PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Jon Dahl Tomasson has taken Sweden to group victory in the Nations League.
But how has the Dane actually handled himself during his first year as national team captain?
– Maybe he would be different as a person, says Patrick Ekwall to Sportbibeln.
It was in February that the Dane Jon Dahl Tomasson took up the job as Sweden’s new national team captain. But it was a really tough start to the new job with losses against Portugal, Denmark and Serbia.
Tomasson in Sweden
After that, Blågult has lined up victories under “JDT” and in the Nations League they have really done what is expected of a Swedish national team in the C group. After Saturday’s important 2-1 victory against Slovakia, it is clear that the Swedish men’s national team has taken home the group victory as well.
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But Tomasson’s first time as national team captain has also been marred by dissatisfaction from selected players. There both Hugo Larsson and Anthony Elanga marked against the national team captain due to too little playing time in the national team jersey.
Ekwall about Jon Dahl
Now gives the television profile Patrick Ekwall his honest view of Sweden’s national team captain and what he really thinks of him.
– Jon Dahl Tomasson is special, I know that from my time as a player when I met him a lot. And also from the time as coach in Malmö FF. He is, after all, a combination of Danish and Dutch. That combination has never made a mistake in its entire life, and that must not be forgotten. I think he is brave and I think he is beautiful because he is not a populist, says Ekwall in an interview with Sportbibeln.
– Then it’s possible to think that he might be different as a person, because you can ask him ten thousand questions and never get an answer. But who am I to say that people should change? Then he is the national football captain, there are ten million national football captains in Sweden. There are always opinions. But he does his thing and doesn’t shy away. Then you have to buy it, I think somewhere, otherwise you have to choose someone else.
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How do you see Blågult’s development during this football year?
– We are facing a Donald Duck team. It has been clear when we face good teams that it has not worked. But he does want to build something new, and again: We are so many national team captains in this country, so we think that so-and-so should play instead. It would not have mattered which national team captain we had had. I have to say again that I think it is brave of him to run his line, his race. “I think Anton Salétros is the best, that’s why I play him in this position and don’t care what everyone else says”. That’s what he will always do, that’s what he did in Malmö FF too, says the former TV4 journalist.
Patrick Ekwall also remembers a particular moment from Jon Dahl Tomasson’s own playing career that distinguishes him as a person.
– When he was the team captain of the Danish national football team, he flatly refused to talk to the media after a victory against Portugal in an EC qualifier. The government finally had to step in and say: “No, no, you have to talk”. He was the one who led that rebellion once upon a time. So, he runs his own line and he’s not to be played with, says Ekwall to Sportbibeln.
On Thursday, Patrick Ekwall is a guest in the podcast “Help, I’m turning 50” with Rickard Olsson. Listen here!
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