The Sagittarius king about big childhood idols, growing up and racism
Published 2024-04-07 07.57
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MALMÖ. Henrik Larsson was Isaac Kiese Thelin’s great childhood idol.
He was not surprised when he read about how Henke feels like a foreigner in Sweden.
– It is clear that I understand what he means. And it’s good that he says that, says the MFF striker.
Sportbladet’s pictures of a young Zlatan Ibrahimovic at home in the boys’ room with the walls wallpapered with pictures of the idol Ronaldo are classic.
It is to those images that thoughts inevitably go when Isaac Kiese Thelin shows photos from his boyhood room in Örebro with clippings and posters of his great idol on the walls.
The year is 2006 and Kiese Thelin is 14 years old.
But it is not Zlatan who is the idol but Henrik Larsson – for many years.
– It probably started when I was eight or nine years old. I almost always wore a football shirt with Henke’s name on it, even in the school photo. I had braids just like his and used to do his goal gesture, sticking out my tongue, when I scored. He was a great role model. Everyone understood that he was my idol, says Kiese Thelin today.
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1 / 2Photo: Privat
Received praise at the first and only meeting
Why was it Larsson and not Ibrahimovic for the young striker?
– You saw a similarity in yourself in someone. Among the national team players, Henke had a similar background to me. My father came from Congo (Larssons from Cape Verde). I think it was unconsciously because of that. Then it didn’t hurt that he scored a lot of goals and was a striker.
Have you met Henke?
– Yes, when I played in Norrköping we met Falkenberg when he was a coach there. We cod the game so I was disappointed. But in the player corridor after the match, he came to me and said something like “well played”. It became a difficult situation because I was sad that we lost but as happy as ever that he came and told me. I remember calling my parents and my grandfather, who was alive at the time and was very familiar with my football, and told them that he had greeted me and at least knew who I was. It was big.
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full screen Photo: Private
Kiese Thelin has not met Henke since then but has gotten to know his son Jordan, among other things in the national team.
Does Henke know that he was your idol?
– Maybe he knows it through Jordan because I probably told him. Maybe Henke said that to me because he understands that people like me look up to him, who have a common background in football Sweden. It was fine for me anyway.
“He has a point”
A month ago, Henrik Larsson gave an interview with The Guardian which received a lot of attention when the legendary striker told how he does not feel Swedish.
– I see myself as foreign. I know I’m Swedish, yes. But I never felt 100 percent Swedish, Henke said.
– I have to respect my father’s legacy, so maybe that’s why. But I don’t think I felt Swedish until I succeeded on the soccer field. When you are nothing, you don’t matter. When you are something, you are part of this community. Then people forget where you come from, what your origins are.
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full screen Henrik Larsson during his time as coach in Helsingborg. Photo: Ludvig Thunman / Bildbyrån
The Allsvenskan’s reigning top scorer has of course read the interview.
– It is clear that I understand what he means. When you are, as he says, “someone”, you are seen in a certain way. So there is absolutely something in what he says. Absolutely.
He has a point in what he says. But you kind of get used to it, says Kiese Thelin.
– It may be surprising to some who are not in his position. But for me, who is in a similar position, it is not surprising what he says. That’s why I say he has a point. And it’s good that he says that. So that people who are surprised can think about it.
The 31-year-old continues:
– My upbringing was fantastic. I grew up in an environment with very mixed cultures so it was rare to experience racism. But it is clear that it is touching to read what Henke says, because I know how difficult it is to hear certain words as a child, but also as an adult.
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fullscreen Isaac Kiese Thelin. Photo: Magnus Andersson / Bildbyrån
“Never heard any racism in Allsvenskan”
Kiese Thelin is convinced that it was tougher for Larsson to grow up darker than many others in the 1970s than it was for him in the 1990s.
– I have a cousin who is ten years older than me and a lot happened to him. Then again, it’s not the same way now as it was in the 90s. I hope that the younger generation, growing up now, is more educated. Because I think that’s what it comes down to in the end.
Kiese Thelin does not experience racism in the Allsvenskan.
– We are completely spared from that in the Allsvenskan. I never heard anything from the stands. So that’s great, he says.
Today, Malmö FF take on Hammarby in their home opener.
2024-04-08 03:15:51
#Kiese #Thelin #Henke #Larsson #interview #Understands #means
