FOOTBALL
Dominant and goalscorer again in the 3–1 victory against Moldova.
How long can Jesper Karlsson be kept out of a regular national team eleven?
Among the last things Janne Andersson does as national team captain is to wrestle further with that issue.
Moldova, ranked 159th in the world, was hardly the sharpest opposition, the hardest test.
Not Belgium, if you say so.
But no one can take away from Karlsson that he delivers time and time again in the national team jersey.
It only took a few minutes before he presented himself at Friends’ arena. Karlsson took a run diagonally inwards from his position on the left of midfield. The masked deep pass from Kristoffer Olsson was perfect. Karlsson walked a few meters. The hard right-footed shot missed about half a meter wide.
Better times followed. Immediately.
Had a hand in everything
He scored the lead goal in the ninth minute from close range, on a pass from Linus Wahlqvist Egnell after a so-called pattern attack. Whereupon, just as many minutes later, he nicked center back Gustaf Lagerbielke’s forehead with a corner and so it was 2–0.
And with a quarter to go, he converted a penalty kick (missed by Robin Quaison) from close range.
Who got the player of the match award? Guess.
Karlsson’s right foot is even more accurate, even more dangerous – and even closer to getting into the starting eleven when it really matters.
Competes with Forsberg
Five goals and three assists in five starts in the national team cannot be dismissed.
But Karlsson’s dilemma is that he is competing with Emil Forsberg for the same position in midfield. And it is still Janne Andersson who leads the team, not Bojan Djordjic.
Karlsson took a nasty hit at the end of Artur Craciun – who was red-carded – but went off the pitch of his own accord when he switched with Mattias Svanberg.
Strong half by Olsson
Also fun on a cool evening:
+ Kristoffer Olsson has found his best self again after the move to Midtjylland in the Danish league. Quick feet, full of ideas, constantly playable. Sure, it wouldn’t have been as easy to own central midfield if the opposition was called Austria or Belgium, but that’s another discussion and doesn’t detract from Olsson’s creativity in the first half he played.
+ Filip Helander. “Big Fil” didn’t put many feet wrong. Knee and foot injuries have kept him out of the national team for 18 months. Made a great match – against the Czech Republic in the playoff for the World Cup in March 2022 – after which he broke down. Where would the national team be today if it had been allowed to play regularly with the center back duo Victor Nilsson Lindelöf/Helander?
Linus Wahlqvist-Egnell and Emil Holm each got a half, an indication that Janne Andersson wanted to see both before he decides who will play right back in Monday’s European Championship qualifier against Belgium.
HENRIK SKIÖLD/TT
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