Reflective Jan full of pride after France win
SWEDEN manager Jan Andersson celebrated his side’s win over France by sitting on his hotel balcony and taking in the views of the city of Stockholm.
When he arrived in the Swedish capital to take the job, few would have predicted he could put out a side capable of beating a team like the French.
But Ola Toivonen’s stunning goal from inside his own half after Hugo Lloris’ howler on Friday night handed the Swedes a 2-1 win.
Andersson said: “We have many tired players but it was a very good feeling.
“We feel really good and it was one of those nights I think we will remember for the rest of our lives.”
The man who steered IFK Norrkoping to the league title in 2015 before taking over the national team almost subbed off a tired Toivonen before he scored his wonder goal!
“I could have taken him off but Marcus Berg, the other striker, had some injury problems,” he said.
“This time it was lucky that I made that choice.”
When Sebastian Larsson forced Lloris into a poor clearance in added time on Friday night, the ball fell at the feet of the Toivonen.
The Toulouse man kept his nerve and lofted the ball back into an unguarded goal
“When I saw it was Ola that got the ball, my first thought was that he was going to score. He’s a very good goalscorer,” Andersson said.
The Sweden boss and his team were delighted to extract a measure of revenge over the French after taking the lead in Paris in November before losing 2-1.
This time it was the other way round, France striker Olivier Giroud opening the scoring with a stunning strike before Jimmy Durmaz smashed home the equaliser.
Andersson, whose men are now alongside Didier Deschamps’ side at the top of Group A, knew it would not be enough to simply defend against France, who lost last year’s European Championship final to an extra-time goal by Portugal.
He said: “If you only play defence against that kind of team you’re going to lose because you must have your own game also, you must play your own attacking game when you get the chance.
“We managed to do that quite well.
“In the second half there were longer periods where France had the ball too much but over the whole game we had some good qualities in our attacking.”