Lars Lagerbäck facts for kids
Lars Lagerbäck in 2014
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lars Edvin Lagerbäck | ||
| Date of birth | 16 July 1948 | ||
| Place of birth | Katrineholm, Sweden | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1960–1969 | Alby FF | ||
| 1970–1974 | Gimonäs CK | ||
| Teams managed | |||
| 1977–1982 | Kilafors IF | ||
| 1983–1985 | Arbrå BK | ||
| 1987–1989 | Hudiksvalls ABK | ||
| 1990–1995 | Sweden U21 | ||
| 1996–1997 | Sweden B | ||
| 1998–1999 | Sweden (assistant) | ||
| 2000–2009 | Sweden | ||
| 2010 | Nigeria | ||
| 2011–2016 | Iceland | ||
| 2017–2020 | Norway | ||
| 2020–2021 | Iceland (technical advisor) | ||
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Lars Edvin "Lasse" Lagerbäck (born 16 July 1948) is a Swedish football manager and former player. He is often called "Lasse" by his friends and fans.
Lagerbäck has managed several national football teams. He led the Swedish national team for many years, from 1998 to 2009. During this time, he helped Sweden qualify for five big tournaments in a row. He left his role in 2009 after Sweden did not qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
After a short time managing Nigeria, he became the manager of Iceland. He helped Iceland achieve amazing success. They qualified for their first major tournament, UEFA Euro 2016. At this tournament, they even reached the quarter-finals, beating England in a famous match. Besides coaching, Lagerbäck also works as a football expert on Swedish TV. He holds a record for managing a team in the finals of the European Championships four times.
Contents
Playing Career: Lars Lagerbäck's Early Football Days
Lars Lagerbäck was born in Katrineholm, Sweden. He grew up in a place called Ovansjö. When he was young, he started playing football for a team called Alby FF. He joined their P16 team when he was just 13 years old.
After finishing high school in the late 1960s, Lagerbäck went to Umeå University. He studied subjects like political science and economics. While studying, he also played football for Gimonäs CK. He played there until 1974. He even worked as a clerk for the club. He tried to help his team get promoted to a higher division twice, but they didn't succeed. Lagerbäck usually played as a midfielder, but he was often a substitute player.
In 1974, he went to the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences. There, he met Roland Andersson, who later became his assistant coach.
Managing Career: Leading Teams to Success
Club-Level Coaching: Lars Lagerbäck's First Steps
In 1977, Lars Lagerbäck started his coaching career. A former teammate suggested him for a coaching job at Kilafors. He coached this team until 1982. After that, he moved to Arbrå IK in 1983 and stayed there until 1985. In 1987, he took over Hudiksvall ABK but left in 1989.
Coaching Sweden: A Long and Successful Period
In 1990, Lagerbäck joined the Swedish Football Association. He started by coaching junior teams, where he worked with young players like Freddie Ljungberg. He also helped the main Swedish national team coaches, Tommy Svensson and Tord Grip.
In 1996, Lagerbäck became the coach for the Sweden B national team. In 1998, Tommy Söderberg chose him to be the assistant coach for the senior national team. By 2000, he was promoted to a joint-coach role, sharing the responsibility with Söderberg until 2004.
Under their leadership, Sweden qualified for UEFA Euro 2000. However, they were knocked out in the group stages. In 2002, they led Sweden to the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Sweden was in a very tough group with England, Argentina, and Nigeria. Sweden surprisingly won their group but then lost to Senegal in the first knockout round.
In 2004, Sweden qualified for their third major championship in a row. At UEFA Euro 2004, Sweden reached the quarter-finals but lost to the Netherlands. Later that year, Tommy Söderberg left to coach the Sweden U21 team.
After Söderberg left, Lagerbäck chose Roland Andersson as his new assistant coach. In 2006, Lagerbäck led Sweden to their fourth consecutive championship, which was a first for Swedish football. They played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup but lost 2–0 to Germany in the knockout stage.
Lagerbäck also led Sweden to UEFA Euro 2008. However, they were eliminated in the group stage after losing to Russia. Some sports writers thought Lagerbäck should be fired after this. But he signed a new contract to stay until the end of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. After Sweden failed to qualify for that World Cup, Lagerbäck resigned. Erik Hamrén took over as manager.
Coaching Iceland: A Historic Journey
On 4 October 2011, it was announced that Lars Lagerbäck was in talks to become the new manager of the Icelandic national team. His appointment was confirmed ten days later. Under Lagerbäck, Iceland made it to the play-off stage for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. However, Croatia won the two-game play-off.
Soon after, Lagerbäck signed a new contract. This time, he became a joint manager with his assistant, Heimir Hallgrímsson. Lagerbäck retired after UEFA Euro 2016. At this tournament, Iceland famously reached the quarter-finals. They beat England in the last 16, which was a huge surprise. They were then knocked out by France in the quarter-finals.
Later, from 2020 to 2021, he returned to the Iceland national football team as a technical advisor.
Coaching Norway: A New Challenge
On 1 February 2017, Lagerbäck was announced as the new manager for Norway. He signed a contract that lasted until the end of 2019. His first game as Norway's manager was on 26 March, which ended in a 2–0 defeat to Northern Ireland. His time as manager had mixed results. In December 2020, Lagerbäck was replaced by Ståle Solbakken as Norway's national team manager.
Honours: Lars Lagerbäck's Achievements
Lars Lagerbäck has won several awards and titles as a manager:
Manager
Sweden U21
- UEFA European Under-21 Championship: Runners-up in 1992
Sweden
- King's Cup: Won in 2001 and 2003
Nigeria
- WAFU Nations Cup: Won in 2010
See also
In Spanish: Lars Lagerbäck para niños
