Victory’s new striker says names irrelevant

STAR Melbourne Victory recruit Ola Toivonen believes Sweden’s World Cup win over Germany proves teams matter more than names.

Toivonen replaces the ALeague’s leading goalscorer Besart Berisha upfront for the 2018-19 campaign, which starts in Saturday night’s Melbourne derby at Marvel Stadium.

He netted a superb goal en route to Sweden’s quarter-final run in Russia after having been written off due to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s retirement.

Expectations are sky-high at Victory with Keisuke Honda also joining the champions, but Toivonen, 32, warned names meant nothing.

“We have a good team for sure, but it’s not about who has the best team on paper,” he said. “We beat Germany in the World Cup because we had a better team on the pitch and we need to show that as well.

“I feel pressure and responsibility everywhere, I grew up with it. I came from a small town (Degerfors) but the only thing we care about is football — we always had a good football team, and former big players like Andreas Andersson.

“At PSV (Eindhoven) if you didn’t score in the first half, the stadium was whistling after 45 minutes.

“Discipline, details are important. One detail can make a huge difference in a game — 30cm too early, too late, you can take it or you lose the ball.

“You’re never too old to learn new things — when you’re over 30, if something new happens during the day you’re happy.”

After being seduced by Sweden’s 1994 World Cup run then watching Henrik Larsson and Ibrahimovic, who became a teammate, Toivonen said Russia 2018 was the perfect way to end his international career.

Despite 14 goals in 64 games for Sweden, Toivonen told fans not to expect miracles. “I bring experience and a winning mentality — I’m not the guy who’s going to take the ball and dribble five or six people, I’m a striker that likes to play easy football,’’ he said.