PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Emil Forsberg’s and Robin Olsen’s national team careers may soon be over.
Right now, they are looking no further than the final EC qualifiers in November.
– We’ll see. Right now there is full focus on the match, says Forsberg ahead of the meeting with Belgium in Brussels.
Both have loyally stood behind the national team captain Jan Andersson In wet and dry. Soon the Andersson era will be over.
Forsberg’s concern
Emil Forsberg does not want to give a clear message if he steps down at the same time as Andersson or if he follows a new national team captain towards the World Cup qualifiers that begin in 2025.
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He also does not want to enter into the discussion about who will take over after Andersson or whether the players will have influence in the process.
– We have experienced fantastic moments together. I’ve had Janne for seven years. It feels wrong to stand here and talk about whether we players should have influence, he says.
What will be decisive on the day you make a decision about the national team?
– Difficult to answer now, when my focus is on the match. But it is clear that you should discuss with your family and so on. But I don’t think my wife wants me to quit. She likes when I’m away, says Forsberg and laughs.
– I would of course like to be part of the collection in November, then we’ll see, he adds.
“Not impossible”
Robin Olsen is on the same track – and to some extent his continued desire to play in the national team can be connected with what Emil Forsberg decides.
– It is not completely impossible. We’ve been together for so long. We are incredibly close friends. But I haven’t wanted to think about it, actually. We will see what happens.
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Olsen, 33, will soon become a father of three. He has expressed many times how important family is to him – at the same time he loves playing for the national team.
– The big thing is that it should suit (the family). It takes a lot of time, but at the same time it’s incredibly fun to be here. I absolutely do not close any doors. The most important thing is that it suits the family.
– It’s hard to think about. We have been through an incredible amount together, both good memories and tough times. You get older. And it ends at some point, says Olsen.
READ MORE: TV4 profile Olof Lundh’s brutally honest words about Janne Andersson – don’t hold back one bit: “It’s sad”
A miracle?
Forsberg, 32 next week, will make his 84th cap at the King Baudouin Stadium. Robin Olsen his 69th.
Belgium is already ready for the European Championship in Germany this summer. Victory against Azerbaijan in Baku and Austria make company even before it’s time for Belgium-Sweden.
Anyone who is inclined to believe that a miracle will happen and refuses to give up hope of a Swedish EC participation can always point to what happened on another October 16.
The year was 2012. The location the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. Germany was 4–0 in the World Cup qualifiers. Then came the all-time Swedish national team pick-up and the match ended 4–4.
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