Photo: Bildbyrån
The fact that Hugo Larsson left the Swedish national team before the Nations League match against Estonia became the big talk of the weekend.
Now Dejan Kulusevski comes forward and calls for calm after the alleged crack in Blågult.
– We are here to play football and we don’t want drama or anything, says the team captain to SVT Sport.
Many certainly raised their eyebrows when it became clear that the national team’s 20-year-old midfield star Hugo Larsson left the squad shortly before the important Nations League match against Estonia. A schism has arisen between the player in question and the national team captain Jon Dahl Tomasson.
In short, the conflict is about Hugo Larsson, in everyday life in Frankfurt, Germany, thinks he should play from the start, while Jon Dahl Tomasson chose to poke him on, according to him, sporting grounds. An explanation that the talent obviously does not “buy”. According to the national team management, his exit from the group is about a sense of injury.
Didn’t answer questions
Before the international match against Estonia, the lid was on from Dahl Tomasson when it came to questions about Larsson. It instead led to the experts in Viaplay’s studio being forced to speculate themselves about what might have happened.
– It doesn’t happen every day. Nothing new that someone complains a little, more how it came out. And that you do the last training, don’t retire, and then it’s over and you go home, that’s mostly what I as a player had reacted to, says Fredrik Ljungberg in the broadcast.
The former national team captain Lasse Lagerbäck matches:
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– I have never seen anyone walk out during a gathering the way he did. So it cannot be avoided that it raises thoughts about what happened.
Kulusevski: “Sometimes things go a little wrong”
After the 3-0 victory, both the players and the coach met the press – and then there was time to discuss what actually happened. One who tried to downplay the alleged rift in Blågult was the team captain Dejan Kulusevski.
– We are here to play football and we don’t want drama or anything. We don’t want to point the finger at anyone. We are here and try to help each other and sometimes in families things go a little wrong. But it happens in all families. You just have to move on and the water continues to move on, he tells SVT Sport.
He hopes that Hugo Larsson will learn from the situation and come back to the national team gathering in October with new, healthy moves.
– I don’t like trying to control everything just because I’m the captain. I’m here if anyone wants to talk to me. I’m here if Jon needs my help and nothing more. If they feel they want to ask me, I’m here and try to help with what I can, he says and continues:
– If Hugo wants to talk, I will always be here to talk and give the advice I think. But at the same time, it is he who decides. It’s his career and he gets to make his decisions.
What do you say about the conflict in the Swedish men’s national team? Feel free to comment and make your voice heard.
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