Sweden wowed the world by finishing third at USA 1994
Kennet Andersson, Martin Dahlin and Tomas Brolin were among their stars
Andersson revealed the secrets behind the side’s legendary campaign
As Tomas Brolin left Genoa’s Stadio Luigi Ferraris with his head hung low, he must have wondered how his dream could have gone so wrong. The date was 20 June 1990, and Sweden had just been consigned to their third consecutive 2-1 defeat, with Costa Rica having followed in the footsteps of Brazil and Scotland. For the first time in their history, the Swedes had been eliminated from a World Cup without a point to their name.
Fast-forward four years, and with Brolin still a Swedish mainstay, the Blågult were presented with a golden opportunity to put their Italian disappointment behind them in the United States. Coach Olle Nordin had been replaced at the helm by Tommy Svensson, and the former international pulled off his first masterstroke by beefing up his forward line with Martin Dahlin, who had been overlooked for Italia ‘90 but impressed during the qualifying campaign for USA ’94, and above all Kennet Andersson, who had returned to form after two difficult years.
For Andersson, the spark that set Sweden on the path to an unexpected podium finish was not their 3-1 victory over Russia, or their 1-1 draw with Brazil or even his late equaliser against Romania in the quarter-finals, but their opening draw against Cameroon.
“You have to understand that half of the team had played in the 1990 World Cup and had lost 2-1 three times, and now we were trailing 2-1 again, this time to Cameroon,” said Andersson in an exclusive interview with FIFA. “For me, the moment that changed everything was when Martin [Dahlin] equalised to make it 2-2. We were already better than four years earlier.”
After finally breaking their 2-1 curse, Sweden began to breathe easier. Impressed by Andersson’s cameo against Cameroon and, above all, by his attitude in training, Svensson quickly pulled off his second masterstroke by finding a way to combine him with Dahlin and Brolin to form a trio that would go down in Swedish football history, even if it meant tweaking his preferred 4-2-2-2 formation.
“He [Svensson] changed the way he played,” said Andersson. “Putting Brolin on the wing was risky. But he was very modern, because at that time most coaches had a fixed system. He really adapted his way of playing to the players he had. He was very brave and very smart.”
Brolin was initially reluctant to break up the partnership he had formed with Dahlin, but he was soon reassured not by his coach, but by tireless right-back Roland Nilsson, one of the survivors of the ill-fated 1990 campaign. “Brolin didn’t want to play as a traditional winger, but Nilsson told him not to worry about the defensive side of the game, so Brolin played more like a free no10, just a little more out wide. It was a genius decision by Tommy [Svensson].”
The three musketeers hit the ground running. “In the end, I scored five goals, Dahlin got four and Brolin scored three. He [Brolin] was even named in the team of the tournament, so it all worked out perfectly.”
Many observers simply assumed that Sweden had stumbled across an almost telepathic relationship between Andersson and Dahlin up front, but that could not be further from the truth. “Sometimes, people ask how we were able to play so well together when we only met up in the national team,” said Andersson. “But the answer is simple: I’d known him since I was 15. We played together in the youth national teams, in the under-21s, and we even did our military service together. We knew each other very well.”
Two of Dahlin’s four goals at the World Cup came from assists from Andersson – two pinpoint crosses that are well worth watching. Andersson, who had spent the 1993-94 season on loan at Lille, was far more than a traditional “big man up front”. “I wasn’t good in the air at first, but I was fast because of athletics,” recalled Andersson. “I even played out wide, almost like a winger. I became a real no9 later.”
The Swedes also impressed with their relaxed approach to the tournament, none more so than Andersson. “I never focused on problems,” he said. “That mindset carried me through my whole career. I never overthought things. Never.”
Unbeknown to many, Andersson had finally lifted a heavy weight from his shoulders by negotiating a permanent transfer away from his parent club, Belgian side Mechelen, ending a saga that had been hanging over him for a while. French outfit Caen, impressed by Andersson’s loan spell at Lille, were desperate to secure his signature and secretly sent a delegation to Detroit, the Swedes’ base camp.
“That was a secret for many, many years,” said the former striker with a smile. “But yes, I signed for Caen during the World Cup. They came to the hotel in Detroit. I went down to another room to meet the manager and the doctor. It was the shortest medical I ever had. He checked my reflexes, looked at my throat, maybe checked my pulse or blood pressure, and that was it.”
By his own admission, those clandestine negotiations gave him a timely boost for the games that followed. Against Romania, in a penalty shoot-out with a place in the last four up for grabs, Andersson did not hesitate when asked to take a spot kick with the Romanians leading 1-0 after Hakan Mild’s miss.
“It may sound strange, but I was a bit naïve,” he said. “My only thought was to get it over with. I knew I was going to score, so I just wanted to take it. I was 100 per cent sure. I wasn’t thinking about the pressure at all.”
After that historic victory over the Romanians, only Brazil stood in the way of their quest to reach the final. The two teams had already drawn 1-1 in the group stage, but the rematch proved to be more or less one-way traffic, even though the Seleção only claimed a narrow 1-0 win. The loss of Dahlin to injury in the 68th minute, before Romario’s match-winning goal, was a blow from which the Swedes were unable to recover.
“If you look back at the game, they were much better than us,” admitted Andersson. “They could have scored four or five goals. We had one day less to recover and some of the players were not at 100 per cent. We were not in the same condition as we had been in the group stage.”
Tired but determined to finish their unforgettable campaign with a place on the podium, the Swedes found their legs again in the play-off for third place, sweeping aside fellow surprise packages Bulgaria 4-0. Another strike from Andersson saw him claim the adidas Bronze Boot, awarded to the third-highest scorer in the competition.
“We were very focused on finishing the World Cup well,” concluded Andersson. “Even if you reach the semi-finals, you can lose the last two matches and finish fourth. That’s OK, but we wanted to finish it properly.”
Four years on from their Italian disappointment, Sweden had not only bounced back, but they had done so in style by etching their name into the long and illustrious history of the FIFA World Cup.
Sources: FIFA Official
