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Nils Liedholm (born October 8, 1922 in
Valdemarsvik) was a Sweden|Swedish football
(soccer)|footballer, famous for being part of
Sweden's "Gre-No-Li" trio of strikers along with
Gunnar Gren and Gunnar Nordahl. He is the only
member of the three still living.

Liedholm joined his first club, IK Sleipner in
1942. In 1946, he joined IFK Norrköping, a bigger
Swedish club with whom he won two Swedish league
titles. During his time with Norrköping, he also
earned 18 cap (football)|caps for the Sweden
national football team|Swedish national team,
winning an Olympics|Olympic gold medal. This
eventually gave him the chance to join A.C.
Milan|Milan in 1949. He made his Serie A debut on
September 11, 1949 in a 3-1 win against U.C.
Sampdoria|Sampdoria. In his first season with
Milan, the midfielder played 37 games and scored
18 goals. In 1951, Liedholm won the first of his
four scudetto titles. Another two titles followed
in 1955 and 1957. A player with a club that was
having the best spell of its life up to that
point, Liedholm also won the Latin Cup in 1951 and
1956. Famously, it took two years playing for
Milan until Liedholm misplaced even one pass. The
rarity of this event apparently prompted an
ovation that lasted five minutes.

Liedholm was also one of the first players to
realise the importance of fitness to a good
performance. Consequently, he put in many more
hours of training than other players, saying
himself that he did the 100 metres, 3000 metres,
javelin, shot put and high jump twice a week.

In 1958, Liedholm, by then aged almost 36, helped
Sweden to reach the Football World Cup 1958|World
Cup Final, where the team lost out to a Brazil
national football team|Brazil side led by the
teenage Pelé. His club career would continue
until he was almost 40.

After he finished playing, Liedholm enjoyed some
time in the backrooms at Milan, before getting
promotion for both Hellas Verona|Verona and then
Varese. This brought him to the attention of ACF
Fiorentina|Fiorentina and then Milan, where he
finally took control of the first team. He guided
them to their tenth league title in 1979 before
moving to become the manager of A.S. Roma|Roma. He
took them to their second league title ever in
1983 using the zonal marking system, which was
unusual in Italy at the time. A year later, his
Roma side lost on penalties to Liverpool
F.C.|Liverpool in the UEFA Champions
League|European Cup Final. He also won the Coppa
Italia three times with Roma, in 1981, 1983 and
1984.

As well as saying that the modern game is much
more frantic and fast-paced than when he was
involved, Liedholm, always a professional, also
observed that "they players do not do much to
avoid fouling players... It is too easy to stop a
player by fouling him. Proper training teaches you
how to win the ball without committing a foul,
which is much more difficult."

After leaving the game (but still living in
Italy), Liedholm ran a vineyard for a while. This
enterprise is now run by his son. His opinions,
however, still carry a lot of weight in Italian
football.

==External links==
*http://www.gopeking.net/english_greatestplayers.p
hp Greatest Swedish Players
*http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/art
icles/liedholmgg.html Golden Great: Nils Liedholm
*http://www.rsssf.com/players/zwed-players-in-it.h
tml Liedholm's Career at RSSSF.com