Former Celtic forward Henrik Larsson has told the Swedish media he stopped playing for his country in 2002 because he wasn’t appreciated.
Larsson became a Celtic legend during his time in Scotland, and he recently returned to Celtic Park as a pundit, when Brendan Rodgers’ side took on Bayern Munich.
Speaking to Aftonbladet, Larsson was asked why he quit the Swedish national team when playing for Celtic: “When I finished the first time, 2002, I had a long term deal with Celtic. At that time we had a good team, we were in domestic cups, we had the league and went abroad in Europe.
“I didn’t feel appreciated. At the same time, my boy was not so old so I didn’t want to leave him. So, it became a fairly simple decision.”
Larsson spent seven years at Celtic Park, and flourished under manager Martin O’Neill. The Swede scored 174 league goals in 221 games before signing for Barcelona in 2007. During his time at Celtic, Larsson won the league four times, and the Scottish Cup twice.
The 46 year old would go on to win the Champions League with Barcelona, and then the Premier League title, during a brief stint with Manchester United.
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