Sweden boss in heated row after ‘bad’ question ‘related’ to Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak

Sweden boss Janne Andersson was involved in a heated on-air row with former Manchester United midfielder Bojan Djordjic after his country’s 5-0 victory over Azerbaijan on Monday.

The exchange happened on Swedish TV station Viaplay when Andersson didn’t take too kindly to Djordjic’s question about AZ Alkmaar forward Jesper Karlsson’s lack of game time.

Karlsson was an unused substitute in Sweden’s opening Euro 2024 qualifier defeat to Belgium but came off the bench in the 82nd minute to score the fourth goal in the win versus Azerbaijan.

Djordjic asked why Karlsson’s minutes were “too little” with the forward in good form for Alkmaar this campaign - scoring 10 goals and providing eight assists. Last season, he netted 21 goals and claimed 16 assists.

“Who shouldn’t play? I get to pick the eleven, who won’t play? Excuse me, but you can do exactly what you want if you are the national team coach,” replied an irritated Andersson, who suggested that playing Karlsson would mean leaving Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak or Coventry City’s Viktor Gyokeres out of the starting XI.

Andersson then accused Djordjic of “whining” before asking him, “Who do you represent?” Djordjic was born in Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia, but represented Sweden at youth level.

Djordjic replied, “Sweden, of course, why wouldn’t I? What kind of thing is this then? Are you going to say something else?” Andersson then criticised Djordjic’s punditry: “It is so bad. You stand and talk rubbish after a game when we win 5-0.”

Annoyed by Andersson’s remark, Djordjic continued: “You’re talking too much right now, you are being too aggressive. Why? Who else would I represent?

“What other country? Serbia, did you mean it or not? Is that what you’re trying to say? I represent you as much as anyone else. I will not forget this answer, it’s bad. It’s pretty low for a national team coach to say what you just said. Who do you represent?”

TV presenter Niklas Jihde - stood alongside former Arsenal star Freddie Ljungberg and Sebastian Larsson, formerly of Sunderland - tried to defuse the situation and asked Andersson if he was satisfied with Sweden’s win but the 60-year-old was having none of it.

“I am not satisfied with anything,” he said. “If I come here and lose 3-0, then I would understand. Then I have to be defensive. If we’ve won 5-0, should I be defensive? There are four of you and you will confront me with questions. Damn, that’s bad.”

Andersson walked away from the interview before being asked to clarify his comment during his post-match press conference.

As per Swedish outlet Expressen, Andersson explained: “I don’t know what I said. Don’t talk about Serbia and stuff like that. I can’t stand that kind of stuff. I speak to him as a media representative.

“Don’t mix anything else in, I can’t bear it. I may have expressed myself badly, but don’t mix it up, than I’ll be really annoyed. I can apologise if I said something bad. If I said something bad, I can take responsibility for it. Don’t mix that up.”

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