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Free Monthly Episode - The Interview: Glenn Hysén (Ep. 198)
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The Italian Football Podcast is delighted to interview former Fiorentina, Liverpool, IFK Gothenburg and PSV defender Glenn Hysén.
The first episode of The Italian Football Podcast is free. To listen to all other full episodes of The Italian Football Podcast, go to Patreon.com/TIFP to become a Patron for only $2.99 USD per month (excluding VAT).
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast with John Solano, Carlo Garganese and Nima Tuvali.
00:00:24
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome to another interview episode of the Italian football podcast. My name is Nima Taraleh-Ruzari, and today we have a very special guest.
Glenn Husian's Early Career and Family Legacy
00:00:33
Speaker
We're delighted to welcome on to the show former Sweden, Fiorentina, Liverpool and Ithko Gothenburg star Glenn Husian, who was one of the best defenders of his generation during the 1980s. Glenn, thank you very much for joining us. How are you doing?
00:00:46
Speaker
I'm perfectly all right, no problem. Thanks for joining you in this beautiful program. Thank you so much, Glenn. So let's start a little bit with your career, I mean, where it all began. I mean, you joined Efkor Gothenburg in 1978, and that's a club that your family has historical ties to. If I'm not mistaken, didn't your great grandfather or grandfather play there as well? Yeah, my grandfather and his brother,
00:01:14
Speaker
And their father and his brother, the oldest, the grandfather, they have won the... Swedish League. What do you call it? The Swedish League. In 1935.
00:01:36
Speaker
But my father and his brother didn't win anything, but they played for Gothenburg.
Achievements with IFK Gothenburg
00:01:40
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, your entire family, I mean, your son as well, Tobias, played and won with IFC as well. But one of the, I mean, just to go back to that, you joined them in 78. And in 79 Svengor and Eriksson Svenjoran, who we also had on the show twice,
00:01:56
Speaker
He arrived, and in 82, you guys won the treble. You won the Swedish League, the Swedish Cup, and the UEFA Cup. And one of the most amazing documentaries I've seen in football is about this period, and it's called The Last Proletarians of Football, where basically it's about how a bunch of guys who worked in the days and trained in the nights went in Europe and just destroyed everyone. What do you remember about this period and that run, winning the 1982 UEFA Cup?
00:02:26
Speaker
Well, I think I remember everything because there was something new for Swedish football at all. Nobody's been... Well, Malmö was in the European Cup final in 1979, I guess. But before that, no Swedish teams have been so high up on that level. So the thing I remember was that we were just...
00:02:50
Speaker
normal persons, normal players. We worked from, I remember I worked when we met Humbug in the Efica final in 1982. We worked from seven o'clock in the morning till, well, two o'clock. Then we meet up at Camarot, Gordon, the training place. And this was like a normal Alstraz game, nothing special. What did you work with? What did you work with?
00:03:19
Speaker
I was electrician at that time, but I wouldn't go back to that now because I probably kill all of them. We'll be fired everywhere. But at that time I did that. Yes, but I can't remember the shit of it. You then joined the PSVI for... Oh, sorry. Yeah, go. No, please go ahead. No, but I mean, there were all sorts of... I mean, Thor Holmgring, he was a plumber. He worked with...
00:03:48
Speaker
like a iron, you know, plumber. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And the Tommy home game was a firefighter. Toby Nielsen was working in a kitchen. Yeah. So that would all, all of us have jobs. Nobody was professional.
00:04:03
Speaker
Wow. And you beat all the professionals all the way to the final of the UEFA Cup, which was back then. I mean, that was like the Champions League is today because it's you had the teams from the second, third and fourth positions in the leagues. It wasn't like the top like today you have
Challenges at PSV Eindhoven and Return to Gothenburg
00:04:20
Speaker
the top four. The UEFA Cup was a really was a huge tournament when you won it and you won it twice. And we're going to get to that. Let's talk a little bit about the PS behind often.
00:04:29
Speaker
You went there and I remember that you were there for two seasons and things didn't go well and I've read that they played you so incredibly out of position. They even played you as a striker. Is that true? Yes, he was a mental person, the trainer. Who was it? I can't remember. Who was the coach? His name was Jan Reyker.
00:04:54
Speaker
I know he was nothing special, but he said to me after like, I think I played as a center back for maybe five, six games. And then he wanted us to have more power on the throw-ins and when the guys came around on the flanks, put the ball into the box. And I wanted me to be there because I was a good in the air.
00:05:21
Speaker
So I moved up one step to midfield. And then I scored a few goals. But I mean, that league wasn't that good at that time. You can remember if I score goals in that league, they must be like, I don't know. But that was the first step. And then at the end, when I just lost it, it was when he put me up as a forward. And I scored like two or three goals.
00:05:50
Speaker
I wasn't in the game. I was just moving around up there like an idiot. So I told him when I end up at the bench, because I was a bad forward, I had enough. I couldn't handle it. I told him, I don't want to be here anymore. He used me as a forum and I end up in the bench because of that. But that was a disappointment, but I came back and
00:06:16
Speaker
Yeah, we lost the race in the Swedish final. Yeah. Yeah. But I wasn't, I wasn't the one I was when I left because he took me like three or four months to come back to the same level. I want to talk about that because, because you, when you returned to, to IFC Gothenburg, you, I mean, one of those, you guys kind of, you, IFC was pretty much a European powerhouse again, because in 86.
00:06:42
Speaker
the European Cup semi-final against Barcelona at Ulevi, which has gone down in folklore in in in Gothenburg, you completely demolished Barcelona at 3-0 at home. And then that second leg, 3-0 away at Camp Nou, which you lost and you lost on penalties. I remember I met, I spoke to Yoni Ekster and the striker a few years ago, I think it was two years ago, and I asked him about that second leg, which was marred with controversy and scandalous decisions.
00:07:11
Speaker
And a goal that was scored, that was taken off or offside, or it was an offside call, he's convinced that the referee was rigged and was paid by Barcelona to throw you guys out. I mean, he doesn't hold back.
00:07:29
Speaker
I mean, what are your thoughts about that and are you still bitter and do you feel robbed by what happened in that game? The thing is that I didn't play that game because between these two legs, between the first game and Uluvi when we won 3-0 and two weeks for the next game away game in Spain,
00:07:52
Speaker
I ended up with chicken pox. Because Tommy Holmgren's son, he's had it and he was not playing around in Camelot Quarter and I hadn't had it. I went 26 years old and I was like 40 degrees fever shaking because that's not good if you're an adult. No, it's dangerous. But if you get it when you're a child, no problem.
00:08:18
Speaker
But I ended up with that. So I missed the game because of that. So I can't tell you anything more than I saw on telling.
Success and Experiences at Fiorentina
00:08:25
Speaker
No, no, I understand. But I mean, do you think that had IFC Gotham had gone to the final, do you think you would have beaten Stojabukaris? It's very difficult to say, but I'm pretty sure that we have done that. Yes, because we were so good at that time and we could have won six nil in Gothenburg.
00:08:46
Speaker
Yeah, we just have to play them. Yeah, you did. You played. I think that was too short. Well, Gaffenborough with the facts that I think they underrepresented us quite a lot. They did. They sure did. Yeah.
00:09:01
Speaker
But the following year in 87, I've got them, but you were the captain, if I remember correctly, and you led golf to the second, to the second UEFA Cup win beating in there in the process or, you know, one nil, nil at home, one, one away. What do you remember from those tie or from those games and that run to winning the UEFA Cup?
00:09:23
Speaker
I remember, like you said, entering the quarter-final, we had them here in Italy. It's a nil-nil, very boring game. And then in Milano, the next game, Steve Freidiff didn't score a known goal after, I can't remember, 20 minutes, 25 minutes. I think it was something like that. And everybody thought, oh, that's it. That's it. But we said, we told each other in half time.
00:09:47
Speaker
We're not, we are not worse than them where the day are not so good that we thought. So just carry them boy. Come on. And we had a free kick or a corner or something. And I had the ball and thing. I couldn't hold it. So he left her a return and Steve on pitfall and scored a goal. And then we, we hold out forever. That was a shock for in thinking for the inter three Milan crowd. Yeah, I bet.
00:10:11
Speaker
I bet. Yeah, I mean, that was a huge upset and you went all the way and won it. I mean, looking back now with quite a few years' distance, what made that IFK Gothenburg team so special in the 80s? Well, it's hard to say just one thing, but I think the main thing was when when Spanish trainers... Yeah, Sven Gornersson. For example, he told me, don't do anything else that you can't handle.
00:10:39
Speaker
you can head the ball away, do some sliding tackles, just defend, don't do anything you're not good at. And to Tommy Hollingring, he told him, challenge the fullback, challenge, because you're so quick, you're so technical, and go around there and put the flanks, put the balls into the box. And to Toby Nielsen, he said,
00:10:59
Speaker
Do what you're best at. Dribble. Go. Go in the box. So he told everyone to do the best that he could do and in what he was as good at. Don't try to do anything other things.
00:11:11
Speaker
And if all the players do the same, the best of what they can. That's why we went so far. That's really interesting. Yeah, that sounds a lot like him. I mean, in 87, he signed you to his Fiorentina and you began to work with him again. How special was your relationship with him or is it with him? It's still good. I talk to him a couple of times a month.
00:11:38
Speaker
But we don't see each other so often. But I was on my way to Manchester United at that time. Yeah. Because Alex Ferguson called my agent. He wanted me to United. And Sven has called me and he said, don't sign anything with anyone because I have a thing going on here. And he hasn't signed from Argentina at that time, but he did that one week or two weeks after or something.
00:12:04
Speaker
And then he said, after that, don't sign anything. So I didn't. And two weeks later, he called me and he said, do you want to come to Fiorentina? Because I took over here now. Yes. I mean, at Fiorentina. And the thing was that at that time, it's still a fantastic league. I know I'm not saying that, but at that time, the Serie A was the best league in the world.
00:12:32
Speaker
because all the best players around the world played there. Yeah, they really did. And one of them was a young Roberto Bajo. I mean, what was it playing with him? And is he the best natural talent that you've ever played with in your career?
00:12:51
Speaker
Yeah, probably. I can't find out anyone else at that level. Because he was only, I don't know, 18 or something, 18, 19 something. And he was such a nice personality. Great, very calm, very nice. Of course, he wasn't the guy who wasn't so... I mean, in the coach, you don't hear him. He was very
00:13:20
Speaker
very laid back and very timid. But he was a fantastic player and a great person. I remember he studied some religious stuff. Yeah, I think he was a Buddhist. I think he was a Buddhist. Yes, exactly. And he started every away game in the coach, reading a book.
00:13:42
Speaker
with some very strange things. I haven't got a fucking clue what it was. It was British, it was British. Yes, it was. You also played with a number of big stars like the late Stefano Borgonovo, Dunga, Nicola Berty, Ramon Diaz. I mean, what are your memories of these guys?
00:14:06
Speaker
Very nice person, everybody. Great personalities, wonderful persons. But if I compare what happened in Liverpool, they're totally different stuff because these guys, you never saw them outside from when you train, when you play. But at the other time of the clock, you never saw them.
00:14:30
Speaker
because I don't know, they have their own families. I never met anyone outside the football in Italy and in Liverpool, you were like a couple of times a week, you were out with the wives and the kids. Everybody was like a big family. I'm not saying that's bad. I'm not saying that's bad.
00:14:51
Speaker
But that's a different thing, that's all. You mentioned how the Serie A was the best league in the world and it really was. Who's the toughest striker you ever played against during your time there? There's only one and nobody else. Who? He played for Napoli.
00:15:08
Speaker
Maradona. Yeah, of course. Number 10. Number 10. I mean, how was it playing against him? Because that was at his peak, wasn't it? Oh, yeah. It was scary. Yeah, because you've heard so much about him. And all of a sudden, he was standing on the same pitch with this number 10. But we met them four times in the league. I think we beat them one
00:15:34
Speaker
But then we won against them in the cups. I've met them six times in two years. And he was playing every game. And the best thing with him, it is if you see his number 10, because he's got the back at you. That's very good, because he can't do a fucking thing. But if he didn't see number 10, you're gone. So if you would face him in there 100 kilometers, yeah, because face to face, you can't take the ball from him.
00:16:02
Speaker
No, no, he was, he was, I mean, he's probably the greatest player in my opinion. He's probably the greatest player to have played the game. But, um, uh, I mean, you, um, uh, just, just briefly, um, you, you guys in your second game at Fiorentina, you beat Milan with from Boston, who lit right at that Milan.
00:16:21
Speaker
at the San Siro. Is that the best result or is that the highlight of your period at Fiorentina? Yeah, no discussion. Yeah, exactly. And then after that, I thought, oh, isn't it harder than this? Couple of games after, we lost to some crap game. So the league was so good.
00:16:49
Speaker
I mean, of course, Milan was fantastic. Inter with the Germans, they were great. Napoli had Maradona and Karekia from Barcelona. Amazing. And I remember we met Verona, they won the league in 1985 or something. Six, six, five, six, I can't remember. They had Prevenelke, the Danish player.
00:17:17
Speaker
And the big guy from Kaiserslautern, the midfielder, what was his name? Bach. I can't remember his name. The big guy. Callites. Forget it, forget it. And there was a lot of Swedish players who played there as well. Jan Ekström, Klenströmberg, Hatzaholden, Krislin, Cessena, Anders Limpa and Krimeneze.
00:17:49
Speaker
at Como, at Como, right? Yeah, he played with Borgonobo the first season. Borgonobo came to Fioreccina the second season I was there. I think you mean Hans-Peter Bregel? Yes, thank you, thank you.
00:18:06
Speaker
One of the things that everyone knows about you in Sweden and that people always say about you is that you are quite the practical joker. And I have, especially when you were playing, and I remember reading about when you were at Fiorentina, you did some of these things. One thing involving a fish or many fish and someone's car. Can you tell that story? What did you do?
00:18:35
Speaker
Who was it and what was it? The thing was that when we share rooms and away games, I ended up with Stefano Karobi, the left back. Do you remember Karobi? Left back. Me and him were in the same room when we played away games. And he was
00:18:59
Speaker
basically the same guy as me, not so much, he didn't dare to do so much, but he was, yeah, yeah, come on, we do it, we do it, we do it. And we had the captain, Renso Contrato, he was a perfect oneist, he was very perfect, everything was, and he had bought a new Mercedes. So I told Stefano Karobi, come on, we go out and buy some raw fish.
00:19:26
Speaker
And why are you here? We put it under the seats in the car and it stinks like fuck.
00:19:35
Speaker
So we did that. So we ended up in his car and we put to a conserve, what do you call it, roll fish in. And open it up a little bit. And when he came into this car after the training, he was thinking like hell. In the heat as well. Oh my God. So he wasn't too happy.
00:20:01
Speaker
No, it was not. I mean, you used to do that. I mean, that Gothenburg team you did was known for all the jokes you guys did to each other. But I mean, which one is your favorite practical joke that you did or the others did to you that you can remember? And where was this? I think the best I've ever done was in television.
Transfer to Liverpool and Career Highlights
00:20:21
Speaker
Okay. Swedish tele. Which one was that? They had a program called, I said, they had a program called the OSIMALAN. Okay.
00:20:29
Speaker
It was a program with Perangna, he was a famous guy in a television program at that time. And he had one of the Swedish premier ministers, Ulf Ordlsson, in the studio with Torbjorn Nilsson, who I played with in Gothenburg.
00:20:49
Speaker
So we decided one thing, me and Parangna, I should come into the studio and they're going to say, we're going to stop now because you're a bit sweaty in your face. So we just get to Gary now, we can face you up a little bit. OK, the makeup guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I came in as a makeup guy with with beard and glasses and long hair. And I was ugly as fuck.
00:21:17
Speaker
And I came to Perangina where I did a little thing like that. And to Ulf Arleson did the same. Took five seconds. Took the tourbillon. And more or less, I...
00:21:32
Speaker
did it very hard to him. And he was looking up and thinking, what the hell is going on here? And I did continue harder and harder and harder. And at the end, he saw something between my lenses. I had lenses in my eyes and he said, it's you, you bastard.
00:21:52
Speaker
Oh, you can see it. You can see it. I'm going to look for that. I'm going to go on YouTube for that. Oh, that's brilliant. Absolutely fantastic. Right. So as you mentioned, after two years, you left to join Liverpool. Why did you leave your antenna? Was it because of the social situation or was it you wanted a different challenge? No, it was. I was third year at that time. So I wanted three. I wanted a three year contract.
00:22:19
Speaker
to like, to be sure that I can play somewhere in three years. Okay. But they offered me, they offered me one year. And, and Sven Jorans, Sven is, I think he was on his way. Was that to Lazio or to Sam Doria or was it? He went to Sam Doria first, I think, or I think I first went to, yeah. So he said that he's going to go away. And I said, well, I need three years or nothing else. And at that time, Alex Ferguson called me again.
00:22:49
Speaker
Okay. The second time, but I wasn't, I was still hoping that we can do the contract with sure and seen up three years, but unfortunately they didn't work out that way. So I told no to them again. And then a week after or two weeks after Liverpool came to contact me, I spoke to the Peter Robinson, the big guy who died now for a month ago or something. He called me and don't sign anything. He said, we want you to Liverpool.
00:23:19
Speaker
And so I went to Liverpool and me and my agent, we signed a contract in, I don't know, a couple of hours, I was ready. So Ferguson wasn't too happy. I bet he wasn't. I mean, for people listening to this, English football is massive. It's the biggest non, like out of all the leagues that are not Swedish.
00:23:41
Speaker
It's the biggest league. And we're going to get to that. And you're being the president of the official Liverpool fan club here in Sweden. But I wanted to ask you a little bit, were you a Liverpool fan growing up? Because I remember when I spoke to Glenn Strumba, he said he's been an Arsenal fan all his life and he's got long hair because of Charlie George and that. So who was your idol blowing up in English football? And which team did you support?
00:24:07
Speaker
At the end, at the start, I supported Chelsea because we went to London when we were in the eighth grade in the school. And we saw Chelsea, Chelsea, Everton. And after the game, they draw one-oh. And I thought, wow, nobody's going to come out there and behave. Be nice to us because they lost two points. And there was one, I think his name was Chris Garland. I'm not sure, but I think it was Chris Garland.
00:24:34
Speaker
and he was dead nice to us and he signed autograph photographs and after that it was Chelsea. Then when I came to Liverpool of course you changed your mind. But you asked me about the favourite player ever, Brian Robson.
00:24:57
Speaker
He was the best. He was his style of playing. He's tough, he's hard, he's running, he gives 100% every game. But he played for Wes Brom at the first time I saw him. And then they went to United. Yeah. I mean, in your first season... Probably because I saw him in the national team. Probably, yeah. No, he had the gold scoring record as well, if I'm not mistaken, for England. Yeah, maybe.
00:25:26
Speaker
You had a brilliant first season at Liverpool. You won the league, and this was before the league became the premier league, and you played a key role. What's your best memories from that title win? The whole season, really, because every game was to play with these guys, to play alongside with Alan Hanson. You have Bruce Grubler behind you.
00:25:56
Speaker
Steven Nickle at the left and Barry Venison, right? Steve McMahon, Ronnie Whelan, John Barnes, Ryan Housen, Ian Rush, Rita Beardsley. It's incredible to be in the same side of these guys. And they were crazy outside the pitch. I never had such a fun. Yeah. And Gothenburg, but Liverpool and Gothenburg are quite equal. Idiot everywhere.
00:26:29
Speaker
I bet you guys had an amazing time, I bet. I'm just going to say that if we hadn't had that fun outside the pitch, we'd never win the league because we had such a fun outside and on the pitch. It was just fantastic.
00:26:46
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, and incredibly, Liverpool didn't win the league again for another 30 years until Jurgen Klopp won the league in 2020. Which, I mean, honestly now, which Liverpool team is better, yours or the Klopp team? No, this team now is better. Yeah, because everything goes forward. Everything, you can't compare
00:27:10
Speaker
We had a total different lifestyle, everything. It's a total different thing. Of course, this was better. And the team they had when they won against the AC Milan in Istanbul, was it Istanbul? Yeah, the Champions League. Yeah, the 3-3 game.
00:27:29
Speaker
That team I had there was fantastic. Agreed. The reason you left is probably because of Graham Souness and it's been reported that you had a bad relationship with him. Is that why you left because of him and what was the reason you didn't get along with him that much?
00:27:48
Speaker
Because he was, I've always admired him as a player. If I take out the best way, maybe not the best in the world, but he was a fantastic player when he played for Liverpool. Great play. I can't say anything about that. But as a person, he was an arrogant cunt.
00:28:07
Speaker
Sorry, I say it. It was just only me who had this opinion about him because it was several players. But the first thing he did when he came was to buy Mark Wright. He was the England mythbag. Yes, central defender.
00:28:34
Speaker
And they bought Dean Saunders also from Derby, both from Derby, I think it was. And that's a sign that, okay, I'm out. And he told me that, big man, you're out. And I played like, I can't remember, three or four games under his era.
00:28:52
Speaker
And then I was out. So that was like six months before the contracts went out. So I told myself, there's no idea to stay here when you have a manager who doesn't trust you. No, that's true. The other players wondered why it would happen here.
00:29:18
Speaker
But like I said, he wants Mark Wright to play. I can't say anything about that. That's his opinion. I understand. I mean, you then kind of you then move back to Sweden, of course, we're going to get to that as well. But I want to ask you a little bit about what you make of Liverpool in the Champions League and the or their season. I mean, focusing on the Champions League, you know, they won the we're recording this on a Wednesday, the second of March.
00:29:47
Speaker
And Liverpool just won the League Cup and they're still in the FA Cup. They're very much in the Premier League title race. And many people have Liverpool as the favourites to win the Champions League. I mean, they won the first leg against Inter. What chances do you give Liverpool to win the Champions League this season? How high do you think they are?
00:30:11
Speaker
They won with that. Absolutely. They, I don't know exactly, but I think they are one of the favorites to take it to winner. I mean, the way they, they treated the inter the first game, I thought it's going to be tough game, but Liverpool was just too good for it. And they, I can't see them lose the next leg. I can't see them. I see them go further, go, go to the next round. I can't, I can't see them lose. No, I don't think so either. I think
00:30:41
Speaker
with the little chance that Inter had was tied to Nicolo Barrella playing it now.
00:30:46
Speaker
into our poor form and Barilla suspended. So I think that's going to be very difficult as well. And I mean, and also the game is played at Anfield and European nights at Anfield is a, you know, it's a, it's a, it's a classic thing. People, many people say it's virtually impossible to win there. Why, what is it about European nights at Anfield that makes it so difficult for opponents? Do you think?
00:31:12
Speaker
I think one of the things is when they start singing, you never walk alone. And that's a very hysterical history. Everybody who plays football, even if you don't play football, if you say you never walk alone, everybody knows it's Liverpool's song.
00:31:32
Speaker
So when you come up from the tunnel and go out on the pitch and you all have 60,000 saying that, you feel like a dwarf if you're playing in the wrong team. Yeah, it gets on top of you. Yeah, the atmosphere. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:31:53
Speaker
But the thing is that I never had the chance to experience that because we were banned from Europe when I was there. Oh yeah, following the Hazel disaster. Yeah. And another thing was why, two things, why we were so good and so
00:32:15
Speaker
How do you say to win the league again? But the first thing was that they've lost to Arsenal the season before. Oh, yeah. To 2-0 at Anfield. If they had lost 1-0. They would have still won the league. Yeah, I remember the championship decider. But it was 2-0 and Arsenal won the league. And another thing was I came in July 1989.
00:32:40
Speaker
And in May 1989, I was at April maybe, or May, on the Hillsborough disaster. I was going to ask you about that. What do you remember from that?
International Career with Sweden
00:32:51
Speaker
Well, I remember seeing it on their telly, but when I was there, the first thing we did in the preseason before the league started was to travel around in different hospitals.
00:33:05
Speaker
to visit all these youngsters with, they're laying on the bed with machines so they can still be alive. That was the first thing, that's the first picture I got in the little time and they were all like between 18 to 30.
00:33:26
Speaker
And that gave us a very, very good reason to go in there and do it a thousand percent for these guys who's laying in that fucking hospital. So that was a big thing that made us to win the league that season. For sure.
00:33:45
Speaker
Let's talk about your career for Sweden because you were a Swedish captain, you won two Swedish Player of the Year's or Swedish Ballon Dors if you want.
00:33:58
Speaker
And you played in some classic games, two famous wins in the Euro 1984 qualifying, beating the world champions Italy, home and away, knocking Italy out. What are your memories from those games? To be honest, not too much, but I can't remember special situations during the games, but I know it was Conti and Paolo Rossi. Yeah, Paolo, yeah, yeah. Paolo Rossi, yeah.
00:34:28
Speaker
And I remember they had a fantastic team, but we had a great team as well. But I can't remember any special details, but I know we beat them 3-0. Was it down there? 3-0 in Italy, huh? I think so. Yeah, I think so. And 1-0 in Sweden. Yeah, yeah. You were also, I mean, this has become one of the most legendary performances by anyone. I'm of course talking about the qualification game at Wembley against England.
00:34:57
Speaker
where Sweden drew 0-0 and you played a perfect game. Is that the best performance, best match of your career? Everybody says that, but I'm saying another game. But Sloane at home, 3-0. I think myself, I was better, that game. But of course, I had a good game at Wembley, but the thing is that
00:35:25
Speaker
This is fantastic. When you go out from the dressing room, have you been in the dressing room? No, I've not. I mean, it's a lot of like for tourists to go in there and go out and I don't know. But when you go out from the dressing room, when you sit in there, you can hear people dropping in at the stands.
00:35:48
Speaker
You know it's filling up and when you go out to the fight, it's like a hard, what do you call it? Betong, what do you call it? Yeah, concrete. And with the studs, you can hear it. And you're all in liniment with drawing to your legs, you don't get cold and you go in there and then you see 100,000 people.
00:36:15
Speaker
cheering for England. Now not 100,000, 95,000 cheering for England. There was 5,000 Swedish fans. But just to see this and be there as a captain and say, hello, mister. I can't remember who it was. Was it Brian Robson who was captain at that time? Probably, yeah. If it's 1990, before 1990, yeah. Yeah, Brian Robson.
00:36:39
Speaker
Pucheri's hand and 90,000 English abortion, 5,000, 5,000 or 10,000 Swedish. It can't be bigger than that. I don't know what to say. It doesn't get bigger than that. No, it doesn't. And then to withdraw, we had one shot at goal in 90 minutes.
00:37:00
Speaker
Yeah, but you've made some of the most amazing sliding tackles I've seen in my life in that game. It was perfect timing. Yeah, but if this was no penalties, definitely not. But if the referee had stood somewhere else so he couldn't see it really,
00:37:22
Speaker
He might have blown two penalties and all of a sudden you're a fucking idiot. Yeah. Yeah. It's very small from that. Yes. My margins, small margins. Yeah, you're right. But I mean, I mean, to be honest, not a single challenge you did. Anyone who's watched that, you can go back and watch it on YouTube. They are inch perfect tackles. I mean, it's impressive to give a penalty on them. I mean, it's.
00:37:46
Speaker
It's fantastic to see, it's one of those like eras where, I mean, I think even Baresi would have been proud of them, if I'm perfectly honest with you. I mean, they were fantastic. Yeah, but still, if the referee had stood in another angle.
00:38:00
Speaker
Yeah, he might. Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa. That's true. That's true. It would have been a total different thing. That's true. That's true. But I'm happy. I'm happy. Yeah, of course you are. I mean, you're in a Swedish newspaper gave you the rating six out of a five. That's the only time they've ever done that. That's not bad. No, that's not bad. When you get you know, you know, you know, that is that that is another guy who's got six. Oh, really? Who?
00:38:41
Speaker
It's you and Bruce Springsteen. Yes, I'm very proud of that. I bet you are, because I know you're a Bruce fan as well. Sweden were very favored going into the 1990 World Cup, but things did not go well, and it was in Italy. Three straight defeats, one, two, one, two, one. Listen, I didn't hear you really.
00:38:49
Speaker
I don't know. Who was that?
00:39:03
Speaker
Sorry, sorry. I didn't hear all of that. What did you say? No, I said, Sweden were very well favored going into the 1990 World Cup. And it was in Italy, Italian 90. And then Sweden went out in the first round, three straight defeats, one, two, one, two, one, two. What happened? What went wrong? Yes. I'm not sure, but during the whole 80s,
00:39:28
Speaker
And that was basically the same players who played all the 80s in qualification for the European Cup, qualification for the World Cup. We missed every single time.
00:39:40
Speaker
We lost to Portugal twice in two different tournaments there during the 80s and we didn't go through to the finals.
Current Reflections on Football and Personal Stories
00:39:49
Speaker
And we lost to Romania in one of these group games and we didn't go through to the final. So when we finally went through to the final, nobody was prepared for it. I mean, we were so happy to have come to Italy.
00:40:05
Speaker
And Italy, the words best like country with football. So we were like, oh, wow, wow. So I don't know. But I mean, if you lose to it, we lost to Brazil to one, which is very normal. You can lose nine out of 10 to Brazil. But then with Scotland, that is a 50 50 game. You can lose. You can win. They're great fighters, but you can't fucking lose to Costa Rica.
00:40:34
Speaker
And the thing was, the thing was, the thing was, we were up one nil at half time. Yeah, I remember. We, we pissed on them. They haven't got anything at all, but then they, they sent in a, a, a reserve headman Medford. Headman Medford there. He run a hundred meters in three seconds, a hundred meters in three seconds. He was a fucking horse.
00:41:00
Speaker
Yeah, he was fast. Nobody knows about him. Nobody knows about him. I think he has passed us two times. I don't think he's called both goals, but he's called one, I think. Yeah, he scored the winner, I think. Yeah, that's one of those. He was... That completely changed the complexity of the game. I remember it very clearly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was so...
00:41:24
Speaker
disappointing. We thought we had a good team and we thought we could make this, but when it really mattered, we didn't stood up really. But if you look at the European Cup 92 and the World Cup 94, there was loads of players. So it was playing in 90. It was in 92 and 94. Absolutely. And they've learned, they listen, they've learned their lesson.
00:41:53
Speaker
Absolutely. I think it was very important. Yeah, I mean, too much. Berlin had his breakthrough in 90s, scoring against Brazil. You had Eunas Tan, Stefan Schwartz, Klaus Ingesson. You had, you know, you had Linpahr as well. Ravel, Ravel. Ravel, of course. Ravel, of course. And then, you know, you have Jüke Björk, Linpahr, and so on. No, you're absolutely right. I mean, pretty much a lot of those players later came on.
00:42:17
Speaker
were part of that team in 1990 who learned a lot. That's very true. Let's move to the Serie A today. I know that you don't watch the Serie A too much, but I want to ask you a little bit about the Serie A race. It's a three-horse race. Some say it's a four-horse race. Juventus, Milan, Inter Napoli. Who do you think will win it in the end?
00:42:43
Speaker
Very, very hard to say. Who do you hope? I don't follow with that. I know. But who do you hope? I hope Napoli. I don't know why, but it could be because they had such a fantastic team when I was in Italy myself. And I don't want to play that chemical. I mean, there might be, might be. Yeah.
00:43:06
Speaker
Exactly. It might be because of that. I don't, unlike Milan, orient it for no way. But if I say some name, Napoli, yep, yep. I don't follow it. No, no, I know you told me. Dejan Kuluszewski, he left Juventus for Tottenham in January after really struggling at Juva and after coming, breaking through at Panama, being touted as a fantastic talent.
00:43:33
Speaker
He started well at Tottenham. Why do you think it didn't work for him at Juve? And why do you think it started so well at Tottenham under Conte? That's a very hard question. I'm not a specialist.
00:43:50
Speaker
questions but I've never met Kuleszewski but I can imagine it's a tougher mentally in Italy I think it's tougher still than in England. In England all the supporters they are very if you do one or two bad games they say come on no problem but in Italy if they've paid a lot of money for you
00:44:16
Speaker
And if you do one bad thing, one bad game, they all start like... I think he felt that... I'm not sure it's that way, but that's what I felt in Argentina. You live every week. If you do a good game, you're fantastic. You're a hero. If you do a bad game, you're an idiot. In England, it's not the same. They have more patience.
00:44:43
Speaker
Yeah, no, I understand. I hope, really hope that he goes well in Tottenham now. Let's, I mean, a certain, another person, another Swede at Milan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he's 40 years old and he's talking about staying on for another year because he doesn't want to, he wants to win something with Milan before retiring. I mean, first of all, how
00:45:09
Speaker
How impressed are you with him still being able to play at 40 years old at the level he is? There is no words for that because it's so amazing. I mean, he's been such a good player for so long time. And I thought when I got two gold guild baller. Yeah, two Swedish ballon doors. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:45:34
Speaker
And I thought, wow, that's fantastic. But then it comes a player who got 10 or 12, what the fuck happened there? He is amazing. He is one of a kind. They know it doesn't matter who you say. He's the best ever for Sweden. He's the best ever for, for in Europe. He's not the best ever, but he's top
00:45:56
Speaker
He's one of the best ever. He's got such a control over things. I don't think he drinks too much wine. No, he's a professional. If you look at him on social media, it's all about taking care of your body. He lives, breathes.
00:46:16
Speaker
his career. I mean, that kind of discipline is incredible. It really is. I can just applaud. I'm amazed. He's fantastic. For sure. If you could wind the clock back 30 years, and if you could play for a Serie A team today, which team would you like to play for today?
00:46:41
Speaker
Uh, I, I mean, I can only compare to who, who I played against when I played. And I must say they are not the best team right now. And I don't know if they're going to be again, but the, the, the team I had, uh, how do you say enjoyed most to play against who played very good football and nice atmosphere at the stadium. The stadium was placed in the play fantastic. Sam Toria.
00:47:11
Speaker
I mean, we played against the Vialy, Mancini, all these guys. And the arena was placed, it was wonderful, fantastic. And I just felt like, if I can play here or here, sometimes it will be nice. That's nice. I'd say some Toria. That's nice. And Trenis were there as well. Yes, Trenis was there. Yeah, he was there. Yeah, that's true. He said that Mancini was his second hand. Yeah.
00:47:42
Speaker
Yeah, he told us that. He said that Mancini was like a coach. He said he knew that Mancini would be a coach because he was already a coach when he coached him. But he played, yeah. Sven said that it was like for him, he knew that Mancini would be a fantastic coach because of how he was.
00:48:08
Speaker
So yeah, that's that's truly yeah, that's amazing. But let's I mean, afterwards, I have to say my memory of you from a personal was from a personal angle is when you return back to Gothenburg in Sweden after Liverpool,
00:48:24
Speaker
And your son, Alex, started in the English school, which I went to as well. And I don't know if you remember, but I remember when you used to pick him up after school and waiting for him, and you used to play like penalties with us. And I remember you had cowboy boots on.
00:48:44
Speaker
I remember you injured your arm, and I remember everyone, I remember everyone thinking he's gonna joke, but no, you went for it. You hit the ball so hard, I remember it. You remember it. You remember that. I can't remember it exactly, but I know I was there picking it up and playing some football, but I can't remember details. I remember it so well. I must tell you one thing.
00:49:12
Speaker
I must tell you one thing from that school. The headmaster, you call the headmaster? Yeah, the headmistress was Patricia Gabriel. No, no, there was one guy called Alar Ramzalu. Remember him? Yeah, I do. He was from Estland. Estonia, yeah, Estonia, Lithuania. Estonia, yeah. He's working out in the same gym that I do today.
00:49:41
Speaker
really yeah he is fantastic fantastic man okay that's pretty cool no i remember it was it was it was really fun because i remember we were children and you were you know you were you were you played for sweden and the world cup and all that and i remember how how you took time with every kid every day
00:50:00
Speaker
And it was like, it was, but I remember the penalties. You, you know, you didn't mess about, you did not mess about. No, no, no. There was none of this, there was none of this pretending to be nice. You hit those balls into the top corner.
00:50:22
Speaker
Oh, that's really funny. Were you afraid? Were you afraid? Yeah, but at the same time, I remember we were all afraid, but we also thought it was a challenge. Like, could you save a penalty from Glenn? I don't think we saved a single one. The ones that we didn't go into goal was because you hit it so hard, it hit the crossbar and it went over to the other side of it.
00:50:47
Speaker
I remember that. I'm sorry. No, no, no, no. That was good. It's actually really one of those nicest memories that we laugh at when we talk today.
Rapid-fire Questions and Conclusion
00:51:00
Speaker
Finally, just before we finish off, a bit of fun. We play a rapid fire game. Basically, I give you two options, and you tell us which one you prefer, which one you like better.
00:51:11
Speaker
The first one, you know, you can give an example, you can explain if you want, but you don't have to if you don't want to, OK? OK. So the first one, everyone in the world has been asked this. Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi? As a football player. Yeah, exactly. As a football player. As a player. Ronaldo. Diego Maradona or Pele? I think I know the answer to this.
00:51:39
Speaker
I don't, I haven't got a clue, I've only seen Pili and television, so Maradona. John Barnes or Mohammed Saleh? John Barnes, no doubt about it. Marco Van Basten or Zlatan Ibrahimovic? That was tough. That's impossible to choose. He was, Van Basten was in his short, very
00:52:04
Speaker
Yeah, not sure time, but Slafel has been so long, so other stuff. But I say, from Boston. From Boston. Then Roberto Bajo, Francesco Totti, or Alex Del Piero.
00:52:24
Speaker
It's not a very easy question. No, I know, I know, I know, I know. Because I played with them, I played with them. It's hard to say no to them, like, but... I say... topic. I mean, he was bad, you know, he was fantastic, but...
00:52:48
Speaker
Yeah, I got you. Glen Husayan or Virgil van Dijk? Van Dijk, every day. Because he's more technical. He's better in the air. Fair enough. And then finally, pineapple on pizza, food heaven or food hell?
00:53:09
Speaker
You can, you can take the first away because I don't like animal on pizza. Yeah. Pineapple. Yeah. Pineapple. Yeah. Pineapple on pizza is gross. Thank you. That shouldn't be a pizza. No, no, no. No, no. The other two, what's that? No, I said pineapple on pizza. Is it food heaven or food hell? And I think you said food hell. Food hell. Thank you so much, Glenn. Thank you so much for your time. Listen, mister, mister. I'm just going to tell you another thing.
00:53:38
Speaker
When I played football on your school ground, we had football schools around the West Coast. And we had one school in Hellebotts Hall. And we just finished off the training and there was a goalkeeper, he was 10 years old and
00:54:05
Speaker
He told me, can't we do some shooting after the training is finished? Yeah, of course, of course. I said, no problem. So we stopped there with me and an English guy called Bobby Bennett, who was the trainer. And we had a couple of kids who were playing with us there. So we put the ball out to the flanks and they lifted the ball in and we should head the ball or hit it on volley. And this guy come around on the flank, put the cross in.
00:54:35
Speaker
And I hit the ball with my right foot. No, my left foot, my left foot. And I've never hit a ball like that in all my life.
00:54:44
Speaker
And I hit his arm and he broke his arm. No. Yes. I hit the ball so hard. There was ambulance and everything. No, my God. I haven't. I played 30 years, but I've never hit the ball like that. No, no time. Well, yeah.
00:55:05
Speaker
So what the fuck's going on there? Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Right. Thank you. Thank you so much. Just before I let you go, I know that you are a brand ambassador for Unibet in Sweden and you're also
00:55:20
Speaker
You're the president, honorary president, or actually the president of the Liverpool Supporters Club, the official one here in Sweden. Is there anything you've got coming up with them? Because I know you do lots of things with them. Is there anything else you've got coming up? Then feel free to promote it. The floor is nice. Not really. I went to one. We were at the Bransford game two months ago. But now when all this shit's going on and they're not very sure still of this big,
00:55:50
Speaker
Well, I'm not having any plans for going to Liverpool before the season is over. No, I understand that. Absolutely. Thank you so much for coming on, Glenn. You've had an amazing career. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us and also for not killing me when I was a child, when shooting penalties at me. OK, perfect, perfect.
00:56:17
Speaker
Thank you so much. And everybody else will be back on Monday for another review episode. Until then, take care of yourselves and each other and ciao ciao.