He is a former Ballon d’Or contender who retired at 28 after falling out of love with soccer to become vacuum salesman

For most of the past two decades, the Ballon d’Or has been dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. But in the 1990s, the award was far less predictable, with plenty of surprise contenders and unexpected winners.

In 1994, Barcelona’s Hristo Stoichkov took home the prestigious trophy, edging out Roberto Baggio and Paolo Maldini. Right behind them, tied for fourth place, was Romania’s Gheorghe Hagi and Sweden’s Tomas Brolin — then just 24 years old and brimming with potential. Few could have predicted that only four years later, Brolin would retire from professional soccer to sell vacuum cleaners.

Brolin enjoyed a successful run with Parma, winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup (1992–93), the UEFA Super Cup (1993), the UEFA Cup (1994–95), and the Coppa Italia before making a move t