Stefan Schwarz
Schwarz in 2017
Personal information
Full name Hans-Jürgen Stefan Schwarz
Date of birth (1969-04-18) 18 April 1969
Place of birth Malmö, Sweden
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder, left wingback
Youth career
–1982 Kulladals FF
1982–1985 Malmö FF
1985–1987 Bayer Leverkusen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1990 Malmö FF 32 (0)
1990–1994 Benfica 77 (7)
1994–1995 Arsenal 34 (2)
1995–1998 Fiorentina 78 (2)
1998–1999 Valencia 23 (4)
1999–2003 Sunderland 62 (3)
Total 306 (18)
International career
1984–1985 Sweden U17 10 (0)
1986 Sweden U19 1 (0)
1987–1988 Sweden U21 6 (0)
1990–2001 Sweden 69 (6)
Medal record
FIFA World Cup
Third place1994 USA
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Hans-Jürgen Stefan Schwarz (born 18 April 1969) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Schwarz started off his career with Malmö FF in 1987 before moving on to represent Benfica, Arsenal, Fiorentina and Valencia until he retired at Sunderland in 2003. Schwarz won 69 caps for the Sweden national team, scoring 6 goals. He represented his country at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 1992 and most notably the 1994 FIFA World Cup where Sweden finished third.

Club career

Born to a German father (who played football in lower leagues in Germany) and a Swedish mother in the city of Malmö, Schwarz started his playing career as a midfielder with Kulladals FF's academy. Between 1985 and 1987, he spent two seasons with Bayer Leverkusen's youth team.[1] He made his debut as a professional footballer with his hometown club Malmö FF.[2] He then moved to Benfica for the 1990–91 season to play under manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. Schwarz became a regular starter for Benfica, winning the Primeira Liga twice, and playing in the side that knocked Arsenal out of the European Cup in 1991.[3]

He subsequently moved to London to play for Arsenal in the summer of 1994 for £1.8 million but grew frustrated with George Graham's defensive tactics.[4] The defeat to Real Zaragoza in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final was Schwarz's last game for Arsenal. He left Highbury after just one season at the club.[5][6][7]

Schwarz then completed a £2.5 million transfer to Fiorentina. He spent three seasons in Italy, lifting the Coppa Italia and Super Cup. In the summer 1998 he reunited with Cladio Ranieri, moving to Spain to join Valencia. After one season he joined English side Sunderland on 29 July 1999 for a then-club record fee of £3.75 million.[8] Because of Schwarz's publicly-expressed desire to become a space tourist, the club inserted a "Space Clause" into his contract, stating that if he were to travel beyond Earth's atmosphere his contract would become wholly invalid.[9]

He was bestowed with the Guldbollen in November 1999, Sweden's award for footballer of the year.[10] Schwarz eventually fell out with manager Peter Reid and was transfer listed in summer 2002.[11] He made his last appearance for the club coming off the bench for the final 25 minutes of the League Cup tie at Sheffield United 3 December 2002. Schwarz retired from playing in March 2003.[12][13][14]

International career

After having represented the Sweden U17, U19, and U21 teams, Schwarz made his full international debut for Sweden on 14 February 1990 as a substitute in a friendly game against the United Arab Emirates where he replaced Pontus Kåmark in the 80th minute before also scoring his first international goal in a 1–1 draw.[15][16] A few months later he appeared in his first major tournament for Sweden as he played in all three games at left back as Sweden was eliminated from the 1990 FIFA World Cup after the group stage.[15]

In 1992, Schwarz appeared in three games as Sweden progressed to the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 1992 before being eliminated by West Germany.[15] In 1994, he played in centre midfield alongside Jonas Thern as Sweden finished third at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.[15] An injury to his Achilles tendon kept him out of the squad for UEFA Euro 2000.[17]

He declared his international retirement in August 2001 to focus on his club team after a series of injuries while with the national team.[18] His last international appearance came in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Moldova on 28 March 2001.[15]

Schwarz won a total of 69 caps during his career, scoring six goals.[15]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by national team and year[15]
National team Year Apps Goals
Sweden 1990 11 2
1991 0 0
1992 7 2
1993 7 0
1994 12 1
1995 7 1
1996 5 0
1997 2 0
1998 7 0
1999 6 0
2000 2 0
2001 3 0
Total 69 6
Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Schwarz goal.
List of international goals scored by Stefan Schwarz[15]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 14 February 1990 Al-Maktoum Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates  United Arab Emirates 2–1 2–1 Friendly [16]
2 11 April 1990 Stade du 5 Juillet 1962, Algiers, Algeria  Algeria 1–1 1–1 Friendly [19]
3 27 May 1992 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden  Hungary 1–0 2–1 Friendly [20]
4 2–0
5 5 May 1994 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden  Nigeria 1–0 3–1 Friendly [21]
6 11 October 1995 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden  Scotland 2–0 2–0 Friendly [22]

Honours

Malmö[23]
Benfica[23]
Arsenal[5]
Fiorentina[23]
Valencia[23]
Sweden[5]

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Aftonbladet sport: Erik Haag möter Stefan Schwarz".
  2. ↑ "Har spelat i sex länder – Sport – Sydsvenskan-Nyheter Dygnet Runt". Sydsvenskan.se. 18 April 1969. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "uefa.com". 1 August 2021.
  4. ↑ Spurling, Jon (2001). Top Guns. Aureus. pp. 95–96.
  5. 1 2 3 "Stefan Schwartz". Arsenal.com.
  6. ↑ "that-match-is-still-iconic-in-sweden-stefan-schwarz-on-knocking-england-out-of-the-euros". 20 January 2023.
  7. ↑ Schwarz, Stefan (2016). De kallade mig Gud. Sweden: Lava forlag.
  8. ↑ "Posts Sunderland official FB". Facebook. 1 March 2022.
  9. ↑ Carpenter, Les (1 March 2022). "the-joy-of-six-strange-sports-contract-clauses". The Guardian.
  10. ↑ "guldbollen-1999/". 1 March 2022.
  11. ↑ "Laslandes and Schwarz in Sunderland clear-out". The Guardian. 20 January 2023.
  12. ↑ "Sunderland old boy Stefan Schwarz backs the Black Cats to beat the drop". Chronicle Live.co.uk. 8 December 2015.
  13. ↑ "FA Carling Premiership | Footballer banned from space". BBC News. 2 August 1999. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  14. ↑ "i-love-sunderland-roker-report-meets-stefan-schwarz". 1 March 2022.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Stefan Schwarz – Spelarstatistik – Svensk fotboll". svenskfotboll.se. (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  16. 1 2 "Förenade Arabemiraten – Sverige – Matchfakta – Svensk fotboll". svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  17. ↑ "Österrike-Sverige: Schwarz skadad – missar EM. Fotboll. 1-1 på usel plan. Sunderlandproffset slet av hälsenan. Även Fredrik Ljungberg och Patrik Andersson skadade". DN.SE (in Swedish). 30 March 2000. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  18. ↑ ""Aldrig mera landslaget"". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 23 August 2001. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  19. ↑ "Algeriet – Sverige – Matchfakta – Svensk fotboll". svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  20. ↑ "Sverige – Ungern – Matchfakta – Svensk fotboll". svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  21. ↑ "Sverige – Nigeria – Matchfakta – Svensk fotboll". svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  22. ↑ "Sverige – Skottland – Matchfakta – Svensk fotboll". svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  23. 1 2 3 4 "Stefan Schwartz". Eurosport.com.
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