After double high, Ger Helander now faces Greek tragedy
Rangers Filip Helander, has been labelled “fantastic” by Sweden boss Janne Anderson.
But the national manager admits he may have to axe the central defender – despite him netting the Old Firm winner last Sunday, and helping his country to a win over Spain on Thursday night.
The Ibrox defender was the goalscoring hero for Steven Gerrard’s side when they defeated rivals, Celtic, to win the first derby of the season, thanks to his second-half header.
Helander then continued his great week by starring for his country as they stunned Spain with a surprise 2-1 win in their World Cup qualifier in Stockholm.
But Helander only played against the Spaniards because of the suspension of Marcus Danielson, who plays for Dalian in China.
Danielson started all of Sweden’s Euro 2020 games in central defence, alongside Victor Lindelof, before being sent off against Ukraine in the Round of 16 clash at Hampden.
Now Sweden boss Anderson admits he
has a difficult decision to make with Helander, who he praised for his performance against the Spaniards.
He said: “Never change a winning team is one of the many cliches in sport, so we’ll see what happens.
“Filip Helander did very well in this match, and he did very well when he played in March. But Marcus did very well during the European Championships.
“So I have to think about it, and make my mind up by Wednesday and the game with Greece.
“I am very happy for Filip that he put in a fantastic performance against Spain. He is a player who is extremely good at understanding instructions, and carrying them out.
“He is extremely reliable.”
Helander was also praised by Manchester United stopper, Lindelof, who said: “The partnership was very good, and we defended very well as a team.
“Filip had a great night. He cut out passes, read the game and he was strong inside the penalty area when they delivered crosses.”