Martin Dahlin

Dan Martin Nataniel Dahlin (born 16 April 1968 in Uddevalla) is a former Swedish footballer who played as a striker. In his prime, he is considered one of the top-class strikers. He was one of the stars of the Swedish national team that finished third in the 1994 World Cup.

He is the son of an Venezuelan father, who was a musician, and a Swedish mother who both decided to name him after Martin Luther King. He was born in Uddevalla, but lived as a child in Lund.

In 1993, he was selected as best Swedish player of the year, winning Guldbollen.

He played for Malmö FF, Borussia Mönchengladbach, AS Roma, Hamburger SV and Blackburn Rovers. The most successful time of his career he spent with Borussia Mönchengladbach with whom he won the German Cup in 1995 along with Stefan Effenberg.

Dahlin transferred from AS Roma to Blackburn Rovers in mid-1997 and made 21 appearances in the 1997–98 season, scoring four goals.

In the 1998–99 season, he only played five games when an injury in a training game ruled him out for the rest of the season and contributed to his retirement from the game after a short spell at Hamburger SV in 1999.

Blackburn Rovers later sued their insurance company who had refused to pay out over the injury claiming that normal wear and tear could have been a contributing factor. Although the initial verdict was given in favour of the club, in 2005 the Court of Appeal overturned the verdict and sent it back to the lower court. On 12 April 2006, the High Court ruled in favour of the insurance company, decreeing that the player probably had a pre-existing condition. This decision left Blackburn about £4 million out-of-pocket.

In 1988, he became the second afro Swedish player to represent Sweden. He was part of the Swedish national team which finished third in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, scoring four goals in the tournament. He also participated in the team which reached the semifinals of UEFA Euro 1992.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	1 May 1991	Råsunda Stadium, Solna (Stockholm), Sweden	Austria	4–0	6–0	Friendly
2.				5–0
3.	15 June 1991	Idrottsparken, Norrköping	Denmark	1–0	4–0	Scania 100
4.				2–0
5.	4 September 1991	Råsunda Stadium, Solna (Stockholm), Sweden	Yugoslavia	1–0	4–3	Friendly
6.				3–2
7.	7 May 1992	Råsunda Stadium, Solna (Stockholm), Sweden	Poland	4–0	5–0	Friendly
8.	26 August 1992	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Norway	1–1	2–2	Friendly
9.	7 October 1992	Råsunda Stadium, Solna (Stockholm), Sweden	Bulgaria	1–0	2–0	1994 World Cup qualifier
10.	11 November 1992	Ramat Gan Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel	Israel	2–1	3–1	1994 World Cup qualifier
11.	28 April 1993	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	France	1–0	1–2	1994 World Cup qualifier
12.	11 August 1993	Ryavallen, Borås, Sweden	Switzerland	1–0	1–2	Friendly
13.	22 August 1993	Råsunda Stadium, Solna (Stockholm), Sweden	France	1–1	1–1	1994 World Cup qualifier
14.	8 September 1993	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Bulgaria	1–1	1–1	1994 World Cup qualifier
15.	13 October 1993	Råsunda Stadium, Solna (Stockholm), Sweden	Finland	1–1	3–2	1994 World Cup qualifier
16.				3–1
17.	19 June 1994	Rose Bowl, Pasadena (Los Angeles), California, United States	Cameroon	2–2	2–2	1994 World Cup
18.	24 June 1994	Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac (Detroit), Michigan, USA	Russia	2–1	3–1	1994 World Cup
19.				3–1
20.	3 July 1994	Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas, United States	Saudi Arabia	1–0	3–1	1994 World Cup
21.	12 October 1994	Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland	Switzerland	2–1	2–4	Euro 1996 qualifier
22.	16 November 1994	Råsunda Stadium, Solna (Stockholm), Sweden	Hungary	2–0	2–0	Euro 1996 qualifier
23.	24 April 1996	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	1–0	2–1	Friendly
24.	9 May 1996	Olympia, Helsingborg, Sweden	Slovakia	1–0	2–1	Friendly
25.	16 May 1996	Olympic Stadium, Seoul, South Korea	South Korea	1–0	2–0	Friendly
26.	1 June 1996	Råsunda Stadium, Solna (Stockholm), Sweden	Belarus	2–0	5–1	1998 World Cup qualifier
27.	1 September 1996	Daugava Stadium, Riga, Latvia	Latvia	1–0	2–1	1998 World Cup qualifier
28.	8 June 1997	Kadriorg Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	1–0	3–2	1998 World Cup qualifier
29.	6 August 1997	Malmö Stadion, Malmö, Sweden	Lithuania	1–0	1–0	Friendly

Dahlin now lives in Sweden. He lends his name to a clothing line. He speaks three languages – Swedish, English and German.

Dahlin became a sports agent working for former teammate Roger Ljung's sport agency Roger Ljung Promotion AB. He has since formed his own agency called MD Management. He represents Ola Toivonen, Guillermo Molins, Marcus Rosenberg, Jonas Olsson, Behrang Safariand Pontus Jansson.

Club

• DFB-Pokal: 1994–95

International

• 1994 FIFA World Cup: third place

Individual

• Allsvenskan top scorer: 1988
• Guldbollen: 1993

International