He is one of the greatest stars of Swedish football but he closed the door on football at the age of 28 and has not been seen since.
A small future opening can now be seen in Thomas Brolin, 53.
– Maybe I can participate as an assistant coach. He says I find static poses very interesting.
Thomas Brolin takes each of his golden balls out of a cloth bag and places them on the table in the restaurant of the Kung Carl Hotel in central Stockholm where we meet.
His Ballons d’Or, from 1990 and 1994, have a somewhat dated look. The light mineral has taken on a darker shade, somewhat brownish-gray.
Are prizes and prizes important to you?
– No. Maybe you see it in my golden balls…? (Laughter) So they get there pretty quickly if you don’t polish them. These are in a closet where there is a lot of light.
Next to the bronze medal from WC 1994?
– He’s there or at mom’s and dad’s house. There you are, that’s the most important thing. I have this inside, he says, pointing to his head. I’ve never had any big prize tanks. It wasn’t my favorite thing, Brolin says.
Did you notice the surprise when we wrote last year that Bulgaria also took home bronze medals after losing to Sweden at the 1994 World Cup?
– Yeah, I thought it was an April Fool’s joke at first. The Bulgarians did a good toilet too but for me it was important that we won the last game we played. I’ve talked a lot about how important it is to win the bronze match instead of losing the final. I tried to build it that way for others in the national team.
Behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s staggering 12 Ballon d’Ors, Brolin belongs to the exclusive group of nine players who have won the award twice. The attacker did it when he was 21 and 24 years old.
Perhaps the Ballon d’Or means more today than it did in 1990 and 1994 when you received it. Then I entered the world of football. Then I did not think about individual prices. I was proud, I was named the best player in Sweden. For my ego, it was great, but that wasn’t what I thought when I struggled in January. Ultimately, you need to have ten or 22 other players on the team in order to perform.
– I’m probably prouder today when you look back. Not many people have won two Golden Balls. So you kind of made an impression on Swedish football. It’s some extra fun that came through the WC years, too. It lit up a bit after that, he says when he sums up the two awards in front of him.
Thomas Brolin is unique in part as a Ballon d’Or winner.
Since 1995, the award has been awarded and kept secret until it was time for the live football concerts to shine on TV.
He was the last to receive the trophy without an audience of millions on live television.
Do you remember the moments when you were told that you won?
– It was different then. There were no major football parties where the award was handed out. In 1990 I was living in Italy and I was at home in Parma and had friends visiting. We played cards when someone called. It was an interesting conversation. Then I got Guldbollen in Ullevi in Gothenburg. I came to Ullevi by helicopter.
– In 1994, I was sitting with my feet covered in plaster at home in a hoodie when the news reached me. I got the Golden Ball in one shot. It was snowing and cold.
– So maybe I got my golden balls a little differently compared to these days, he says with a smile.
Do any of them matter a little more?
The first is always the first. I was only 20 years old and didn’t know much about the world. Dreams shattered one by one.
After making his Allsvenskan debut with Gif Sundsvall, a breakthrough at IFK Norrköping, a goal on his World Cup debut against Brazil in 1990, Tomas Brolin had four successful seasons with Parma winning the Italian Cup, Cup Winners’ Cup and UEFA Cup.
In 1994, he was the only Swede to make it to the world team after winning the bronze medal at the World Championships in the USA. It turned out to be the pinnacle of his career.
In a European Championship qualifier against Hungary in November 1994, Brolin broke his left foot when playing striker Martin Dahlin with a 2-0 goal.
After a long rehabilitation, the Swedish star was ready for Leeds in the fall of 1995, but he never returned to previous levels. In the summer of 1998 he ended his career at only 28 years old.
– It wasn’t the old injury that kept me from coming back. There are those who still believe in this, but this is not true. I learned other things about the football establishment.
– That’s what happened in England. I’ll tell you the details one day, but I’ll keep them in my book. At some point it will come out.
When will the notes come out?
– Maybe I should have worked with them during the Corona era, but then I had to work with companies so that they would stay afloat. One day maybe I will. There are many funny and sad events that I have not told you about. There was a lot going on in Leeds.
During my time at Leeds, so many strange things happened that I began to take notes. Otherwise, no one will believe me later. So it is written.
How many book publishers have you contacted over the years?
– Five to ten. If I’m going to do it, someone else has to write, someone I say. There must be someone who knows my profession. There are those who register their interest in writing.
– Where were we somewhere? Brolin asks, going back to explaining what actually made him quit at 28:
Sometimes having an agent who knows the coach and the club is more important than performing in training. It is very wrong. I noticed that. I wondered what the hell happened. So I think it still very much is.
How does it affect today’s players?
– In today’s football, customers want to make money for themselves and for their players to make money. A gamer often forgets that the right environment is the important thing so they can develop and get their game time. I thought about that when I chose the club and moved to Parma. In addition, you must have done well in your home country of Sweden before moving abroad. It’s a good measure. Before that, you do not need to leave if your ambition is to become a better soccer player.
– But if it is important to make money quickly, then leave.
– I know what is happening and what is not happening behind the scenes. It wasn’t for me. So it was in the nineties. Not getting better, he says firmly.
Thomas Brolin’s competitive instinct, which disappeared from football fields in 1998, quickly found a new home in his private business. Few would have missed that the former football star has been selling vacuum cleaner nozzles for nearly 25 years.
– Twinner is the best vacuum cleaner nozzle in the world and I’m very proud of what you’ve done in the industry. I wanted to be the best there too.
– Owned 100% of the company four years ago. Our turnover is around ten million kroner annually, and we have manufacturing in Tallinn and sales via Melitta, Ica and Clas Ohlson as major customers.
– We had plans to expand, but then the pandemic came. Now there are other things with uncertainty in the world that keep us where we are now. It is a stable business that we have been in for more than 20 years. That’s really good.
In the early 2000s he also ran Undici Restaurant. He’s taken part in poker tournaments, dabbled in the trot, padel and been part of the ‘Master of Champions’ but he’s never returned to football more than as a spectator and is there as a vocal pad for son Sebastian, 21, who plays for Hammarby TFF in the division North one.
– The company engagements were so fun and successful that I didn’t want to go back to football again. Others stayed in football, but for me the second part was so much fun that there was no time left. Since Lombardo and I coached Crystal Palace, I know you need to think about football 24 hours a day.
Can you imagine getting involved in football again?
Brolin is quiet and thinks for a few moments.
– It’s probably, maybe, maybe I’ll be involved as a second coach, assistant coach, at some point in the future. This is the only thing I can think of. I have some ideas.
Now you have to evolve.
I watch football and wonder why people don’t do things a little differently. It’s probably the most constant stand I’m stuck with. Why teams act the way they do on free kicks, corner kicks and even throw-ins. Throwing is an important part, but how often do you practice it? I like these details.
So there is desire there after all.
– I don’t just watch all the matches, you start to think actively at times.
Are there any different types of WC94-style free kicks on any cards in your home?
– lol. I have some stuff. My son mostly saw them and then it just got around to how they run in the corners.
– But I don’t have time now to throw myself into such projects. I have a lot to do with my business. We had ideas to expand and make larger investments outside of the Nordic countries with Twinner.
So when your vacuum cleaner nozzles are world-leading, you start dedicating yourself to solid football positions…?
– exactly! (Laugh). Brolin says that’s an accurate analysis.
Since Brolin won the Guldbollen at Aftonbladet in 1990, when he was 21, the winners have been much older. After 32 years, the player with a shared history could become the youngest player since Brolin to receive the Aftonbladet and the Swedish Football Association award.
Who will win the Ballon d’Or this year?
The football year hasn’t been great. No one has distinguished themselves so much in the national team.
Dejan Kulusevski (22) was really good in the Premier League. There are not many people who perform well in their club teams. Lindelof didn’t get much playing time, Zlatan was injured. Emil Forsberg is cool but he doesn’t play much either. It has to be between Emile and Dejan and I think Kulusevski stands out a bit more.
How do you feel about Kulusevski given that things fell apart for him at Parma?
– Then I opened my eyes to him. Some friends and acquaintances from Parma called me and asked about him when he signed for the club. But then I couldn’t say anything, it would be as good as it was. Nobody knows for sure.
Parma is my club and my city, so it’s very nice that it’s so good. Unfortunately, I haven’t been to Parma since before the pandemic. It is a calm and nice environment for players to progress and develop.
How good can it be?
– It’s very difficult to say. He has the touch, the pace, the technique, the shot, many more qualities. He plays in a good Premier League team that is fighting for places in the Champions League. If he’s injury-free and continues to gain confidence, there are conditions for him to do better.
What kind of tribute do you have for this year’s winner?
– Congratulations and have fun. I’ve had a good season. Not a lot of people get that ball,” Brolin says, handing one of the slightly gray golden balls.