The Swedish European Championship qualifying party in Brussels was turned into a nightmare after a suspected act of terrorism in connection with the meeting between Belgium and Sweden, when two Swedes were shot dead.
Fredrik Bohlin from Norrtälje was one of all Swedish football supporters who received the news about the shooting death in Brussels on the spot at the Kung Baudouin stadium.
“Sick”
— It’s completely insane. We have sat and had a nice day today. In the square, national team shirts everywhere, Swedish flags. And then you read something like this. It could have been me. It could have been us with whom we travel. It’s incredibly horrible, says Fredrik Bohlin to Radiosporten and tells about when he got the news.
— Just as we entered the match, you got a flash and saw that people had been shot. Then you saw that they were Swedes. One felt an anxiety about even going home.
Johan Elmander, former national team player and now an expert in Radiosport, gave similar testimony as Fredrik Bohlin.
“We are shocked”
— It was quite quickly that we saw that things were starting to happen. Maybe five minutes into the game. We saw that there was a lot of movement and also received push notifications about it, he says and continues:
— We are shocked and you get a little scared too. Above all, the thoughts go to them on the spot. It was hard to focus on the match, and we didn’t really do that either.
For safety reasons, the first half was played completely. At half-time, the match was suspended at 1-1. Belgian police kept the Swedish supporters in the arena after the match was suspended.
— I think a good decision has been made based on everything that has come to light. I think everything around has been managed well, that’s my opinion, says Johan Elmander.