Swedish football mourns the loss of its legend Kurt “Kurre” Hamrin. The former winger, who also played international games in ice hockey, died at the age of 89, according to a statement from his former club AC Fiorentina. In 1958, Hamrin was partly responsible for defending champion Germany’s exit from the World Cup.
Hamrin became known to a wider German football audience at the 1958 World Cup – and became a bogeyman. He scored the goal to make it 3-1 in an emotionally heated semi-final against the reigning world champions and provoked Erich Juskowiak’s dismissal, which from the German audience’s perspective was the cause of the defeat against the hosts. In the final against Brazil for the young Pele (2:5) he came away empty-handed.
Hamrin moved from AIK Solna to Italy in 1956, where he was revered as “the little bird” because of his light-footed style of play. He played for Juventus Turin, Calcio Padova, Fiorentina, AC Milan and SSC Napoli before ending his career at IFK Stockholm. He remains Fiorentina’s record goalscorer and scored 190 times in Serie A.
In addition to the championship with Milan in 1968 and two cup victories with Florence, he celebrated triumph in the National Champion Cup with Milan in 1969. He also won the European Cup Winners’ Cup with both clubs (1961/1968). Hamrin scored 16 goals in 32 international matches for Sweden.