MONTEREY, Mexico (AP) — Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the soccer kings honored at the North American World Cup.
If you want real nobility, go to the Swedish team.
Gustav Lagerbjelke, a 26-year-old defender who played the entirety of Sweden’s 5-1 win over Tunisia on Sunday, is a baron from the Swedish aristocracy. His father and grandfather were counts.
Football players usually come from modest backgrounds. Take Messi and Ronaldo, for example.
Not Lagerbjerke.
“I mean, that’s unusual,” he said in a pre-World Cup interview.
Lagerbjelke grew up in Djersholm, a wealthy suburb of the Swedish capital Stockholm. He says that when he played soccer as a child, he had the family crest on his shinguards.
“When I was a kid I wanted to be a professional soccer player,” Lagerbjelke said after Sunday’s game in Monterrey. “They gave me purpose. They make me very happy and I’m very proud.”
Lagerbjelke’s heritage has been a topic of conversation throughout his career, which has taken him from Sweden (AIK, Sollentuna, Västerås, Elfsborg, Degerfors) to Scotland (Celts) and now Portugal.
Some British media have reported that he is 254th in line to the Swedish throne, but Lagerbjelke said: “I don’t know if that’s true.”
“But I think for that to happen, a lot of people have to leave, and I don’t want that to happen,” he added.
For now, Lagerbjelke just wants to help Sweden become the kings of soccer at the World Cup.
“It’s great to be able to achieve Sweden’s biggest ever victory at the World Cup,” he said.
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Ethan Wilcox is a student at the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
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Douglas reported from Sundsvall, Sweden.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
