One day during my debut season playing for the Swedish fourth-tier club Karlslunds IF HFK, I was left baffled by a set of footballing circumstances I had never encountered. This sporting riddle was indigenous to Orebro County – a relatively well-populated region nestled into Scandinavia’s forested heartland. There’s a proud football tradition out here. But on this day, after this match, in this competition, I felt like I’d stumbled into another sporting universe. The riddle went something like this: a referee blows his whistle to signal half-time with the away team, my Karlslunds, two-nil up. The opening 45 minutes’ only goalscorers are my team-mates Nabil Osman and Carl Grundel. Yet when the second half kicks off, eighth-tier Hidingsta are back in the game and the scoreboard reads 2-2. How?
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