Tomas Brolin

Early career

Brolin's first league match in an adult league competition was for Näsvikens IK in 1984 at the age of 14 against Kilafors, and he went on to make 36 appearances for the fourth division club. GIF Sundsvall, spotted Brolin and offered him a contract in which he could continue his education while developing his career. In 1986 Brolin enrolled at Fotbollsgymnasiet, the football academy in Sundsvall. He was subsequently signed by GIF Sundsvall, making his first team debut in 1987 against IF Elfsborg. After three seasons at Sundsvall, Brolin moved to IFK Norrköping where he scored 7 goals in 9 games during the 1990 Allsvenskan spring season.

Parma

Brolin was signed by Italian club Parma in 1990, just after the club had been promoted back to Serie A. He quickly formed an effective partnership at Parma with Alessandro Melli. The two together scored 20 goals, 13 from Melli and 7 from Brolin. Parma finished in joint fifth-place in their first season back in Serie A. It was the first time that the team qualified for Europe in their history. In the 1991–92 season, Brolin played in all 34 of Parma's Serie A matches, scoring four goals. Parma finished in sixth place and lifted the Coppa Italia. Brolin scored two vital goals in the Coppa Italia run: one in a 1–1 draw with Fiorentina, and the second in the 1–0 victory over Sampdoria in the semi-final. Parma beat Juventus 2–1 on aggregate in the final to lift their first trophy in the club's history. In the…

Early career and 1990 World Cup

At the age of 20, and having played in the Allsvenskan for GIF Sundsvall for three years, Brolin moved to IFK Norrköping and in his first game for the club in a pre-season friendly against IFK Eskilstuna, he netted a hat-trick. However, it was his hat-trick in his league debut in a 6–0 victory over IFK Göteborg at Idrottsparken in Norrköping that grabbed all the headlines and alerted Sweden's coach Olle Nordin to Brolin's talents. Sweden had just qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1978 and were looking for a forward to lead their frontline, having only managed nine goals in six matches during the qualifying rounds. Eighteen days later, 25 April, Brolin was lining up against Wales at the Råsunda Stadion, and five minutes after Dean Saunders had given the visitors the lead, Brolin announced his arrival on the international stage with two goals in six minutes to give Sweden a 2–1 lead. Sweden won 4–2 on the night, and Brolin went on to score another two in the following match with Finland a month later, which Sweden won 6–0. Subsequently, Brolin was picked to lead the Swedish attack in the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Sweden failed to win any of their matches at that tournament, however, but after scoring against Brazil, Brolin was soon signed by Parma for £1.2 million (out of a possible 12 buyers), and also won his first Guldbollen as Sweden's footballer of the year.

Euro 1992

At UEFA Euro 1992, Brolin was…

A dynamic, energetic, creative and technically gifted footballer, Brolin was a world-class player in his prime, who was known for his excellent dribbling skills, as well as for his passing ability and powerful shots on goal. A versatile player, he was usually deployed as an offensive-midfield playmaker due to his ability to provide assists for teammates, but he was also used as a striker, winger, central midfielder and as a deep-lying forward throughout his career, due to his work-rate and tactical intelligence. Despite his talent in his youth, his career was affected by several injuries, which forced him into early retirement.

After retiring from football, Brolin settled to become a businessman and returned to his homeland where for a period of time he owned an Italian-Swedish restaurant called Undici (Italian: 11, the number he wore while playing for Parma). Undici has been fined numerous times for permitting underage drinking. Brolin also invested money in real estate and – to some public amusement – in a firm selling a new type of mouthpiece for vacuum cleaners. He also appeared in a video by Dr. Alban which featured other famous Swedish sportsmen, including Björn Borg. In 2001, his long-time girlfriend, Susan Hardenborg, gave birth to Brolin's first child, a boy named Sebastian. The couple had split before the birth of the child, but remain on good terms. After meeting the former Miss Sweden and TV presenter Annika Duckmark in late 2000, they got married, and stayed together until they got divorced in 2006. Brolin has been an active World Series of Poker player since 2006. Playing in the 2007 World Series of Poker and the 2006 Football & Poker Legends Cup organized by PartyPoker.com. He has also competed regularly in the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour and cashed twice – once in the Season 4 Prague event where he came 23rd and again in the EPT Grand Final later that season in Monte Carlo where he came 38th out of an 842-strong field.