Sweden legend Larsson retires

Henrik Larsson, widely considered one of the greatest Swedish footballers in history, has announced his retirement

Striker Henrik Larsson fought back the tears as he said farewell to football and admitted his decision to retire had left an “emptiness”.

The Swede took to the pitch for the last time in Helsingborg’s 2-0 Swedish League loss to Djurgarden on Wednesday.

He was given a standing ovation from the crowd.

The 38-year-old scored over 300 goals during spells with Helsingborg, Feyenoord, Celtic, Barcelona and Manchester United.

Tributes from the likes of Sweden coach Lars Lagerback, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and international team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic were played at the ground.

“I’m 38 now, it has been enough,” Larsson said.

“I enjoyed my career and I want to thank everyone who has supported me in all these years.

“Now it’s time for something else.”

“It really hits you when meet all this love,” said Larsson, who will not play in Helsingborg’s final match of the domestic season at Elfsborg on Sunday.

“I’m normally quite a cool character but right now I feel like I could cry.

“It’s huge to be able to end it on our home ground and it has to end some time. It’s rubbish to end things this way (with a defeat) but you can’t have everything in life.”

Larsson, who won 106 caps for Sweden, was also moved by Helsingborg’s decision to retire the number 17 shirt in his honour.

“It’s a fantastic gesture by the club, to retire it for ever. I’m very moved,” he said.

“I don’t know if I have to go down to the employment agency and do certain things, but I have the luck and luxury to be able to say no to jobs which are offered to me,” he added.

“But obviously there is an emptiness at present, and I need to fill that emptiness with something.

“I’m fortunate enough to have earned enough money to be able to sit back and not panic, but I have to do something. I can’t just glide through the rest of life.”

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Posted by Bilal Sulehri on Oct 29 2009. Filed under Football, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry