Gunnar Nordahl

Gunnar Nordahl

Nordahl playing for IFK Norrköping in 1948
Personal information
Full name Nils Gunnar Nordahl
Date of birth (1921-10-19)19 October 1921
Place of birth Hörnefors, Sweden
Date of death 15 September 1995(1995-09-15) (aged 73)
Place of death Alghero, Italy
Playing position Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1937–1940 Hörnefors IF 41 (68)
1940–1944 Degerfors IF 77 (56)
1944–1949 IFK Norrköping 95 (93)
1949–1956 Milan 257 (210)
1956–1958 Roma 34 (15)
Total 504 (442)
National team
1942–1948 Sweden 33 (43)
Teams managed
1958–1959 AS Roma (player-manager)
1959–1961 Karlstads BIK
1961–1964 Degerfors IF
1967–1970 IFK Norrköping
1971–1973 IF Saab
1974 IK Sleipner
1975–1976 Östers IF
1977–1978 AIK Fotboll
1979–1980 IFK Norrköping

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Nils Gunnar Nordahl (19 October 1921 – 15 September 1995)[1] was a Swedish football player. A highly prolific, powerful, and physically strong striker, with an eye for goal, he is best known for his spell at A.C. Milan from 1949 to 1956, in which he won the Scudetto twice, and also the title of pluricapocannoniere, with an unprecedented five top scorer (Capocannonieri) awards, more than any other player in the history of the Italian championship. Nordahl is Milan’s all-time record goalscorer, and he long held the record for most goals for a single club in the history of Italian league, before being surpassed by Francesco Totti on January 2012.[2] Nordahl is considered to be one of the greatest Swedish football players of all-time, and regarded as one of the best strikers in football history.[3] He is the father of Thomas Nordahl.[4][5]

Club career

Sweden

Nordahl started out at Hörnefors IF in Sweden before moving to first Degerfors IF and then IFK Norrköping. He won four Swedish championships with Norrköping and once scored seven goals in one game. During his time in Swedish clubs, Nordahl scored 149 goals in 172 matches.[6]

Italy

Nordahl transferred to A.C. Milan on 22 January 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. Playing eight seasons with Milan, he is Serie A's multi-top-scorer a record five times (1949–50, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1953–54 and 1954–55).[3][7] Nordahl is also Milan's all-time top-scorer, with 210 league goals.[8] Nordahl held the second-highest Serie A goalscorer of all time, with 225 goals in 291 matches.[6][7][8][9] Only Silvio Piola have scored more goals in that division,[3] until Francesco Totti surpassed him on March 2013.[9] That makes Nordahl the top goalscorer among non-Italian players,[7] and he is also the most efficient goalscorer goals in Serie A ever with 0.77 goals/match.[3][7]

After leaving Milan, Nordahl played for Roma for two seasons. Nordahl's record for most goals scored in Serie A (not including Divisione Nazionale, before Serie A was installed) of 35 in 1949–50 in a season was broken by Gonzalo Higuaín in the 2015–16 season who scored 36.[10][11] Nordahl, together with the mentioned Gre-No-Li is today legendary in Milan. When Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko scored his 100 goal in Serie A for Milan, it is said that some old Milanese supporters commented: "Well he can double that number, and then add another 26, then, and just then, he has passed Il Cannoniere."

International career

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. The Swedish team also included his brothers Bertil and Knut Nordahl.[1] 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, being not called to 1950 FIFA World Cup along his fellows Gren and Liedholm. In his 33 matches in the national team, he scored a total of 43 goals.[3]

Domestic League statistics

Club Season League
Apps Goals
Hörnefors 1937–38 1420
1938–39 1425
1939–40 1323
Degerfors 1940–41 1715
1941–42 2113
1942–43 2014
1943–44 1914
Norrköping 1944–45 2227
1945–46 2125
1946–47 2017
1947–48 2218
1948–49 106
Milan 1948–49 1516
1949–50 3735
1950–51 3734
1951–52 3826
1952–53 3226
1953–54 3323
1954–55 3327
1955–56 3223
Roma 1956–57 3013
1957–58 42
Total for Milan 257210
Career totals 504422

Honours

Club

IFK Norrköping[3]
Milan[3][5]

International

Sweden[3]

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 Gunnar Nordahl. sports-reference.com
  2. ↑ "Roma's Francesco Totti breaks Gunnar Nordahl's all-time record of 210 league goals with a single Italian club". Goal.com. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Serial-scoring Swede who lit up Milan". Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) - FIFA.com. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  4. 1 2 Gunnar Nordahl. Swedish Olympic Committee
  5. 1 2 3 4 "A.C. Milan Hall of Fame: Gunnar Nordahl". acmilan.com. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  6. 1 2 "The top scorers in European league history". Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) - UEFA.com. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Top 10 Serie A goalscorers - 2. Gunnar Nordahl - 225 goals". Goal.com. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  8. 1 2 "AC Milan All-Time Best XI". Goal.com. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  9. 1 2 "From Bernardini to El Shaarawy: 13 players who scored on their debut". asroma.com. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "Higuain: 'I am so happy!'". Football Italia. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  11. ↑ Chris Davie (14 May 2016). "Higuain makes Serie A history by breaking 66-year-old goalscoring record". goal.com. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gunnar Nordahl.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Omero Tognon		 Milan captain
1954–1956 		Succeeded by
Nils Liedholm
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