in a May 26 “friendly” game against Denmark. One, defender Roger Ljung, suffered a concussion and a fractured skull after being elbowed in the head.
Before that, Sweden had to play its final two Cup qualifying matches without its top player, forward Tomas Brolin, who, in classic brooding Scandinavian form, bolted the team in exasperation over media criticism of his private life and an alleged drinking problem.
Brolin was the lone bright spot for Sweden in an three-and-out disaster in the 1990 World Cup at Italy, when he scored one of his country’s three goals in the tournament--against Brazil. He and striker Martin Dahlin combined for 10 of Sweden’s 19 goals during 1994 qualifying, but without Brolin, the Swedes barely held off Finland, 3-2, to squeak into the finals.
Brolin boycotted the media for a time before eventually rejoining the team and writing a first-person rebuttal for the Swedish soccer magazine, Svensk Fotboll. A mea culpa it was not. Brolin chastised the Swedish press for spreading “false rumors about me” and concluded, “The mistake I have made is that I have been myself in all situations. I’ve tried to live a normal life and all that it encompasses. I’ve socialized with my friends in my free time. It is something that means a lot to me. Something I have done and will always do.”
Dahlin, regarded as one of the top strikers in Europe, bailed out Sweden against Finland, scoring the tying goal and the eventual game winner. He also produced equalizers against Bulgaria and France, totaling seven goals as Sweden finished qualifying with a record of 6-1-3.
Tommy Svensson, the coach who held it all together, was appointed shortly after Sweden had flamed out in the 1990 World Cup, in which the Swedes became one of only four teams to lose all their games.
Svensson revamped the program by eliminating frills and preaching a long-ball, defense-oriented style that has been described as cool, calculating, efficient, predictable and dull--in other words, quintessentially Swedish.
“I don’t believe in Santa Claus,” Svensson grunted after his team had edged Finland last fall, a victory that pushed Sweden to the brink of its ninth World Cup. The Swedes still needed help to qualify--they needed Israel to upset France in Paris--and Svensson wasn’t optimistic.
A few hours later, Israel rallied for two late goals and a stunning 3-2 victory. France was out. Sweden was in.
Svensson still isn’t sure about flying reindeer as he and his team land in America, 40-1 longshots to win the Cup.
But traffic-stopping moose?
Yiminy, can he tell you stories.
