Any player who has represented their country at two FIFA World Cups™, three UEFA European Championships and run out in the French, English, Italian and Dutch top flights can safely say that they have had a good career.
Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson ticks all those boxes and yet still has cause for a regret or two. His two year-stay at Juventus included not a single first-team start, while his two seasons with Manchester City came before the club’s golden era and a four-year stint with PSV Eindhoven failed to see him collect an Eredivisie winner’s medal. Silverware also eluded him on the international stage, with his five World Cup and EURO appearances to date ending without Sweden progressing beyond the last eight.
“I think I’ve had a good career up to now and it’s not over yet,” a defiant Isaksson, now with Turkish side Kasimpasa, told FIFA.com. “Obviously, I could have used a bit more luck at times, but I don’t go around asking myself if my career would have been better without the knocks I took. I’m very happy with what I’ve done.”
His career is by no means over either, not with the Blagult gunning for a place at UEFA EURO 2016 in the play-offs with Denmark, just one of the topics the Swedish custodian discussed in a wide-ranging interview.
FIFA.com: It’s often said that goalkeepers only reach their peak after they turn 30. Can the same be said of you?
Andreas Isaksson: I think so. I’m 34 now and last season was a very good one for me. I feel better and better with every game so it’s not a cliché. It’s the ideal age for a goalkeeper and I’m not far off being at the top of my game. I don’t know if that’s true for all goalkeepers as I can only speak for myself, but I feel as if I’m in really good form.
Your form with your club Kasimpasa seems to prove that. They have the best defensive record in Turkey along with Fenerbahce: just nine goals conceded in 11 matches.Obviously, the goalkeeper deserves some of the praise for that, but even if you’re the best keeper in the world you can’t do anything if the team in front of you doesn’t defend properly. The whole team is defending really well, which is great for me as the keeper. I’m delighted we’ve conceded so few goals up to now.
Istanbul’s big three are usually the only clubs you hear about outside Turkey. How would you describe Kasimpasa to fans who are perhaps not familiar with Turkish football?Kasimpasa are a young team. The club itself is pretty old but the whole set-up is pretty much new, with new facilities and a modern stadium. The club wants to be a major player in Turkish football and we’ve got the team to go out and do that. Everything is in place. Turkish football is improving all the time, and there’s more to it than just the three big clubs. There are some other good sides around and there are great players coming into the Turkish league all the time, and they’re not just signing for Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Besiktas either. Look at Samuel Eto’o at Antalyaspor. Standards have improved a lot among the smaller teams in the last few years, Kasimpasa among them.
Now that you’re at an age where you can start to reflect on your career, is there anything you’d choose to do differently? You moved to Juventus in 1999 at the same time as Edwin van der Sar and spent two years there without playing. Is that something you would change? I’d do it all over again. I’ve got no regrets and it was a wonderful experience. I moved from a little club in Sweden to one of Europe’s big teams. Juventus were one of the biggest clubs in the world at the time. There was a massive difference between what I’d been used to and the standard I found at Juve, and the fact is that I learned a lot there. It was a tough time for me personally because I was 18 and on my own in a new country, far away from my parents. The experience really helped me develop, though, both as a player and on a personal level. It was amazing to be able to train with Alessandro Del Piero, Zinedine Zidane and David Trezeguet. What better way to improve than by training with world-class players every day?

Keepers have to be managed in a different way. I don’t think it’s a position where coaches should be chopping and changing too much. 
Andreas Isaksson
You had another testing time at Manchester City between 2006 and 2008, competing for a place with Joe Hart, just before the start of the club’s golden era. What do you remember of your time in England?I had my opportunities there but I picked up injuries at just the wrong time, right before the start of the season in the two years I spent there, which kind of upset my rhythm. Then there was the fact that Joe Hart was playing really well, so it all made perfect sense. It was just bad luck on my part, and there was nothing unfair about it. That’s the way football works sometimes. Sven-Goran Eriksson was totally justified in making Hart his first-choice keeper. He was honest with me and I accepted his decision. I had a few matches in which to show what I could do but it wasn’t enough, and I don’t blame anyone. Hart is a very good keeper and he was playing really well at the time. There was a lot of competition between us, but I don’t have any regrets. It’s all part and parcel of having a career.
That difficult time in your career was perhaps summed up when you made your final appearance for City in an 8-1 defeat to Middlesbrough. Did you feel at the time that your career at the top might be under threat?I definitely remember that game, though I never saw it as my lowest point. I hadn’t played for a few months and it was the last match of the season. The team was not very motivated at all if you ask me. We gave away a penalty after a few minutes and everything just snowballed from there. Not every goalkeeper goes through a nightmare like that, and I hope it’s the first and last time for me. In my defence, if you watch the game again, I was far from the worst that day. I wouldn’t say I had a great game, but there were a few others who did worse than me (laughs).
You’ve held on to your starting place with Sweden despite it all. Has there ever been a time when you’ve worried about losing it?I’ve always done the best I can and the national team coaches have always believed in me, despite the problems I’ve had at club level. It was important for me to have that support with Sweden, especially from Lars Lagerback, who’s been a key coach in my career. I’m very grateful to him for having always given me the chance to play for the national team, even when things haven’t been working out for me in my club career.
Ronnie Hellstrom kept goal for Sweden for more than ten years, Thomas Ravelli then kept the job for 16, while you have now held the jersey since 2002. How do you explain the longevity of Sweden’s keepers?Keepers have to be managed in a different way. I don’t think it’s a position where coaches should be chopping and changing too much and if there’s no real need to change the keeper, then he shouldn’t be changed. Confidence is vital if you’re playing in goal. Obviously, keepers are always going to make mistakes now and then and they’re going to have bad patches too. The thing is, you perhaps have to be more consistent with them than with other positions and not keep changing them just because of the odd bad performance. Anyone can have a bad match, but when you’re a goalkeeper you need continuity. It’s important for the rest of the team, which is something the Sweden coaches have always understood.
What advice would you have given to the young Andreas Isaksson just before his international debut against Switzerland in 2002?I’d have told him to give his very best and to be as relaxed as possible, even if that’s quite hard when you’re playing your very first international. I remember being pretty nervous because it’s important to get off to a good start with the national team. My debut went quite well really. I played the whole of the second half and it was a fantastic experience. I enjoyed it, and that’s what you have to do with occasions like that: make the most of them, even if you’re nervous. Obviously, I never imagined that I’d still be around 13 years later. I’ve had a great career and I’m very proud to have played for my country for so long. There aren’t too many players that manage that, and it’s an honour.
Your first major tournament as a first-choice keeper came at UEFA EURO 2004, where Sweden went out on penalties to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. Do you feel Sweden could have done what Greece did and won the tournament?We had a fantastic team and we had a great tournament up to the quarter-finals. I think we deserved to beat the Netherlands, but the match went to penalties and that’s where it came to an end. We had a really good team with Henrik Larsson, Olof Mellberg, Fredrik Ljungberg and Kim Kallstrom; probably the best Sweden team I’ve ever played in. Everyone had had a good season too and it had all the makings of being our year. It’s a real shame, but we didn’t have the luck and you always need it if you’re going to go far in a tournament. That generation deserved to win something.
Sweden has missed the last two World Cups. Would qualifying for Russia 2018 be the ideal way for you to end your career?We had Germany in our group in the qualifiers for Brazil, and they went on to become world champions. It was no surprise that they won the section, which meant we went into the play-offs, where we played Portugal. They were two very tough games and they were just that little bit better than us. In the previous qualifying competition Denmark took first place and Portugal second, but we didn’t play well and it wasn’t a good campaign for us. As for 2018, that’s a long way away. I’m just focusing on EURO 2016 right now, and I hope we can qualify. It might be my last tournament with the national team so I really want to be part of it.
One last question. Voting for the FIFA Ballon d’Or is in full swing now. As a goalkeeper, what did you make of Manuel Neuer’s nomination last year and the ongoing duel between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?It’s difficult to compare forwards like Messi and Ronaldo with keepers like Neuer. Obviously, Neuer had an amazing year last year and I don’t think he was far away from winning. In the end, though, people want to see attacking players get the awards. Lev Yashin is the only goalkeeper ever to win the Ballon d’Or and there’s a good reason for that. Even if you’re the greatest keeper of all time, it’s a tough trophy to win. It’s almost as if we’re playing a different sport.