Before Martin Ødegaard and Erling Haaland arrived to rip up the Premier League, a host of other Nordic stars had already made their mark on the world stage – these 16 standouts among them
Words Nick Moore, Si Hawkins, Richard Edwards
MICHAEL AND BRIAN LAUDRUP DENMARK
With due respect to the De Boers, Hazards and, er, Nevilles, there has never been a more talented pair of footballing brethren than the Laudrups. Michael is arguably the greatest Danish player of all time. The attacking midfielder picked up silverware at Ajax, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus. He was an integral cog in Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona ‘Dream Team’, pocketing four La Ligas and the 1992 European Cup. He then crossed the divide to the Bernabeu but somehow remains a legend at both clubs.
Best of all, he did it in style. It’s hard to recall a more elegant playmaker: fiercely intelligent, full of feints and blind passes, an assist machine. Italian defender Roberto Galia noted, “I’ve played against Maradona, Platini and Baggio, but the player I saw do the most indescribable things was Michael.”
That might be intimidating for a younger brother, but this was a family made of stern stuff. Brian, four years junior, coasted out of his sibling’s shadow – Michael declared he believed Brian to be the better player – but they were both world-class and worshipped.
Brian had abundant technical ability, pace, intelligence and a similar insatiable appetite for assists. He won the Danish Player of the Year award on four occasions (twice as many as Michael), and starred at Bayern Munich, Fiorentina and Rangers, where he scored 44 goals. Danish dynamite indeed.
CAREER HIGHLIGHT The pair never played together at club level, but joined forces for Denmark. Though Michael opted to go on holiday rather than attend Euro 92 (he had to watch his kid brother come home holding the silverware), the duo did collaborate to win the 1995 Confederations Cup, with Brian up front and Michael in midfield.
WEIRDEST MOMENT Michael’s rollercoaster stint as manager of Swansea, who he led to the top half of the Premier League and 2013 League Cup Final glory, before being sacked for a supposedly ‘laissez faire’ attitude to their subsequent poor run.
JOHN ARNE RIISE NORWAY
The left-back collected a record 110 caps for Norway and became a Liverpool hero during seven seasons at Anfield, after joining from Monaco in 2001. Part of the team that pulled off the fabled Miracle of Istanbul against Milan in 2005 (though he missed a penalty during the shootout), he was the king of the thunderbastard, famously beating Fabien Barthez with one hypersonic
