Jonas Magnus Thern (born 20 March 1967) is a Swedish football manager who manages Allsvenskan club IFK Värnamo. He is also a former professional player who played as a midfielder. Starting off his career with Malmö FF in 1985, he went on to represent FC Zürich, Benfica, Napoli, Roma, and Rangers before retiring in 1999. A full international between 1987 and 1997, he won 75 caps for the Sweden national team and captained the Sweden side that finished third at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He also represented his country at the 1988 Summer Olympics, 1990 FIFA World Cup, as well as UEFA Euro 1992. He was the recipient of the 1989 Guldbollen as Sweden's best footballer of the year.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jonas Magnus Thern | ||
| Date of birth | 20 March 1967 | ||
| Place of birth | Falköping, Sweden | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder, sweeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1982–1985 | IFK Värnamo | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1985–1987 | Malmö FF | 41 | (6) |
| 1987 | FC Zürich | 5 | (0) |
| 1988–1989 | Malmö FF | 35 | (5) |
| 1989–1992 | Benfica | 100 | (10) |
| 1992–1994 | Napoli | 48 | (1) |
| 1994–1997 | Roma | 59 | (3) |
| 1997–1999 | Rangers | 23 | (5) |
| Total | 308 | (31) | |
| International career | |||
| 1984–1985 | Sweden U19 | 10 | (2) |
| 1986–1988 | Sweden U21/O | 15 | (3) |
| 1987–1997 | Sweden | 75 | (6) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2000–2001 | IFK Värnamo | ||
| 2002–2003 | Halmstads BK | ||
| 2010 | IFK Värnamo | ||
| 2017 | Landskrona BoIS (assistant) | ||
| 2019–2024 | IFK Värnamo | ||
Medal record | |||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
editBorn in Falköping and raised in Värnamo, Thern started his professional career in 1985 when he joined Malmö FF, where he stayed for four years, winning two Allsvenskan titles in 1986 and 1988.
In 1989, Thern won the Guldbollen as Sweden's Footballer of the Year. That same year, he left for Benfica as part of a successful group of Scandinavian players that played there at the same time. It consisted of Danish international Michael Manniche (1983–1987), as well as the Swedish "armada" of Mats Magnusson (1987–1992), Thern (1989–1992), Glenn Strömberg (1982–84) and Stefan Schwarz (1990–94). Benfica were also coached by a Swede, Sven-Göran Eriksson (1982–1984 and 1989–1992).
Thern then played in Italy for Napoli and Roma. In 1997, he joined Rangers in Scotland, a move that lasted merely two years but nonetheless accompanied by silverware, a league title in 1999 – his final year in professional football – as frequent injuries forced him to retire early.
International career
editFor Sweden, he played in the 1990 FIFA World Cup and Euro 1992,[1] and then won the bronze medal in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States.[2] Thern also competed for Sweden at the 1988 Summer Olympics.[3] Thern was the Sweden captain for seven years, between 1990 and 1997.
Coaching career
editAfter he retired as a player he became head coach for IFK Värnamo between 2000 and 2001 and Halmstads BK 2001–2003.
In 2021, he led IFK Värnamo to promotion to Allsvenskan for the first time ever in the club's history.[4]
Personal life
editJonas has a son, Simon, who is also a footballer. His daughter, Alicia, is an equestrian.
Career statistics
editInternational
editAppearances and goals by national team and year
| National team | Season | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden | |||
| 1987 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1988 | 10 | 3 | |
| 1989 | 8 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 4 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 6 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1993 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 11 | 0 | |
| 1995 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1996 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 75 | 6 | |
International goals
- Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 12 January 1988 | Estadio Municipal de Maspalomas, Maspalomas, Spain |  East Germany |
2–1 | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 2. | 4–1 | |||||
| 3. | 15 January 1988 | Estadio Municipal de Maspalomas, Maspalomas, Spain |  Finland |
1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 4. | 16 August 1989 | Malmö Stadion, Malmö, Sweden |  France |
1–0 | 2–4 | Friendly |
| 5. | 27 May 1990 | Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden | Finland |
6–0 | 6–0 | Friendly |
| 6. | 4 September 1991 | Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden |  Yugoslavia |
4–2 | 4–3 | Friendly |
Honours
editClub
editMalmö
- Swedish Champion: 1986, 1988
- Allsvenskan: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
- Svenska Cupen: 1985–86, 1987–88]
Benfica
Rangers
International
edit- FIFA World Cup third place: 1994
Individual
edit- Guldbollen: 1989
References
edit- ^ Hughes, Rob (10 June 1992). "Confidence and flair: Dutch favored in Euro 92". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
- ^ Ridley, Ian (17 July 1994). "Sweden are the third men". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
- ^ "Jonas Thern Biography and Statistics". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
- ^ "Thern firade – med champagne och cigarr: "Inte hänt sedan 1996"". www.aftonbladet.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 November 2021.
External links
edit- Jonas Thern at Soccerbase
