“It’s always nice to come back,” said Olof Mellberg on his return to the English soil. Since leaving Aston Villa in the summer of 2008, the bearded defender has already travelled back a number of times with Juventus and Olympiacos, usually with no luck though. Tuesday’s defeat at Wembley was no different. Speaking after the game, he couldn’t hide disappointment from Sweden’ second defeat in just four days. Excusable? “One after another, we had two tough friendlies: Denmark away and England away,” said Mellberg. “It was always going to be difficult to get the results”, he grimaced as he continued.
Luckily, the following morning he will put these bad feelings behind as he takes his seat on the plane back to Athens. Or will he? Greece is the epicentre of the ongoing European economic crisis. The buoyant footballing lifestyle and little fortunes earned every season do not go with the surrounding hardship experienced by the Greeks. Mellberg believes that football should actually take this as an opportunity and offer a platform for those hit by the crisis. “Despite all these difficulties, we still have a lot of fans following us and coming to the games. So, in a way, football becomes even more important these days,” said Mellberg.
Given how corrupt modern football sometimes appears, there still may be places where a concept of the game coming back to its roots and offering joy to entertainment to ordinary people could once again revive. The Olympiacos defender agrees. “People look to football in the times of crises as a highlight of the week to come to the stadium. We have to focus on that. We have to give our 100 percent all the time and show them the passion for the club on the pitch” – the Swede completed the sentence and many wished that he played for their club, too.
Despite inspiring words, the crisis is nevertheless visible also inside the football circles. “The league has its own problems as well – a couple of teams were thrown out just before the start of the league,” as he recalls scandals with Olympiacos Volou, Kavala and Iraklis in main roles as the three ended up relegated from the Greek Super League. “It has been a bit of a chaos because of that. Also, with the financial problems, I think everybody gets affected in some ways but again, even more importantly, we try to give everything on the pitch and show everybody how much it means to represent the club like Olympiacos and to do as well as possible.”
Indeed, champions Olympiacos are two points adrift from leaders Panathinaikos and are yet to lose a league game. With only one year remaining on the contract, Mellberg admits that he has not sat to the table yet to discuss a new deal. “I would certainly enjoy the option to stay at Olympiacos but we will see. My focus now is on trying to play well and stay fit. We will see if I can continue to play for a couple of more seasons”. It sounds like some retirement plans may be just round the corner. Are there? “I am 34 now and I still play many games. Actually, I played quite a lot of games over the last few seasons. I feel good at the moment but things can change really quickly with injuries and so on. I take it as it comes and just try to enjoy every game and see if I can continue to play for a couple of more years.” Would it mean that fans of Allsvenskan, Sweden’s top-flight, could be graced with Mellberg finally coming home after a long European voyage? “I don’t think I will go back to Sweden to play football there,” the defender’s answer is rather short, yet significantly leaves some room for a change at heart even if his cold facial expression at the time of speaking would not suggest it.
Hence, with the final year of his contract at Olympiacos, the European Championships at the end of the season and unknown future afterwards, where the priorities lie? “Of course, there is a big tournament round the corner but for now, the focus is on Olympiacos. We have big games coming up in the league and then in the Champions League. That will be our immediate focus to perform well there. Hopefully, I’ll be in a good shape for the next summer.”
Tuesday’s defeat at Wembley earned Mellberg his 109th cap, taking him to the fifth place of the most-capped Sweden internationals, ex-aequo with former team-mate Niclas Alexandersson. Having already been to five major championships, the defender as famous for his commitment to the team’s colours as for his widely recognisable beard spoke with some mild optimism. “We have done really well in quite a few of the past tournaments but we never managed to go all the way. It would be nice to go a little bit further this time.”
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