Celtic hero Henrik Larsson has hit out against racism and revealed how it impacted his own life.
The Hoops legend told of his personal experiences as a youngster and backed calls to stamp out racism in football.
Henrik, 48, told how his family deliberately picked a Swedish surname despite his father being born in the Cape Verde Islands.
The Swedish striker also suffered racism at school as he was growing up because the majority of other children were white.
He said: "Hating people because they are black, I mean, I don't understand that.
"I will never understand it.
"When you're good at something people tend to forget your colour.
"My father is from Cape Verde Islands and instead of taking my father's name they decided I would take my mother's name.
"That was a way to protect me, which is wrong but that was the climate back then.
"It's just a shame that they had to think that way and what it would mean for me to have a foreign name or a Swedish name."
Henrik revealed his heartache to the official UEFA website when backing their 'Say No To Racism' campaign.
He added: "We need to start educating our kids first and foremost because it starts there, it starts with you as a parent
"All the different campaigns we have, don't forget them, remember them.
"If we're going to have a chance to beat this huge problem we have in the world and in the end hopefully eradicate it.
"The evil will never beat the good."
Henrik became a hero for the Hoops scoring 242 goals in 315 matches after moving to Celtic Park for £650,000 in 1997.
After he left Glasgow he enjoyed spells with Barcelona, where he lifted the Champions League, and Manchester United.
He also enjoyed a lengthy career in the Swedish national side.
He moved into management and was last in charge of Helsingborg but quit last year after online abuse from fans.
