Former Everton winger Niclas Alexandersson has opened up about his biggest regret from his time at Goodison Park and his memorable goal for Sweden against England at the 2002 World Cup.
The £2.2 million signing from Sheffield Wednesday in 2000 scored a stunning equalizer for Sweden against Sven-Goran Eriksson's England in Saitama, Japan. Sol Campbell had headed England ahead on 24 minutes, but Alexandersson pounced just before the hour mark, picking up a loose ball from Danny Mills' clearance on his right foot before cutting inside and scoring with his left.
Speaking to the ECHO in 2022, Alexandersson said: "Whenever it's the World Cup or Sweden are due to play England, I tend to come across my goal again. It was a bit of a wobbler as you say. I hit it quite well with my left foot but it sort of moved in the air and I don't think David Seaman could see it very clearly as one of the defenders (Rio Ferdinand) was in front of him but to score in my World Cup first game was something special."
The goal was made even more special by the fact that England had a Swedish manager in Eriksson. Alexandersson added: "It doesn't happen very often to have a Swede as the opposition manager in the World Cup given that we don't have a lot of Swedish coaches working abroad."
Long Road to the World Cup
Alexandersson was already 30 by the time he made his World Cup debut, having played in his first major tournament at Euro 2000. He had represented Sweden at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics but missed out on the 1994 World Cup squad due to injury.
He said: "I just missed out on Sweden's 1994 World Cup squad when they went on to finish third. I'd made my international debut in the last qualifying match against Austria and went on a winter tour ahead of the finals but then I got an injury and couldn't quite find my best form. It was between Jesper Blomqvist and myself and he took one of the last places in the squad."
After finally making his World Cup debut in 2002, Alexandersson went on to play in the 2006 tournament in Germany and also featured at Euro 2008, by which time he was 38.
Everton Regret
Alexandersson arrived at Everton in 2000 as part of a midfield overhaul by manager Walter Smith, which also included Thomas Gravesen, Alex Nyarko, and Paul Gascoigne. Despite a bright start, the Swede admits things didn't go to plan.
He said: "When I first came, I had a really good pre-season and it looked very promising. I'd scored five goals over the summer including two in a testimonial against Manchester City and that set the tone a little bit as I was struggling a bit with injuries. That's my big regret from my time at Everton is that I didn't find the kind of form I'd previously shown at Wednesday during my time at Goodison Park. The first two seasons were okay but the last 18 months were disappointing as for different reasons I didn't perform the way I knew I could."
Reflecting on Everton's current situation, Alexandersson added: "Everyone connected with Everton, including myself, would love to see them back to the way they were in the 1980s and be one of the 'Big Five' again but with the situation today with the amount of money that has gone into some of the clubs, it's hard to be up there and be consistent."
