{"id":298085,"date":"2023-11-03T15:24:38","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T15:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=298085"},"modified":"2023-11-03T15:24:38","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T15:24:38","slug":"former-ballon-dor-contender-looks-unrecognisable-after-quitting-at-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/former-ballon-dor-contender-looks-unrecognisable-after-quitting-at-28\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Ballon d&apos;Or contender looks unrecognisable after quitting at 28"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Former Ballon d&#8217;Or contender looks unrecognisable, having quit football at just 28&#8230; and now he&#8217;s made millions selling vacuum cleaners!<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>A former Ballon d&#8217;Or contender retired from football at the age of just 28<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>He has since moved into selling vacuum cleaners, and is making millions<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Big debates on Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal on It&#8217;s All Kicking Off podcast<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A 1990s Ballon d&#8217;Or contender has undergone a dramatic career change and is now earning millions by selling vacuum cleaners.<\/p>\n<p>The former midfielder quit football at just 28 in 1998 and after meeting Swedish inventor Gordan Edlund, he decided to invest in his vacuum cleaners.<\/p>\n<p>He is now a 50 per cent partner in one of Sweden&#8217;s most popular brands, Twinner, which brings in millions of pounds.<\/p>\n<p>The ex-footballer in question is Sweden&#8217;s Tomas Brolin, who is unrecognisable from his playing days.<\/p>\n<p>Brolin sported a mullet for part of his career and was clean-shaven, but has since chopped off some of his locks and grown facial hair.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/03\/14\/77368849-12707371-image-m-64_1699022984093.jpg\" height=\"515\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>This former footballer (pictured) finished joint-fourth in the Ballon d&#8217;Or vote in 1994<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/03\/14\/77368921-12707371-image-m-67_1699023116464.jpg\" height=\"505\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>He is unrecognisable from his playing days when he was once one of the best footballers on the planet<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/03\/14\/77368865-12707371-image-a-65_1699023016330.jpg\" height=\"468\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The player in question is Sweden&#8217;s Tomas Brolin who is now making millions selling vacuum cleaners<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Brolin, now 53, was recognised as one of the best players in the world in 1994 when he finished joint-fourth alongside Romanian icon Gheorghe Hagi in the Ballon d&#8217;Or.<\/p>\n<p>That year&#8217;s award was won by Bulgaria and Barcelona forward Hristo Stoichkov, with Italian duo Roberto Baggio and Paolo Maldini completing the podium.<\/p>\n<p>He achieved the ranking after enjoying a stellar World Cup as he helped Sweden to third place, scoring three goals in the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Brolin is a name many English fans are likely to remember after he scored the goal that knocked Graham Taylor&#8217;s men out of Euro 1992.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/03\/14\/77368967-12707371-image-a-68_1699023160462.jpg\" height=\"414\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Brolin sported a mullet and was clean-shaven when he scored the goal to knock England out of Euro 1992<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/03\/14\/77368969-12707371-image-a-69_1699023188465.jpg\" height=\"634\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>His best club days came at Parma, but he also played for Leeds and Crystal Palace<\/p>\n<p>His best club days came at Parma, but he moved to England in 1995, playing for Leeds for two years before having a brief spell at Crystal Palace.<\/p>\n<p>Brolin announced his retirement at just 28 &#8211; the prime age for most footballers &#8211; but declared that he had no regrets as he had &#8216;done a lot&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>He has kept himself busy post-retirement, trying his hand as a professional poker player and playing in the World Series of Poker on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n<p>Now he has turned to selling vacuums with his fellow countryman Edlund, and the venture is serving him well so far.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12707371\/Former-Ballon-dOr-contender-looks-unrecognisable-having-quit-football-just-28-hes-millions-selling-vacuum-cleaners.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Ballon d&#8217;Or contender looks unrecognisable, having quit football at just 28&#8230; and now he&#8217;s made millions selling vacuum cleaners! <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298084,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former Ballon d&amp;apos;Or contender looks unrecognisable after quitting at 28 - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/former-ballon-dor-contender-looks-unrecognisable-after-quitting-at-28\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Ballon d&amp;apos;Or contender looks unrecognisable after quitting at 28 - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Ballon d&#8217;Or contender looks unrecognisable, having quit football at just 28&#8230; 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