Swedish media react to Victor Lindelof’s efforts against Spain
Last week, Victor Lindelof made a costly mistake when Sweden tried to get back to the match against Georgia.
He gave the ball away when he tried to play from the back and Georgia went on to double their lead and secured a 2-0 win.
The result beat Sweden from the top of the group – but they had a second chance to qualify for the World Cup last night, if they won away in Spain.
Spain beat Sweden 1-0
Spain won the match thanks to a late goal from Alvaro Morata. A draw would not have been enough for Sweden.
Lindelof and Sweden are now facing having to go through the playoff lottery, from which only three teams out of 12 will qualify.
He joins Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, who lost their last group game 2-1 at home to Serbia.
Reaction to Lindelof’s performance
Lindelof was heavily criticized after the defeat against Georgia, and the abuses on social media were so intense that FotbollSkanalen reported that the Swedish FA was considering reporting perpetrators to the police.
Lindelof told a press conference before the Spanish match: “It is quite normal in the world I live in. There are many who write, think and think. It is not something I put any energy into.”
While Sweden lost 1-0 to Spain last night and fell into the playoffs, the perception was that Lindelof played much better.
FotbollSkanalen rated Lindelof’s performance as “very good” and gave him 4/5, after rating his performance against Georgia only 1/5.
The report reads that Lindelof, “Remove ball after ball that Spain tried to threaten with. The captain was also very good with the ball at his feet. Safe and quiet.”
FotMob ranked Lindelof as Sweden’s best performer with 7.7 players.
He won nine duels, made two tackles and made four successful dribbles.
Although he will return to Manchester United after two losses, he will be much happier with his recent performance.
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