Mats Magnusson

Mats Magnusson

Personal information
Full name	Mats Ture Magnusson
Date of birth	10 July 1963 (1963-07-10) (age 48)
Place of birth	Helsingborg, Sweden
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1981–1985	Malmö FF	38	(20)
1985–1986	Servette	22	(14)
1986–1987	Malmö FF	25	(14)
1987–1992	Benfica	122	(65)
1992–1994	Helsingborg	47	(27)
Total		253	(159)
National team
1986–1992	Sweden	30	(9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Mats Ture Magnusson (born 10 July 1963 in Helsingborg) is a retired Swedish footballer who played as a striker.

Football career

During his career, Magnusson played for Malmö FF (two periods), Servette FC, Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Helsingborgs IF (upon his return home, he helped the side, featuring a young Henrik Larsson, reach the Swedish first division).

At the Lisbon club, where he arrived in 1987 as a replacement for another Nordic, Dane Michael Manniche, he developed as a top flight goal-poacher, winning two national leagues, and appearing at the European Cup finals in 1988 (lost to PSV Eindhoven in penalty kicks) and 1990 (losing to A.C. Milan). In 1989–90, even though Benfica lost to F.C. Porto in the league, Magnusson finished the competition's top scorer, at 33 goals. During his time with the reds, he shared team with countrymen Jonas Thern (1989–92), Stefan Schwarz (1990–94) - also his teammates at Malmö - and coach Sven-Göran Eriksson (1989–92).

Magnusson had 30 caps for the Swedish national team, and played in the 1990 FIFA World Cup finals in Italy, where he suffered an injury that made him miss nearly one year of football.

Post-retirement

Sixteen years after his retirement, Magnusson made a short comeback to the footbaling scene. He accepted an invitation from old club Benfica to take part in a charity match to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake, on 25 January 2010, which also coincided with the 68th birthday of club legend Eusébio. His team, Benfica All Stars, consisted of both retired and current Benfica players, which played "against" Zidane XI, a team consisting of players hand-picked by former French legend Zinedine Zidane.

Even though Magnusson had obviously gained a considerable amount of weight since his active days of footbaling, and made the crowd laugh on several occasions (including two occasions where he fell while trying to dominate the ball^[1]), he entered the pitch in the closing minutes, and was cheered by an adoring crowd with chants of "Mats Magnusson".^[2]

Honours

Team

• Benfica:
  • Portuguese League: 1988–89, 1990–91
  • European Cup: Runner-up 1987–88, 1989–90
  • Portuguese Supercup: 1989; Runner-up 1987, 1991
  • Portuguese Cup: Runner-up 1988–89

• Malmö:
  • Swedish League: 1985, 1986, 1987
  • Swedish Cup: 1984, 1986

Individual

• Portuguese League: Bola de Prata (Silver Ball) 1989–90 – 33 goals/32 matches

References

1. ^ "Magnusson: "Caí porque houve falta" [Magnusson: "I fell down because there was a foul"]" (in Portuguese). Record. 26 January 2010. http://www.record.xl.pt/Futebol/Nacional/1a_liga/Benfica/interior.aspx?content_id=426184. Retrieved 13 September 2010. 
2. ^ "Mats Magnusson (Benfica) - Match Against Poverty (25-01-2010)". Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJxdTVrP4h8. Retrieved 27 January 2010. 

External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• Mats Magnusson at National-Football-Teams.com

Persondata
Name	Magnusson, Mats
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	10 July 1963
Place of birth	Helsingborg, Sweden
Date of death
Place of death