Jonas Thern

Jonas Thern

Personal information
Full name	Jonas Magnus Thern
Date of birth	20 May 1967 (1967-05-20)
Place of birth	Falköping, Sweden
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Midfielder (retired)
Youth career
1982–1985	IFK Värnamo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1985–1987	Malmö FF	41	(6)
1987–1987	FC Zürich	2	(1)
1988–1989	Malmö FF	35	(5)
1989–1992	S.L. Benfica	100	(10)
1992–1994	Napoli	48	(1)
1994–1997	AS Roma	59	(3)
1997–1999	Rangers	23	(5)
Total		308	(31)
National team
1987–1997	Sweden	75	(6)
Teams managed
2000–2001	IFK Värnamo
2002–2003	Halmstads BK
2010	IFK Värnamo
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Jonas Magnus Thern (born 20 March 1967 in Falköping) is a Swedish association football manager and former professional player who played as a midfielder.

Player career

Early career

Born and raised in the town of Värnamo in southern central Sweden, Thern started his professional career in 1985 when he joined the classic Swedish club of Malmö FF, where he stayed for four years, earning him two titles in the 1986 and 1988 Allsvenskan. In 1989, he won the Guldbollen as Sweden's Footballer of the Year.

In Europe

From there he moved to the continent to play for Benfica. He was part of a successful group of Scandinavian players that played for Benfica at the time, composed of Danish international Michael Manniche (1983–1987), and the Swedish "armada" ; Mats Magnusson (1987–1992), Thern (1989–1992), Glenn Strömberg (1982–84) and Stefan Schwarz (1990–1994) alongside coach Sven-Göran Eriksson (1982–1984 and 1989–1992).

Thern went on to play for Napoli (1992–94), Roma (1994–97) and Rangers (1997–99), but his career was cut short by injuries.

International career

For Sweden, he played in the 1990 FIFA World Cup and Euro 92, and then won the bronze medal in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the U.S. Thern also competed for Sweden at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Thern was the Sweden captain for seven years, between 1990 and 1997.

Coaching career

After he retired as a player he become head coach for IFK Värnamo between 2000 and 2001 and Halmstads BK 2001–2003.

He has also worked as a sports commentator and as a teacher.

Personal life

Jonas has a son, Simon, who is also a footballer currently playing for Malmö FF.

Honours and awards

Malmo FF

• Allsvenskan: Winner (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989)
• Allsvenskan play-off: Winner (1986, 1988)

• Svenska Cupen: Winner (1986, 1988)

S.L. Benfica

• Portuguese Liga: Winner (1990–91)
• Portuguese SuperCup: Winner (1989)

Sweden

• FIFA World Cup: Third place (1994)

Individual

• Guldbollen (Golden Ball): Winner, Best Swedish Player (1989)

References

• Jonas Thern career stats at Soccerbase

Preceded by Glenn Hysén

Sweden Captain 1991–1997

Succeeded by Patrik Andersson