The best Swedish player of the 20th century, Nils Liedholm gained fame as a member of the Gre-No-Li trio. The other members were Gunnar Gren and Gunnar Nordahl, his team members at Italian side AC Milan and the Swedish national team. After starting his top level career IK at Sleipner, he joined IFK Norrköping in 1946, winning the Swedish league title in 1947 and 1948. After the Swedish national team won the Olympic gold in London 1948, this earned him a transfer to Italy. He played for Milan well over a decade, until 1961, winning four Italian league titles. At the 1958 World Cup, held in Sweden, Liedholm led the Swedes to a spot in the final against Brazil. Although Liedholm opened the scoring, Sweden eventually lost 5-2. After retiring as a player, Liedholm embarked on a coaching career in Italy. He would head five different teams, notably Milan (three different spells) and AS Roma (four). With both teams, he won the Serie A title, in 1979 (Milan) and 1983 (Roma). Finally retiring from the sport in the 1990s, Liedholm continued to run a vineyard with his son until his death in 2007.
Sweden