Europe braced for the last of Larsson

Iconic Swedish striker Henrik Larsson will hang up his boots on 1 November after Helsingborgs IF's final Allsvenskan game of the season at IF Elfsborg, saying: "After that I can look back on a wonderful and fulfilling career."

Magnificent career
A press release issued by Larsson's Dutch agent Rob Jansen confirmed that 2009 would be the 38-year-old's final season, with the player having recently made his 106th and final appearance for Sweden. Larsson started his career at Högaborgs BK, and went on to join Feyenoord in 1993 after scoring 50 goals in 56 league games for Helsingborg. Following three seasons in Rotterdam, he joined Celtic FC, where he won four Scottish titles and became a major star, picking up the ESM Golden Shoe by scoring 35 goals in 37 top-flight games in 2000/01. He won two more league titles at FC Barcelona from 2004-06, and played a pivotal role in the club's 2005/06 UEFA Champions League final victory against Arsenal FC before returning to Helsingborg. However, he made a brief loan move to Manchester United FC in 2007, with Sir Alex Ferguson's side going on to win the title that summer.

'Time for something else'
Larsson, named by the Swedish Football Association as his nation's finest player of the last 50 years as part of UEFA's Jubilee celebrations, is quoted in the press release as saying: "I will think about what I would like to do. First, I will need time to adjust to the non-football life I think. I mean, without playing the game. That will take time I know, and I will take that time. What I do know now, is that I'm 100 per cent sure about my decision to end my playing career. I'm 38 now, it has been enough. I enjoyed my career and want to thank everyone who has supported me in all these years. Now it's time for something else."