WORLD CUP '94; Dahlin Is Swedish Player First, Pioneer a Distant Second (original) (raw)
Sports|WORLD CUP '94; Dahlin Is Swedish Player First, Pioneer a Distant Second
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WORLD CUP '94
- July 10, 1994
Credit...The New York Times Archives
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July 10, 1994
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Section 8, Page
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This is a story about a successful black athlete, an athlete who was named with Martin Luther King in mind and who, like a number of black athletes before him, was forced to make his way through largely uncharted territory to reach the top of his profession.
Only this story is different. It is different because Martin Dahlin rarely had to wear his race like a badge of courage. He is, first and foremost, Swedish. He speaks with the distinctive Skansk accent of southern Sweden. Although he knows that he is the first black to make an impact on his national team, it is not an accomplishment that defines him.
"I do feel some pride about being one of the first, but I don't see myself as any kind of pioneer," Dahlin said before Sunday's World Cup quarterfinal match against Romania. "I am a football player. I don't see any differences. I don't see any colors at all." On Center Stage
What Dahlin can see is fame and impending fortune. Already a major star in Scandinavia and Germany, where he plays in the first division for Borussia Monchengladbach, Dahlin has brought his good looks, solid physique and flashy game to the widest possible audience in the last three weeks.
In his first World Cup finals, Sweden's top striker has four goals, which puts him behind only Jurgen Klinsmann of Germany on the list of scorers still active in this tournament (Oleg Salenko of Russia scored six in the first round). Suddenly, the player who first got excited about the World Cup as a 10-year-old watching the Argentine star Mario Kempes on television is one of those providing the excitement to 10-year-olds.
"As soon as I saw how much fun players were having scoring goals in 1978, I knew that was what I wanted to do," said Dahlin, who turned 26 in April. Father From Venezuela
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