Things got intense in Sweden when national coach Janne Andersson had to explain the big victory over Azerbaijan in the studio. Things escalated after a question about AZ player Jesper Karlsson.
Swedish national coach explodes after questions about Karlsson and angrily walks away
Initially, Andersson seemed to be in a good mood. The chagrin of the big defeat against Belgium (0-3) was gone. Once at the table at Viaplay, however, a few questions from analyst Bojan Djordjic went down the wrong way with the coach. The former player of Manchester United and Rangers FC questioned the lack of playing time of AZ attacker Jesper Karlsson.
Karlsson came in against Azerbaijan and scored a beautiful goal via a striking free kick, but only got eight minutes of playing time in two matches. Djordjic thought that was not enough, but Andersson reacted furiously to that statement. “We can discuss choices all night, excuse me,” Andersson responded cynically. An exchange of words followed. “Eight minutes in two games is not enough,” said Djordjic. Andersson found that difficult to accept: “Who can’t play then? Alexander Isak or Viktor Gyökeres? Sorry, but I can do exactly what I want as national team coach.”
After Djordjic received a number of accusations, the suggestion was made that the analyst had a different interest. According to him because of his Serbian roots. “You represent ten million people and lash out at someone younger than you. What is that? Are you going to say anything? You talk too much now. You’re too aggressive. Why? Who else would I represent? Which other country? Serbia? Is that what you’re trying to say? I represent this country as much as anyone else. I will not forget this answer. It’s bad, It’s pretty low for a national team coach to say what you just said,” Djordjic mentioned.
“It’s bullshit,” thought Andersson, who reacted like a viper. A short explanation followed, but very quickly he disappeared from the studio. “We let Karlsson play for another ten minutes. Everyone should be happy, this is so sad. The four of you are standing there confronting me with this, damn it bad. Thank you, see you someday, see you another day, goodbye.”
Janne Andersson’s apology
Later at the press conference, Andersson donned the penitent. The national coach apologized for his behavior and stated that he had no racist intentions towards Djordjic. “Maybe I overreacted and was very disappointed by the question. It’s a pity that it will be about this if we win 5-0,” said the coach.
Andersson apologized a day later: “This was not good. I called and texted Bojan and said it would be good to have a chat. My head stopped. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate all forms of racism. If he interpreted it that way, I sincerely apologize. I’m not like that,” Andersson said. Instead of such an evil motive, he attributes the riot to an overreaction on his part.
“I’m overreacting in a way I shouldn’t. I have been national coach for seven years and this is extremely bad of me. I want to talk to Bojan about it,” said Andersson. In Sweden, the moment is the talk of the day: daily newspaper Aftonbladet mentions a meltdown of the national coach who has written television sports history in the cubic dimension.
