- Liverpool Echo revisited Niclas Alexandersson’s memories of the 2002 World Cup
- The former Everton winger scored Sweden’s famous equaliser against England
- A reminder of talented players arriving at Goodison and never showing their best
A Liverpool Echo feature revisiting Niclas Alexandersson’s World Cup memories offers more than a nostalgic look at a former Everton player.
It serves as a reminder of a recurring problem that followed the Blues throughout the early Premier League era: signing established international footballers without ever seeing their best form on Merseyside.
Alexandersson’s famous goal against England at the 2002 World Cup remains one of the standout moments of his career, yet Everton supporters rarely remember him.
Perhaps that’s because, for many Blues, he became one of ‘those’ players.
Not a flop. Not a cult hero. Just another decent footballer trying to stay afloat while Everton drifted through one of the most frustrating periods in the club’s modern history.
Everton saw the player, but never the moment
As Liverpool Echo reporter Chris Beesley highlighted, Alexandersson had to wait a decade after representing Sweden at the 1992 Olympics before finally reaching a World Cup.
When the opportunity arrived in Japan and South Korea, he took it.
His equaliser against England remains one of Sweden’s most memorable World Cup goals of the modern era. Watching it back today, there’s a confidence and composure about the finish that makes you wonder why Everton supporters rarely saw the same player.
Then again, perhaps the answer is obvious.
Everton at the turn of the century wasn’t exactly the easiest environment in which to thrive.
A familiar story for Evertonians
The truth is Alexandersson wasn’t the problem.
Everton signed plenty of players during that period who had proven themselves elsewhere. International footballers. Established professionals. Plenty of impressive CVs.
Too often they arrived on Merseyside and simply became… average.
Supporters spent years watching players leave Goodison and wondering whether the club had ever really seen the best version of them.
Alexandersson is one of those.
He was reliable enough. Hard-working enough. Tidy.
But if somebody had told Everton supporters in 2002 that one of their players had just scored a World Cup goal against England, few would have guessed it would be him.
The lesson still resonates today
One reason David Moyes’ second spell has generated optimism is that Everton finally appear to be pursuing a clearer identity. At least that’s what we tell ourselves.
And that matters.
Because signing talented footballers has never been Everton’s biggest problem.
Creating the environment for those players to succeed has often been the harder task.
Alexandersson’s World Cup moment is therefore more than a piece of nostalgia.
It’s a reminder of an era when Everton too often collected good players without knowing exactly how to get the best from them.
Twenty-four years later, as the club starts its second season at the Hill Dickinson, Evertonians will be hoping those lessons have finally been learned.
Because nobody wants to spend years wondering what happened to a player, only to discover the answer on a World Cup highlights reel.
