Thomas Ravelli

Thomas Ravelli

Ravelli in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Thomas Ravelli
Date of birth	(1959-08-13) 13 August 1959
Place of birth	Vimmerby, Sweden
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Youth career
	Öster
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1978–1988	Öster	219	(0)
1989–1997	IFK Göteborg	211	(0)
1998	Tampa Bay Mutiny	23	(0)
1999	Öster	8	(0)
Total		461	(0)
National team
1981–1997	Sweden	143	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Thomas Ravelli (born 13 August 1959 in Vimmerby) is a retired Swedish footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

His 21-year professional career was almost exclusively associated with Öster and Göteborg, for whom he amassed Allsvenskan totals of 430 games.

Ravelli is the Swedish national team's second most capped player, with 143 caps (also one of best in the world), representing the nation at two World Cups and one European Championship.

Club career

At the club level, Ravelli played for Östers IF and IFK Göteborg, winning three national championships in ten seasons with the former, before signing for the latter in 1989 at the age of 29.

With Göteborg, he won a further six leagues and his only Swedish Cup. In 1998, already 39, Ravelli left for the Tampa Bay Mutiny of the Major League Soccer, closing out his career the following year with his first club; in total, he appeared in nearly 600 official matches as a professional.

International career

Ravelli's international career spanned almost two decades, starting in 1981. He played in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 1992, and the 1994 World Cup, with Sweden finishing third in the latter tournament, and gained a total of 143 caps.

He is especially well known for saving two penalties during the shootout that ended the quarterfinal match between Sweden and Romania, in the 1994 World Cup in the United States, including one in the "sudden death" by Miodrag Belodedici (5–4 win); this feat led to him finishing second in the year's race for Goalkeeper of the Year.^[1]

Honours

• Swedish League: 1978, 1980, 1981, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
• Swedish Cup: 1991; Runner-up 1982, 1985

Club statistics

^[2][3]

Personal

Ravelli is the twin brother of another footballer, defender Andreas. The sons of an Austrian immigrant of Italian descent,^[4][5] the siblings played alongside each other at Öster and the national team.

Other ventures

Ravelli was featured as a playable character in the FIFA 10, as a member of the Classic XI team, where he could play alongside such greats as Zico, Eric Cantona, Hugo Sanchez, and Franz Beckenbauer; he could also be selected for the Sweden national team in the game.

He also appeared in FIFA Street 2, with legends like Paul Gascoigne, Hans Krankl, Abedi Pelé and Carlos Alberto, FIFA 08, FIFA 09 and FIFA Street 3 (in the "Classic XI" for the first two, and the "Classics" in the latter).

He appeared in FIFA 08 for DC United, as the best goalkeeper.

References

External links

• Thomas Ravelli at National-Football-Teams.com
• Thomas Ravelli – Century of International Appearances, at RSSSF

Sweden squads v t e Sweden squad – 1990 FIFA World Cup 1 Andersson 2 J. Eriksson 3 Hysén (c) 4 Larsson 5 Ljung 6 R. Nilsson 7 Nyhlén 8 Schwarz 9 Engqvist 10 Ingesson 11 Jansson 12 L. Eriksson 13 Limpar 14 J. Nilsson 15 Strömberg 16 Thern 17 Brolin 18 Ekström 19 Gren 20 Magnusson 21 Pettersson 22 Ravelli Coach: Nordin v t e Sweden squad – UEFA Euro 1992 semi-finalists 1 Ravelli 2 R. Nilsson 3 J. Eriksson 4 P. Andersson 5 Björklund 6 Schwarz 7 Ingesson 8 Rehn 9 Thern (c) 10 Limpar 11 Brolin 12 L. Eriksson 13 M. Nilsson 14 Erlingmark 15 Mild 16 K. Andersson 17 Dahlin 18 Ljung 19 J. Nilsson 20 Ekström Coach: Svensson v t e Sweden squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup Third Place 1 Ravelli 2 R. Nilsson 3 P. Andersson 4 Björklund 5 Ljung 6 Schwarz 7 Larsson 8 Ingesson 9 Thern (c) 10 Dahlin 11 Brolin 12 Eriksson 13 M. Nilsson 14 Kåmark 15 Lučić 16 Limpar 17 Rehn 18 Mild 19 K. Andersson 20 Erlingmark 21 Blomqvist 22 Hedman Coach: Svensson