35: Kennet Andersson, Sverige, Panini Euro ’92 Sticker Collection

Today Emlyn Jones relives some of the best days of our lives back at Exeter University and also provides us with another opportunity to laugh at Mark Lawrenson. As a result of the countless hours playing the game that stars in today’s post I will never be able think of this Swedish frontman without also thinking about ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’ or the fact that I woke up perfectly sober but very tired the day of my wedding having worked our way through the years to revisit him. I blame the best man but I’m sure this post will make up for it.

“Nice to be here with you, John”.

Video games and football have always been closely linked; whether that involves technical advances such as scratch and sniff discs, or the ability to elevate DIRK KUYYYYYYT to his rightful place among football's elite (shattering eardrums in the process). At university a number of games helped pass time that could have been spent studying; Mario Kart 64 and Smash Brothers' Falcon Punch led to genuine temper tantrums. One of the lesser-remembered games from this era was EA Sports' shameless cash-in, Euro 2000.

Released mere months after the 2000 instalment of their flagship FIFA series, we nonetheless killed hours playing this game. You were required to shepherd your side through qualifying before you could make a tilt at the tournament, with all nations' players fully represented (although Robbie Savage as a starting right back was an interesting choice for Wales).

The commentary from John Motson and victim of kitbag scatological warfare Mark Lawrenson is also a fantastic source of quotes. “He's hit him so hard he nearly broke his family tree, John” regularly followed liberal use of the 'foul' button, a sadly missed feature. The ability to play through the full qualifying campaign meant that you were exposed to the commentator's mangled attempts at a number of lesser-known players' names, including Slovenia's Sasa Udovic inevitably being responded to by our housemate as 'No, YOU da bitch'.

Once you'd led your side to Euro 2000 glory, 'Classic' mode became available, allowing you to rewrite history by injuring Antonìn Panenka before the penalty shoot-out, or wiping the smug grin off Stefan Kuntz's face. Taking control of Sweden in the 1992 iteration, there was a shout of genuine glee from our housemate upon seeing the Swedish team feature “Klive Anderson” leading the line. Eventually we explained that this wasn't Klive taking a break from his legal and comedy careers, and was in fact journeyman forward Kennet Andersson.

Andersson began his career in 1976. He fit the mould of the classic 'target man' centre forward, tall and strongly built which helped him dominate defenders. Opposing coach Carlo Ancelotti once stated that he felt the player was practically impossible to mark in the air. He was also a highly unselfish player, holding the ball up and bringing his fellow attackers into the game. This led to demand from across Europe, and saw him become a key part of sides that won domestic leagues and trophies, and best of all, the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Andersson was a significant part of the Swedish sides that reached the semi-finals in both the 1992 European Championships and the 1994 World Cup, alongside fellow attackers Martin Dahlin, Henrik Larsson and Tomas Brolin. Although the side failed to qualify for the intervening tournaments, Andersson was included in the squad for the Euro 2000 campaign, and began the group campaign in the starting 11, however couldn't find the net and the Swedes returned home after achieving only a single point in their group. This marked the end of an international career that nonetheless saw him score 31 goals across 83 appearances, leaving him sixth on the all time scorers list for the nation.

Domestically, he played for a number of teams across Europe, including spells in Belgium, France, Italy and Turkey. Even late in his career, he was in high demand, winning the Super Cup (albeit as an unused substitute) while on loan at Lazio, and at 32 made his final move, signing for Fenerbahçe for a fee of £4m. He now sits on the board at IFK Göteborg, however to our housemate he'll probably always be best remembered for calling the Bee Gees tossers on his chat show. “They don't know what hit them, John. I don't think they were ready for that!”