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06/16 07:00 CDT This Sweden defender at the World Cup isn't your typical soccer
player: He's a baron!
This Sweden defender at the World Cup isn't your typical soccer player: He's a
baron!
By STEVE DOUGLAS and ETHAN WILCOX
Associated Press
MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) --- Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the
soccer royalty gracing the World Cup in North America.
If you want real-life aristocracy, head to Sweden's squad.
Gustaf Lagerbielke, a 26-year-old defender who played the entire match in
Sweden's 5-1 defeat of Tunisia on Sunday, is a baron from a noble family in
Sweden. His father and grandfather are counts.
Soccer players typically come from modest backgrounds --- take Messi and
Ronaldo, for example.
Not Lagerbielke.
"I mean, it's rare," he said in an interview ahead of the World Cup.
Lagerbielke grew up in Djursholm, a wealthy suburb in the Swedish capital,
Stockholm. When he played soccer as a kid, he says he had the family's coat of
arms on his shin pads.
"When I was kid, I wanted to become a professional footballer," Lagerbielke
said after Sunday's match in Monterrey. "They have taught me goals. They are
very happy for me and very proud."
Lagerbielke's heritage has been a talking point throughout a career that has
taken him from Sweden (AIK, Sollentuna, Vsters, Elfsborg and Degerfors) to
Scotland (Celtic) and now Portugal.
Sections of the British media reported he was 254th in line to the Swedish
throne, though Lagerbielke said "I don't know if it's true."
"But I think for it to happen," he added, "a lot of people need to go away. And
I don't want that to happen."
For now, Lagerbielke just wants to help Sweden become the king of soccer at the
World Cup.
"To have one of the biggest wins in Swedish history at the World Cup, it's
amazing," he said.
__
Ethan Wilcox is a student in the University of Georgia's Carmical Sports Media
Institute.
___
Douglas reported from Sundsvall, Sweden.
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
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