Lindelöf, then his partner alongside team captain Andreas Granqvist in central defense, unfortunately missed Sweden’s opening match against South Korea in Nizhny Novgorod in 2018.
The night before he fell ill and was hastily replaced by Pontus Jansson. It was a heavy blow for the young player at the time, but what he didn’t know then was that he had a long World Cup adventure ahead of him. It didn’t stop until the quarter-final against England.
Later this summer, Nilsson Lindelöf turns 32 and he is fully aware that he is playing in his second and last World Cup. Or as he pointed out not so long ago:
It’s not good for Swedish football if I’m there in four years.
More important now
All the better for Swedish national football now, with the World Cup opener against Tunisia in Monterrey, Mexico, just hours away, is that he is fit and well.
And in a good way. At Aston Villa, with whom he won the Europa League, he has received much praise for his efforts in both defense and central midfield.
In a relatively inexperienced Swedish defense, his presence is more important now than eight years ago. Not only as a player but also as an inspiration and someone to lean on.
I try to give other players some of my experience and help in any way I can, he says.
The pride of leading the team out at the Monterrey Stadium as team captain is palpable.
“It’s an incredible, very powerful feeling to have received that honor,” he says.
Proud of
He is asked about how emotional it will be.
“It’s always special to be captain of a country. I can’t say now how it will feel to go out and lead the team in a World Cup. I’ll have to answer that afterwards, how it felt at the time,” he says.
But leading Sweden to a World Cup is something I am very proud of.
Strikers Viktor Gyökeres and Alexander Isak are widely seen as Sweden’s main weapons at the World Cup. Nilsson Lindelöf is clear about their importance.
I wouldn’t trade them for anyone else. I’m very happy we have them. I’m trying to think of how many teams have two strikers like that.
“They are two world-class strikers. We have to go back to Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) and Henke (Larsson) to find two similar players,” says the centre-back.
The World Cup opener against Tunisia kicks off at 4:00 AM tonight.
