Lars Karlsson: CapacityNow

30 years ago today the Berlin Wall came down marking the end of the European divide.

I remember in my youth how we visited East Berlin and drove through Easy Germany going to tournaments with my club.

This was a great moment in the history of mankind, that in many ways became the symbol for the end of the cold war.

Today is almost impossible for young people to understand what is what like in Europe before the wall came down.

I have a small piece of the wall in my home. I will keep to tell the story to my grandkids one day.

Paul Bono Hewson is one of my few heroes in life.

I saw my first U2 concert before the band had even released their first record.

I was in Paris playing a tournament with my team and last night on the trip I and some school/team mates went to a club on the street were we stayed at a hotel. They did let us in even though we were certainly too young. A band was playing.

The band leader started the show by saying, ‘We are a band from Ireland, and we call ourselves U2″. I was 15 years old. It changed my life.

I still listen to U2 every day.

Here is the lyrics and video of one of my favourite U2 songs, Every Breaking Wave.

Every breaking wave on the shore

Tells the next one there’ll be one more

And every gambler knows that to lose

Is what you’re really there for

Summer I was fearless

Now I speak into an answer phone

Like every fallen leaf on the breeze

Winter wouldn’t leave it alone

Alone

If you go

If you go your way and I go mine

Are we so

Are we so helpless against the tide

Baby, every dog on the street

Knows that we’re in love with defeat

Are we ready to be swept off our feet

And stop chasing every breaking wave

Every sailor knows that the sea

Is a friend made enemy

And every shipwrecked soul knows what it is

To live without intimacy

I thought I heard the captain’s voice

But it’s hard to listen while you preach

Like every broken wave on the shore

This is as far as I could reach

You Tube, click here: Abbey Road, U2: Every Breaking Wave

It is no secret for people reading this blog that I am a fan of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the best player of Sweden ever – and a world class player the last 15 years. There are very few players with the careers of Zlatan, having won 34 titles in top clubs from five countries.

Two captains. Markus Rosenberg for Malmö FF playing Zlatan Ibrahimovis Paris Saint-Germain in UEFA Champions League 2015

Zlatan Ibrahimovic started his amazing career in my home town football club, Malmö FF – the club in my heart.

Zlatan only played 1,5 season in the first team of our club before being sold to Ajax for a record deal at the age of 19.

So in our club he is not the most important player ever. So who is? It used to be a player called Bosse Larsson. An amazing Swedish player in the 60-, 70- and 80s.

But it is not anymore. Now our greatest player ever is another player – out captain Markus Rosenberg.

Rosenberg is playing his last games of the career this season, at the age of 37. He is still our best player. After returning home in 2014, he has lead our club to our best five years in history. Still taking into account that Malmö FF is the most successful club of Swedish football.

Zlatan handing over Swedish Legaue Trophy to Captain Rosenberg 2017. Malmö FFs 20th league title.

Markus Rosenberg will only play two more games ever. Against Dinamo Kiev at home in UEFA Europe Legaue and against FCK Copenhagen away in the same tournament. I will watch both games live as a tribute to our captain and best player ever.

Here is a fantastic article summerizing the career of Rosenberg writtet by a fan, Alexandra Jonsson.

Read it, it is amazing; How Markus Rosenberg stepped out of Zlatan’s shadow to become the greatest ever!