I was 10 years old in 1958, when the World Cup was hosted in Sweden.
I saw it afterwards in a film, because we didn’t really have television at that time. Pelé was 17 – he scored twice in the final against Sweden, one with a wonder goal – and had a real impact.
I had been interested in football before that. Afterwards, it became a dream to play for the Sweden national team.
Pelé became a big hero for the whole world, not just Swedish people. But there were also great players in the Sweden team – Gunnar Nordahl, Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm – who played in Italy, for AC Milan.
Most boys my age had the dream to be like them. They were the first Swedish players who played professionally outside of Sweden.
I always dreamed of being a professional footballer overseas, but also in the Swedish first division and for the national team. I didn’t achieve any of those dreams, though, so when I was 27 and playing in the second division, my friend – my maestro – Tord Grip (below) told me it would be better that I finish playing and become a coach.