"When the really big clubs came, they lost their minds"
By Noa Bachner
https://www.expressen.se/sport/fotboll/ ... e-man-det/
(Software translation)
5 jun 2021
It feels like Alexander Isak has already been through everything, when he arrives for his first championship.
Behind the story of one of Europe's greatest talents, lies another story.
It is about Beyblade, his own national anthem and phone calls to old teachers from a certain high jump talent who grows up 750 meters from the National Arena.
This is the story of the prodigy from Bagartorp.
The preschool is called
Dragonen.
William Nilsson sits on a wooden bench and pulls his foot in the gravel. He's waiting to be picked up. It is just after 4 pm one afternoon in the early 2000s and it is only twenty minutes until the football training starts in
Hagaparken.
It's not just any training. It's the first. William is only five years old, and far more enthusiastic than the guy sitting next to him.
In fact, Williams' mother has been nagging a bit. Alexander Isak is not very keen on this.
He is not the most easily persuaded, the five-year-old Alexander Isak. Not if one is to believe the testimonies from here. Most describe a specific person. Another childhood friend, who does not want to appear by name here, remembers a children's party. While waiting for the juice to be served, Alexander gets tired of waiting and orders a parent to pour him a glass. It will be no. The other children look with wide eyes while Isak climbs up on the table and stands in protest. He got the juice shortly afterwards.
William Nilsson, Alexander Isak's friend. Photo: OLLE SPORRONG
Maybe a few percent of the upcoming European Championship finals will be decided that afternoon on the playground outside Dragonen?
Williams' mother wins the tug of war, Alexander Isak follows. Once the two friends have been transported and finished training, the tones are different. Practicing football is really fun.
Sixteen years later, William is looking at a weather-beaten fence in Bagartorp.
Things have changed here. The summer has taken over the small residential area and everything has bloomed out. The dragon has changed its name, now the preschool is called
Sagolandet instead, and Williams' best friend feels no doubt before football, but gets ready to play against Armenia in the arena we almost see in the corner of our eye.
Alex is a friend that everyone needs,
he says.
It's just this jersey, I've asked for.
William is wearing an Atletico Madrid shirt.
Diego Costa's name and number are on the back.
So, I've never asked him for something like this. Except this one. I actually told him in January last year that Diego Costa is my favorite player and asked if he could solve it for me. Then it took several months. After the last match of the season, it rang in the evening. I looked at the phone and saw that it was Alex on FaceTime. So he just held up the shirt and said, "I fixed it,"
says William.
He lights up and pulls a little on his shirt while he tells.
It's Costa's extra shirt, the one you have next to it if it breaks or there is blood or something. I was just screaming. I had completely forgotten about it, it was not something I thought about. It's just this shirt I've asked for.
William leads us down a short walk and into the heart of Bagartorp, to what is best described as the starting point for the story of not only Sweden, but one of Europe's most promising football players.
Everyone I meet talks about the "
pitch", an excavated former gravel floor in the morning sun's shadow of Friends arena, between the residential buildings, Sagolandet and Ulriksdal's commuter train station. It is described by many as a pile of sand with a fence. At some point along the way, the surface is replaced with artificial grass, but it is a bit unclear. Now it does not exist in its original form at all.
Alexander Isak lived in Bagartorpsringen 64 as a child. Photo: OLLE SPORRONG
Bagartorp in Solna. Foto: OLLE SPORRONG
But that's where it's happening when it's happening. The pitch itself is located a hundred meters from Bagartorpsringen 64, where Alexander Isak grows up, and almost exactly the same distance from Bagartorpsringen 72, where William Nilsson's early childhood takes place.
Anyone is not allowed to join, not everyone gets a place, always five-on-five. Both Alexander and William spend an entire summer off the field, patiently waiting for an invitation.
Admir Catovic, who is an A-team player in AIK around 2010, lives in one of the high-rise buildings that cast long shadows over the area. If you can play with him, "
the week is done", William remembers when he looks up at what used to be Catovic's window.
What magic, then. His technique was incredible,
he says.
He describes two guys who play for their lives every time a place opens up. It was a matter of "
bidding on a show". Over time, people start knocking on the door. Does Wille want to play? Do you want Alex? Both come as if shot from a cannon if they are not busy with another favorite occupation: Ping on all the doors in all the stairwells and run from there.
Otherwise it was pretty basic. We changed Pokémon cards and worked on Beyblade.
What is Beyblade?
A spinning top. You pulled something and it spun.
They met each other and competed on who had the best Beyblade. It's hard to explain.
Who had the best Beyblade?
A guy was completely sick then. He moved here a few years later. He was really sick. Unbelievable. Which beyblade.
And then we listened to "From the heart" with Highwon. When it came on, it was chaos. Everyone's favorite song. Our national anthem.
***
Three weeks earlier, exactly the same place.
Sports teacher
Christer Corpi points to a neon yellow chalk line in the asphalt. He has drawn a 60-meter track on a walkway - and he is pissed.
Christer Corpi, Alexander Isak's sports teacher. Photo: JONAS ENG
Mad that he has to draw running tracks himself. Politicians do not want to build a long jump pit for him. In half an hour, one of the classes he teaches at Ulriksdalsskolan will run three kilometers. He himself has measured the entire course around the residential area.
I am not afraid to comment on what I stand for. Politicians have not done [deleted] for this place. Look, there is nothing here, he says and points with his hand towards the center where more rooms are destroyed.
Why don't they invest more in an area like this?
In many contexts, Corpi's own sports credentials weigh heavily. He is one of seven Swedish boxers who have participated in two Olympic Games, but after having locked Alexander Isak through high school, he has seen himself surpassed in Bagartorpsskolan's history books.
Christer Corpi during a boxing match in Gothenburg, 1981. Photo: CAMERA REPORT / IBL
Crushed everyone in table tennis
Christer came to Bagartorp after working at a school in Östberga. During his 20 years here, he has used his own experiences of what he describes as a "
tangled" upbringing to help his students through a sensitive age, but Alexander Isak did not have to be guided away from the wrong path.
I have never had a student who has jumped 1.75 in high jump without practicing athletics in his spare time. Alexander was incomparable in that way. I checked that out, and if he had competed in the Stockholm DM that year, he would have won a bronze medal, he says.
He crushed everyone when we had table tennis tournaments as well.
Photo: Private
When Alexander Isak was to start ninth grade, the whole class was moved to Ulriksdalsskolan. There was talk for a long time that Bagartorpsskolan would only be rebuilt - the students even got to vote on a new design - but that did not happen. Instead, it was demolished in 2018.
As we walk up to the place where it was - where a free school is now being built - Christer Corpi stops halfway and points to the place where the "
pitch" was.
I was most impressed by Alex when he played football. He knew I knew he could dribble by everyone himself and score goals, but he never had to show it to me. Instead, he always took a position at the back of the field, read the game and helped everyone else,
he says.
Christer Corpis 60-yard track. Photo: JONAS ENG
How do you best describe Bagartorp?
Corpi's description includes words like "
tough" and "
rough", but you will encounter different images of this place depending on who you ask.
The natural object of comparison in Alexander Isak's career has for obvious reasons been
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but any attempt to construct a parallel to Ibrahimovic's upbringing in Rosengård seems as forced as it is wrong. Bagartorp is located next to Enköpingsvägen, near Råstahem and Agnesberg, and is part of Järva, but no so-called exposed area like other, diligently described parts of Järva.
The descriptions of Isak's upbringing also differ from Zlatan's, just in the same way that Ibrahimovic's style of play and personality is not recognizable in the 21-year-old who is getting ready to lead Sweden's attack on Spain.
Alexander Isak in 1st class, top row, second from the left. Photo: PIXYBILD
Alexander's father
Teame has worked as a home language teacher and is the author of several textbooks in Tigrinya, the largest language in Eritrea. He has taught students both at Bagartorpsskolan and in Hagalund, a nearby residential area in Solna. Isaac's brother,
Binyam, and his sister,
Nyat, also attended school. His teacher tells me how his mother
Saba and Teame show up at all parent meetings and emphasizes the importance of the studies not being harmed by all the focus on football.
A bunch of guys performed at the closing ball and sang a song. He was there
Annelie Lundh, mentor to Alexander Isak for several years at the school, calls him a "
model student".
It was a fairly large group with two mentors. Alexander was an ambitious student. Good, I would call him "basic good". He had it easy for him, it went well for him even though he spent so much time on football. Happy, nice and polite, liked by everyone, classmates, boys and girls,
she says.
And Alexander was outgoing even though he was calm. He had no problem speeding. If I remember correctly, it was a bunch of guys who performed at the closing ball and sang a song. He was there.
Alexander Isak, top row, first from the left. Photo: PIXYBILD
Her colleague from that time,
Ann-Cathrin Lif, who was also Isak's mentor during high school, has a similar picture. In her professional role, she has seldom been asked to grant as many holidays for football tournaments, matches or training - but there are other memories of a young Isak who lingered.
All the boys were in the pitch and the little ones looked up to him. I noticed how respectfully he treated the younger ones. A nice guy quite simply,
she says.
He was a mediator if there were conflicts. He could get angry and annoyed like everyone else, but he spread a calm around him.
For several years, Ann-Cathrin is not only Alexander Isak's mentor, she also teaches his class in Swedish - but she has a concern. Motivating the boy gang to read books does not turn out to be quite simple. She makes an attempt to find literature that is interesting in their eyes and sticks to
Jonas Hassen Khemiris' "
I call my brothers", which will be staged at the Stadsteatern. Reading the book and then watching the play feels like an exciting effort.
But she only gets one copy, and it's read aloud.
That book is written in a little slang. The boys thought it was very funny when that old teacher tried to talk that way. But they became positive about it. Then it was time to go to the theater. Then I told the boys that now you can stand up for me and follow along in the same way as I have stood up for you with the holidays,
she says.
Both Alexander and William agreed and talked to their coaches. Both followed. When Alexander was in ninth grade and played with AIK, just before he broke through and became famous, I went to a match down at Skytteholm. When I was leaving, I texted him and asked, “Do you remember when you came with me to the theater? Now you have made me go to football. ”.
***
There is a specific moment when William begins to guess what is going on.
He and Alexander had been followed through AIK and William was also called to gatherings with the district team. He spends a few years in the second team and changes clubs to FC Djursholm for a short period, but will soon be back.
William Nilsson outside Alexander Isak's gate. Photo: OLLE SPORRONG
By then, Alexander Isak has accelerated his commitment to football. There are occasional times where players like
Isak Hien, now midfielder in Djurgården, and
Nebiyou Perry, now in Östersund, compete him out of the P99 team's starting eleven, and in the national team it is initially
Joel Asoro, Mattias Svanberg and
Sead Haksabanovic who shine the most.
But Isak soon catches up and passes, and he is not content with that, but starts working on his own initiative with an individual coach,
Abdi Abdulle, whom SportExpressen interviewed in 2017.
https://www.expressen.se/sport/qs/han-s ... skrattade/
Alexander Isak in the Stockholm team cheers during the Swedish Football Association's elite camp in Halmstad 2014. Photo: PETTER ARVIDSON / BILDBYRÅN
When he turned 15, development is extremely fast.
I remember that he was called up for a match with U19. What is he going to do there? I thought they probably did not have enough players,
William remembers.
I was sitting there with his brother, Binyam. Alex started. The match was 2-0. And ... it was wow. 15 years and best on the field. In my eyes, I may be biased. But wow, really. It's hard to think so about a player who is 14 or 15 years old, how to measure up with adults. But when he made that match with U19, you saw that he was really good. I mean, he met grown men, 18-year-olds. He was too good for them.
View from Quality Hotel at Friends arena in Solna where you see Bagartorp's five tall buildings in the background. Photo: OLLE SPORRONG
Others who see Alexander Isak play are affected by his progress in connection with a U21 match against Djurgården, in July 2015. AIK's U21 team gets a big blow, it will be 7-0, but Isak leaves a lasting impression. Not only does
Henok Goitom send out a well-quoted tweet about the 15-year-old, Adidas is reminded that he has no contract with any sponsor.
It does not take long before an agreement with the shoe giant is signed.
If you train Alexander Isak in a good way, we have a man of the future there. His understanding of the game is wicked.
Six years and 17 La Liga goals later, Alexander Isak can stand on the brink of yet another groundbreaking transformation. A 21-year-old who scores goals in the Spanish league and makes a good European Championship play-off will be a key ingredient in football's hype machinery. It is already spinning fast, but now the speed limits can be released completely
I sometimes think it's lucky that Isak has more experience of that kind of process than many others.
Two derby goals on his 17th birthday
It was a long time ago that he strolled out of the locker rooms at Tele 2 arena after his two goals against Djurgården, but it really was not long ago.
Isak turned 17 the same day, made us reporters a little stressed with his calm, looked at us without moving a muscle and thought aloud about whether he should bake a cake and take it to Karlberg. Several of us laughed a little nervously in search of a more cheerful tone.
Alexander Isak scores one of the goals at Djurgården, 2016. Photo: ERIK SIMANDER / BILDBYRÅN
The goals in the derby are just a drop in the ocean of events. Isak nets in his first Allsvenskan start against Östersund, breaks transfer records and becomes a goal scorer in his national team debut. 2017 barely has time to start before he is sold in a record deal to Borussia Dortmund after being basically ready for Real Madrid. Juventus and Red Bull Leipzig fall on the finish line. The agent that AIK takes help from,
Vladica Lemic, and his Swedish partners are examined, as is the agreement, which AIK is punished for having drawn up. In addition, it turns out that
Dickson Etuhu, who will later be convicted of bribery, receives money for the deal.
When you look at everything that happens, there seems to be a lot to take in for a 17-year-old who overnight becomes the subject of an extensive tug-of-war and media attention. Everyone wants him, and in a way it still is. I myself have sought interviews with Isak on several occasions over the past year, mostly to ask questions about the extreme beginning of his career and the expectation boom that he may finally be able to add to the action and look at with a little perspective. How is a 16-year-old affected by being transported through such a special time in life? What do you say on the other side? Through his representatives, he has unfortunately declined.
It's huge. It still is. Im so proud.
In Bagartorp, William Nilsson sat rubbing his eyes while everything happened.
It is thought that a lot will happen. But nothing has happened,
he says as we begin to move on.
Alex has been the same person. He has not changed circles, hangs out with the same people as before. When there were rumors about big clubs, people started thinking. First it was about Leicester and Southampton. One thought: Ouff. Then came the really big clubs. Then they began to lose their minds completely. I did not understand what was happening. Unable to get hold of. It's too big. It still is. Im so proud.
***
As I said, it was close to becoming Spain already when Isak was to be exported to the continent from AIK, but a late turn took him to Germany instead.
However, he would end up in San Sebastian and Real Sociedad, and once in place, many have been amazed at how quickly he spoke Spanish.
But not everyone.
Called his old Spanish teacher
On September 21 this year,
Thania Guanoluisa receives a phone call. On the other end, it turns out that it is an old student of hers who calls to say thank you.
It was touching,
she says.
We spoke Spanish. Alexander said: Thania, it was you who gave me the basics of the Spanish language. I was so happy that he remembered and appreciated it. The whole conversation was in fluent Spanish.
She is not surprised that he ended up in Spain.
Isak celebrates one of his two goals away against Real Madrid, 2020.
I used to go with the students who went in grade nine to Madrid for a week. That year when we were going to go with Alexander's class, something happened. We did not get a place in Madrid, but we had to go to Barcelona. They were overjoyed. Maybe because they got to taste churros. I used to cook for them, now they got to taste churros with chocolate. There you eat it with a strong, dark chocolate. I had done with Nutella. Alex and the others thought mine were better.
Then everyone wanted to visit Camp Nou, of course. For me, it was important that they got to see reality. How it was in Spain. The only thing we could not do was enter the Sagrada de Familia. It was renovated, and it should be ready in 2026. Then we agreed that whoever has succeeded in life at that time, and who has money, invites all students and teachers to Barcelona.
I remember talking to Alex and saying that oh my god, 2026, it's so far away. I did not think I would feel as good as I do now. I told him that "I might be in a wheelchair then".
Alex replied that he would drive me in the wheelchair if that was the case.
***
Throw with a small ball, high jump, run. Alex was always the best. We had a "Little Olympics" at school. They had to compete for silver and bronze. The gold, he had.
William passes the sign with Sagolandet.
It has happened so much, it is difficult to sort everything. Alex is my best friend. 100 percent. We talk every day. You can always talk to him. If you have a problem or need to talk to someone, he is always a call away. It does not matter that he has lived in five countries. I can call Alex at any time,
he says.
The match against Djurgården on his 17th birthday, I still think is the strongest memory. It was a bit like the match against Östersund, it almost felt like I scored a goal. I was there. There are pictures when I stand and point at him from the AIK heel. When he scored, a friend and I ran straight down. When Obasi made it 3-0, there is a picture when Alex points to the stands, to me and my friend. He made eye contact with us. I do not think one can describe such a moment in a good way. Best memory. Best of all.
Photo: ANDREAS L ERIKSSON / BILDBYRÅN
After the match, it was too much. I was going to go home from the south, but I do not remember how it happened. I kind of bounced home. I did not take in anything other than that it had happened. I was so up in arms. I could not speak.
William shakes his head. The European Championship premiere is ten days away.
Bagartorp is waiting to see his ambassador conquer the stage again.
You try to think a little humble, but really I am convinced that Alex will start. It will be a success.
William Nilsson shows SportExpressen's Noa Bachner around Bagartorp. Photo: OLLE SPORRONG
The renovation of the Sagrada Família will unfortunately be delayed, there will be no reopening in 2026, the pandemic got in the way - but Thania Guanoluisa has other things she is looking forward to.
From time to time I have seen that Alex has scored goals, then I usually write congratulations in Spanish to him. He always answers in Spanish,
she says.
And now it's the European Championships. Alex represents Solna, Bagartorp and the whole of Sweden. US. all. Everyone knows who Alexander Isak is. I have worked 33 years in Solna and 25 years in Bagartorpsskolan. Alexander's father, Teame, and I were colleagues when he taught native language there. We worked together in Hagalund before. This is so big for me.
