Glenn Peter Strömberg (pronounced[ˈɡlɛnːˈstrœ̂mːbærj]; born 5 January 1960) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in 1979 with IFK Göteborg, he helped the club win the 1981–82 UEFA Cup before signing with Benfica in 1983. In 1984, he joined the Serie A club Atalanta for which he served as the team captain for four seasons until his retirement in 1992. A full international between 1982 and 1990, he won 52 caps and scored 7 goals for the Sweden national team, and represented his country at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He was awarded Guldbollen in 1985 as Sweden's best footballer of the year.
Club career
IFK Göteborg
Strömberg was a part of IFK Göteborg's youth teams before making his senior debut for "Änglarna" on 16 April 1979 in an Allsvenskan game against Kalmar FF that ended 4–0.[1] He helped the team win the 1981–82 UEFA Cup, the 1982 Allsvenskan, as well as three Svenska Cupen titles between 1979 and 1983. During Strömberg's four seasons at Göteborg, he played in 203 games (including friendlies) and scored 33 goals.[1]
Strömberg appeared 9 times for the Sweden U21 team between 1979 and 1981. He made his senior international debut for Sweden on 3 June 1982 in a friendly 1-1 draw with the Soviet Union, playing for 68 minutes before being replaced by Karl Gunnar Björklund.[4][5] Strömberg scored his first international goal on 29 May 1983 in a UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying game against Italy which Sweden won 2–0.[4] A few months later, Strömberg scored two goals as Sweden beat Italy 3–0 away in the same qualifying campaign. Despite the two victories against Italy, Sweden failed to qualify for UEFA Euro 1984.[4]
Strömberg was a part of the Sweden team that qualified for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and scored a goal against Scotland as Sweden was eliminated in the group stage after three straight losses.[4] Strömberg's last international appearance came in the last group stage game against Costa Rica on 20 June 1990.[4]
Playing style
For his majestic way of playing in the midfield Strömberg was nicknamed "The Marathon Man".[6] His usual position was central midfield or defensive midfield.