Place of birth Falkoping, Sweden 1991–1996 Sweden 1988–2000 IFK Goteborg Height 1.86 m | 1985–1987 IFK Falkoping FF Role Football player Years Team Name Mikael Nilsson | |
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Date of birth (1968-09-28) 28 September 1968 (age 47) | ||
Mikael Nilsson [ˈmiːkɑɛl ˈnɪlsɔn] (born 28 September 1968 in Falköping) is a former Swedish football defender. He played for a local club called Tomtens IF and IFK Falköping until 1987 when he moved to IFK Göteborg, where he stayed until he ended his active career in 2001 due to an eye injury. During these years, he played 609 first team matches, which is a club record. He also won six Swedish Championships with the club and played in several European competitions.
Mikael Nilsson played 22 international matches for the Swedish national team, and was part of the Euro 92 and 1994 FIFA World Cup squads, he did however not play any matches in any of the tournaments.
In ITV's Greatest Champions League Goals programme, Nilson's 2 strikes against PSV Eindhoven were number twenty and nineteen on the list of the top 50 goals, including a magnificent free-kick with an insane amount of curve, which probably is what he is best known for. One of Clive Tyldesley's famous quotes- "Now they know he can shoot, oh they know he can shoot", referred to Nilsson's second strike against PSV.