On Tuesday, Tottenham Hotspur star Dejan Kulusevski scored a brace and registered an assist in Sweden’s 6-0 win over Azerbaijan.
Sweden appointed Jon Dahl Tomasson as their manager in February and are unbeaten in the UEFA Nations League, making it to the next round.
The national team failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup and the Euro 2024 and have been subjected to criticism over the past few years.
Fotbollskanalen had a chat with the Tottenham player after yesterday’s crushing victory. He took the interview as an opportunity to send a clear message to Sweden’s critics.
The forward, who has made 45 appearances for his country, believes there’s been ‘too much talk’ around Sweden’s performances over the last year or so.
“You are hungry. Everyone on this team wants to silence a lot of people, I think. There’s been a lot of nonsense. There has been too much nonsense and too many people talking. So, it comes from there too. You want to silence people,” he said.
“Sometimes it hurts when we play well, and that’s something you like as a player. To go out and enjoy your football and show how good you are.”
The 24-year-old was asked to elaborate what sort of criticism was aimed towards the team. When responding to that, the Tottenham player insisted Sweden’s recent results and performances are enough to keep their critics silent.
“You know that for sure. You know better than me,” Kulusevski explained.
“You know that. It’s two years. Tough year. But when it’s tough, you see people. How they enjoy t. And it’s fun for me. Because later when it turns around, I want to hear them too. Because it’s easy to talk when things have been tough, but when things look like this, maybe it’s harder to comment.”
The attacker will return to Tottenham to focus on their upcoming Premier League clash against Manchester City on Saturday.
