Matchday Memories: On This Day 2002 – Swedish Sky Blue Magnus Miffs England In World Cup
The Swedish Team with No.1 Magnus Hedman
On this day (2nd June) in 2002 Sky Blues goalkeeper (and now CCFPA member) Magnus Hedman represented Sweden in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan and was in the Scandinavian country’s side that met England in Group F in the Saitama Stadium in front of 52,721. The match finished in a 1-1 draw with Sol Campbell scoring the English goal after 24 minutes and Niclas Alexandersson equalising after 59 minutes. Future Sky Blue Joe Cole also made an appearance from the England bench that day. Ironically Swede Sven-Göran Eriksson was managing England at the time!
Both teams made it through from the Group Stage with almost identical records. In the Last Sixteen knockout games England beat Denmark 3-0 but Sweden were beaten 2-1 by Senegal.
Brazil saw off England in the last eight, also by the odd goal in three.
The Sky Blues’ shot-stopper began his career with with Swedish outfit AIK Solna in 1990 winning the national championship with them in 1992 and became reserve goalie for his country in the 1994 World Cup. Magnus had already made his Swedish international debut in the February before he joined the Sky Blues in July 1997. He played in all his country’s games in Euro 2000 (winning the Swedish Golden Ball award that year) as well as the 2012 World Cup. In all, he represented his country in 58 internationals between 1994-2004 including at two FIFA World Cups and two European Championships.
Magnus in the Sky Blue
Whilst with the Sky Blues Magnus (from 1997-2002) he made 151 appearances latterly being displaced by fellow CCFPA member Chris Kirkland in City’s 2000-01 relegation season. After intermittent first team outings, after Kirkland left for Liverpool, Magnus left the Sky Blues in August 2002 for £1.5m to join Celtic where he played 37 times (and also had a loan spell at A.C.Ancona) before moving to Chelsea as a back-up on a free in November 2006.
He effectively retired from playing football at the end of the 2006-07 season without playing in the league for the Blues, despite abortive attempts to win contracts at Newcastle United, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur up to 2009.
After Chelsea the goalie even turned out once as an an emergency shotstopper aged forty for Frej the Swedish club where he was goalkeeping coach! Now Magnus is with a company who are the main distributors of a popular brand of non-alcoholic wine.
Magnus, Oggy & Tynan
We last saw Magnus when he came back in March 2020 with a Swedish TV camera crew in tow. The giant Swede (he is over 6 foot 4 inches tall) signed for the Association after the Sky Blues’ game with Tranmere Rovers. At the time he also had an emotional reunion with fellow shot-stopper and club Legend (now a fellow CCFPA member) Steve Ogrizovic, the man he replaced in the Sky Blues first team, as well as another former ‘keeper CCFC’s Commercial Director Tynan Scope (right).
Magnus in the Sky Blue
Magnus was also back in Cov at the Rialto soon after when being part of an ‘Evening With….’ former colleagues (both CCFPA members) Darren Huckerby and Noel Whelan.
