IT WAS a typical Henrik Larsson finish. Springing Bordeaux's offside trap to pull down a punt over the top with the deftest of left-foot cushions, one measured swing of the right boot later and the striker had effortlessly passed the ball into the ho
me side's net.
It is just that no-one is sure whether the Swede's equaliser in Helsinborgs' final UEFA Cup group match nine days ago was his final finish. At any significant level, anyway. Not least, it appears, the 36-year-old himself. A man effectively now a free agent after completing an 18-month contract with his home-town club.
In part, that can be attributed to Larsson's future failing to take centre stage in the immediate aftermath of a 2-1 defeat, rendered largely meaningless by the club already having won through to the last 32 of the competition. They earned that place, again typically, courtesy of net-rippling exploits that have made the Celtic icon the tournament's joint-top scorer with six goals – on the back of three in qualifying.
What was of more pressing concern to those of a Helsinborgs disposition that night in Bordeaux was coach Stuart Baxter tendering his resignation with immediate effect. It was a far from surprising development at a club riven by internal division during a summer league season that brought only an eighth-place finish in the 14-club Allsvenskan as the experienced Scot was forced to sell senior players and accept unwanted signings made by sports director Bo Nilsson. Baxter stepping down raised fears that Helsinborgs, whose directors requested a police presence at an extraordinary general meeting last week, will continue to be buffeted by turbulence ahead of resuming their UEFA Cup commitments in February. And that may have repercussions when it comes to what Larsson does next.
Currently he is on holiday with his family at his father's home in Cape Verde. The expectation was that he would already have made up his mind whether to play on with Helsinborgs or retire – in as much as he would wind down by parking up at final footballing stop Hogaborg, a fourth tier team who are closest to his heart in his homeland after that was where his senior career began two decades ago.
That he did not announce his intentions, instead delaying until his return a decision he originally stated he would reveal some weeks ago, has prompted a third possible to be entered into the frame. His performances and goal plundering in the UEFA Cup have demonstrated he retains the gifts to prosper at the highest level – it is only ten months since he played a significant role in Manchester United's successful title bid – and led some in his homeland to wonder if he could be tempted to play on away from Helsingborgs and enjoy one final hurrah at a high profile posting where he could challenge seriously for honours.
Predictably, it has been whispered that club might just be Celtic and that he could be enticed by a four-and-a-half month stay from January that his wife Magdalena, and children Jordan, ten, and Janelle, five, could look upon as an extended holiday in familiar surroundings. It would spare him a dreaded Swedish pre-season across the bitter winter and allow him three more tastes of the Old Firm derby he lived for in seven years at the club, as well as a first sampling of a last 16 in the Champions League for the club.
It is not merely in Sweden that such idle conjecture is being offered. In Glasgow, everyone appears to have heard, from the work-mate of a friend's brother's pal, that Larsson has not closed his mind to such a move. These dreamers have worked it all through. He doesn't want his last goal at Celtic Park to have been for Barcelona, his strike in September 2004 famously sealing Celtic's only home Champions League defeat... After the Champions League victory at the end of his two years at the Nou Camp he felt good enough to carry on but had given his word to Helsinborgs... Swedish manager Lars Lagerback has left the door open to him for the Euro 2008 finals and he wants to sharpen his fitness so that option remains open. Yes, and Larsson, who it shouldn't be forgotten said on declining to stay at Old Trafford beyond the two-month closed period in Sweden that it was time to go home and live his life with his family, is also considering whether he has a window to help out Santa Claus on his runs this month.
In fairness, Larsson's intentions are impossible to divine. No-one appears willing, or more accurately able, to shine any light on what could lie ahead for him. "You never know with Henrik" is almost the obligatory response when the question is posed to Swedish associates or journalists. Larsson, for all his reputation as a stubborn, unbending personality, is a man of many mind changes. He intended to stay only three years at Celtic only to ensconce himself there for seven; said he would return home after Glasgow only to end up in Barcelona; maintained he wouldn't play for his national team following the 2002 World Cup finals only to return for Euro 2004; claimed he would never be a coach only to now admit "it is possible" and, of late, stated he would have decided his future by now but hasn't.
As is their policy, Celtic refused to comment on any speculation over a player not on their books, while Larsson's agent Rob Jansen did not respond to a request for enlightenment on the issue. It does seem that remaining at Helsinborgs on any long-term basis may not appeal. He is said to distrust chairman Sten–Inge Fredin and be perturbed at the prospect of the club turning to a Swedish career manager with little international experience to replace the well-travelled Baxter. Further, a raft of the players who have dragged Helsinborgs to the latter stages of the UEFA Cup may not be around for the next round of the competition.
It might be expected that Baxter, his manager up till last week, would have some inclination of Larsson's thinking. He doesn't begin to pretend that is the case. "All I know is that Henrik gets annoyed if other people discuss him without asking him," he says. "He is very much his own man and that means his decisions can be surprising. People were surprised he came home from Manchester United, but I wasn't. No scenario is the most obvious. The only thing I will say is whatever he does will not be for adulation, honours or money but will come down to what he is convinced will give him most enjoyment and be best for him and his family.
"He remains a fine player and, whenever he does finish, the game will be poorer without him. But he has achieved what so few do. When we played out in Drogheda for our UEFA Cup qualifier in August there was a little knot of Helsinborgs supporters, a clump of home fans and a large swathe of Celtic supporters. For 90 minutes they chanted his name and I said to him afterwards: 'That is your real success in the game. It is not about the medals, acclaim or financial riches but to have such a lasting effect on people.' His status among Celtic fans is a great source of pride to him and going back there would be one scenario. There are lots of them. And the more you allow your imagination to work, the more you can read into any of them."
Larsson's former Celtic and international team-mate Johan Mjallby muses over what is next for the man he believes might have one unfulfilled, but unattainable, ambition.
"I spoke to Henrik some weeks ago about this but he wouldn't be pressed because he wasn't sure what to do," says Mjallby, now a football analyst on Swedish television. "I think it is a question of motivation. The problem at Helsinborgs is that he is not playing with the best of players, as he did with Celtic and Barcelona. That must be draining, as the unhappy atmosphere around the club must be. It is a shame because he was the best player in Sweden last season but his team were so poor until the 15th round of matches and Henrik wants to get success and win titles. I joke with him that I have two Swedish championships and he doesn't have any but I don't know if it is possible for him to get one now.
"I really wouldn't be surprised if he retired; it depends on how much he wants to push his body through another full season. He might just play on for the UEFA Cup because those are the matches that have been really keeping him alive as a player."
There might be more major games in Henrik Larsson then. Just not as many as some have fancifully suggested.
