 Ravelli at theSwedish Sports Awards inside theStockholm Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Ravelli | ||
| Date of birth | (1959-08-13)13 August 1959 (age 66) | ||
| Place of birth | Vimmerby, Sweden | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Öster | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1976–1988 | Öster | 219 | (0) |
| 1989–1997 | IFK Göteborg | 211 | (0) |
| 1998 | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 23 | (0) |
| 1999 | Öster | 8 | (0) |
| Total | 461 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1977 | Sweden U18 | 9 | (0) |
| 1979–1981 | Sweden U21 | 10 | (0) |
| 1981–1997 | Sweden | 143 | (0) |
Medal record | |||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Thomas Ravelli (Swedish:[ˈtʊ̌mːasraˈvɛ̌lːɪ]; born 13 August 1959) is a Swedish former professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper. His 21-year professional career was almost exclusively associated withÖster andGöteborg, for whom he appeared in a combined 416Allsvenskan games.[1] The most-capped player for theSweden national team for several years, Ravelli represented the nation at the1990 and1994FIFA World Cups, andUEFA Euro 1992.
Ravelli was born inVimmerby where he lived his first five years of life. After a shorter stint inÅtvidaberg the family settled inVäxjö. At the club level he played forÖsters IF andIFK Göteborg, winning threeAllsvenskan championships during his ten-year tenure with the former team before signing for the latter in 1989, at the age of 29.
With Göteborg, Ravelli conquered a further six leagues and his onlySwedish Cup. In 1998, already 39, he joined theTampa Bay Mutiny ofMajor League Soccer, closing out his career the following year with his first club; in total, he played in nearly 500 official matches as a professional.
Ravelli's international career spanned almost two decades, starting in 1981. He played in the1990 FIFA World Cup,UEFA Euro 1992, and the1994 World Cup, withSweden finishing third in the latter tournament, and appeared in a total of 143 games.[2] The 1994 World Cup semi-final againstBrazil was Ravelli's 116th game for Sweden, overtakingBjörn Nordqvist's appearances record.
He is well known for saving twopenalties during theshootout againstRomania in 1994 World Cup's quarter-final clash, including one in the "sudden death" byMiodrag Belodedici (5–4 win).[3] This feat led to him finishing second in the year's race forGoalkeeper of the Year, behind BelgianMichel Preud'Homme,[4] and he was also named byFrance Football as the seventh best player in Europe.[5]
Extroverted, experienced and highly competitive with a tall and slender frame, known for his leadership and vocal presence in goal in spite of his eccentric and temperamental personality, Ravelli was a traditional, consistent and efficient goalkeeper with solid all-round fundamentals, who was regarded in particular for his positional sense and ability to read the game and organise his defence; considered to be a world-class player in his position in his prime, as well as one of Sweden's greatest goalkeepers ever, he also possessed good elevation and shot-stopping abilities, which enabled him to produce acrobatic saves without having to resort to histrionics, and was known for his command of his area and speed when rushing off his line, as well as his ability to close down his opponents and get over the ball quickly. He also stood out for his longevity throughout his career; however, he also came into criticism at times from his managers over his poor work-rate in training.
Although Ravelli was not known to be a penalty-saving specialist, Ravelli drew attention to himself in the media when he stopped two penalties in Sweden's quarter-final penalty shoot-out victory over Romania at the 1994 World Cup.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
Ravelli was also known for his temperament among teammates, and he was also known to be aprankster, at one point cutting holes intoMartin Dahlin's underwear.[17]
Ravelli's twin brother,Andreas, is also a former footballer. Their father, Dr. Peter Ravelli, was an Austrianimmigrant of Italian descent who moved to Sweden in 1952,[18][19][20] and the siblings played alongside each other at Öster and the national team.
Ravelli participated as a celebrity dancer inLet's Dance 2019, broadcast onTV4.[21][22]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Östers IF | 1976 | Allsvenskan | 0 | 0 | 1[25] | 0 | ||||
| 1977 | Allsvenskan | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 1978 | Allsvenskan | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 1979 | Allsvenskan | 13 | 0 | |||||||
| 1980 | Allsvenskan | 26 | 0 | |||||||
| 1981 | Allsvenskan | 26 | 0 | |||||||
| 1982 | Allsvenskan | 24 | 0 | |||||||
| 1983 | Allsvenskan | 28 | 0 | |||||||
| 1984 | Allsvenskan | 17 | 0 | |||||||
| 1985 | Allsvenskan | 19 | 0 | |||||||
| 1986 | Allsvenskan | 20 | 0 | |||||||
| 1987 | Allsvenskan | 24 | 0 | |||||||
| 1988 | Allsvenskan | 22 | 0 | |||||||
| Total | 219 | 0 | ||||||||
| IFK Göteborg | 1989 | Allsvenskan | 22 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| 1990 | Allsvenskan | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 28 | 0 | ||
| 1991 | Allsvenskan | 28 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 0 | |
| 1992 | Allsvenskan | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 29 | 0 | |
| 1993 | Allsvenskan | 26 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 33 | 0 | |
| 1994 | Allsvenskan | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 34 | 0 | |
| 1995 | Allsvenskan | 20 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 0 | |
| 1996 | Allsvenskan | 17 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 30 | 0 | |
| 1997 | Allsvenskan | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 31 | 0 | |
| Total | 211 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 281 | 0 | ||
| Tampa Bay Mutiny | 1998 | Major League Soccer | 23 | 0 | – | |||||
| Östers IF | 1999 | Division 1 Södra | 8 | 0 | – | |||||
| Career total | 461 | 0 | ||||||||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden | 1981 | 10 | 0 |
| 1982 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1983 | 10 | 0 | |
| 1984 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1985 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1986 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1987 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1988 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1989 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1990 | 10 | 0 | |
| 1991 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1992 | 10 | 0 | |
| 1993 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 17 | 0 | |
| 1995 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1996 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 10 | 0 | |
| Total | 143 | 0 | |
Östers IF
IFK Göteborg
Sweden
Individual
Sweden squads | |||||||||||||||||||
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