Gunnar Nordahl
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Gunnar Nordahl | ||
Personal information | ||
---|---|---|
Full name | Gunnar Nordahl | |
Date of birth | October 19, 1921 | |
Place of birth | Hornefors, Sweden | |
Position | Forward | |
Club information | ||
Current club | retired | |
Professional clubs* | ||
Years | Club | Apps (goals) |
1940-1944 1944-1949 1949-1956 1956-1958 |
Degerfors IFK Norrköping AC Milan Roma |
77 (56) 95 (93) 257 (210) 34 (15)(dubious; discuss) |
National team** | ||
? | Sweden | 33 (43) |
* Professional club appearances and goals |
Gunnar Nordahl (October 19, 1921 - September 15, 1995) was a Swedish football player, best known for his play in AC Milan 1949-1956.
Nordahl started out at Degerfors in Sweden before moving to IFK Norrköping. He won four Swedish championships with Norrkoping and once scored seven goals in one game.
Nordahl was first called-up to the Swedish national team in 1945. In 1948, he helped Sweden to win the Olympic football tournament, becoming the tournament's top scorer on the way.
During his time in Swedish clubs, Nordahl scored 149 goals in 172. He transferred to AC Milan on January 22, 1949. Later, he would team up with his national team strike partners, Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm to form the renowned Gre-No-Li trio.
Nordahl's transfer to Milan forced him to retire from the national team, as the rules at the time prevented professionals from the Swedish national team. In his 30 matches in the national team, he scored a total of 44 goals, or about 1.5 goals per game. In his eight seasons with AC Milan, he was Serie A's top-scorer five times. After leaving Milan, Nordahl played for Roma for two seasons.
Nordahl is AC Milan's all-time top-scorer, with 210 league goals. He is still the second-highest Serie A goalscorer of all time, with 225 goals in 291 matches. Only Silvio Piola has scored more goals in that division, making Nordahl the top goalscorer among non-Italian players.
Nordahl still holds the record for the most goals in a season in Italy, with 35 goals 1949-1950.
Thomas Nordahl, who is Gunnar's son, was a member of Sweden's 1970 FIFA World Cup squad.
[edit] Trophies
- 2 x Italian Title
- 4 x Swedish Title
- 1 x Swedish Cup
- 2 x Coppa Latina
- 1 x Olympic Gold Medal
- 1 x Olympic Games Top Scorer
- 5 x Italian League Top Scorer
- 4 x Swedish League Top Scorer