Tottenham Hotspur winger Dejan Kulusevski endured a mixed night as Sweden were beaten 3-1 at home by Austria on Tuesday night.
Sweden were beaten by Austria on Tuesday night and Dejan Kulusevski blew hot and cold in a major defeat.
Sweden hammered Estonia over the weekend and simply had to follow that result up with a victory over Austria.
That didn’t happen though as Austria romped into a 3-0 lead with all three goals conceded inside 16 second-half minutes.’B
Emil Holm pulled one back for Sweden but that wasn’t anywhere near enough as Ralf Rangnick’s Austria ran out convincing winners in Stockholm
Dejan Kulusevski thinks it’s over for Sweden
Sweden went into the game four points behind Austria in Group F, so a win was vital to their hopes of qualification for Euro 2024.
At the very least, Sweden couldn’t afford to lose; a draw would have kept the dream alive.
A 3-1 defeat leaves Sweden seven points behind Austria and Belgium with just three games to play, meaning they need an absolute miracle.
Tottenham winger Dejan Kulusevski has told TV2 that he thinks Sweden’s qualification hopes are effectively done and dusted.
Kulusevski didn’t think the situation looked too good even after that win over Estonia but has now seemingly given up hope of qualifying for Euro 2024.
“It didn’t look bright before this match, but now I think it’s over,” said Kulusevski.
Swedish media react to mixed Kulusevski display
Kulusevski was earning huge praise over the weekend as the Swedish media felt he had turned in one of his best performances in yellow and blue.
The mood is a little different right now though, after Sweden’s Euro 2024 hopes effectively went up in smoke.
Fotboll Skanalen suggested that Kulusevski was an ‘extremely good’ in the first half and looked dangerous going forward.
However, they criticised Kulusevski for trying to dribble too much in the middle of the pitch, leading to Austria counter-attacks – one of which they scored from to make it 2-0.
Svenska Fans suggested that Kulusevski was ‘brilliant’ in the first half but then faded badly after the break.
This wasn’t the night for Kulusevski and co, with the £25m Spurs winger no doubt looking to bounce back with Tottenham this weekend.
