Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Manchester United’s £30 million man would keep the captain’s armband after all, leading his country out on Thursday night with a new manager watching on from the sidelines.
Jon Dahl Tommasson, appointed as Sweden’s head coach following his rather acrimonious departure from Blackburn Rovers, eventually settled on keeping Manchester United’s Victor Lindelof as the national side’s skipper despite the former Benfica defender failing to guide his side to a spot at Euro 2024 during a dismal qualification phase.
But after the Tomasson era began not with a bang but with a whimper, hammered 5-2 by a Bruno Fernandes-inspired Portugal in Guimaraes, Lindelof’s status as the captain of Sweden may be about to come under the microscope once again, for a side who failed to qualify for Euro 2024.
Bruno Fernandes defeats Victor Lindelof
“The centre back looked passive at the second goal, and this was clearly a difficult evening for the back line,” writes Futbolskanalen, the Swedish publication running an autopsy on another heavy defeat for a vastly-underperforming side who possess the talent most sides heading to the European Championships can only dream of. Weak second (half).”
On a night in which Man United’s own skipper took his tally to 20 goals and 19 assists for the Portuguese national team, Lindelof was part of a backline who were perhaps fortunate not to find themselves on the wrong end of an even more lopsided scoreline.
AC Milan talisman Rafael Leao whipped home a gorgeous opener, followed by a fierce striker from Man City’s Matheus Nunes. Fernandes then got his name on the scoresheet just before the interval, converting a cross from Wolves’ Nelson Semedo.
Lindelof’s United team-mate turned provider for Bruma on 57 minutes too before Goncalo Ramos – the PSG forward so heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford last summer – grabbed number five.
Manchester United man suffers five-goal thrashing
“It is always difficult to define a result. But one thing is certain; we are always disappointed if we don’t win,” Tomasson, the former AC Milan and Newcastle striker, commented.
“It is an incredibly big challenge to play against Portugal. They have now won eleven games (in a row) and conceded (only) four goals. We scored two of them today. I am happy that we scored two good goals.
“You can see that we actually started both halves quite energetically, in my opinion. We won the ball high in the opponent’s half. But we also gave away some unnecessary chances. And when you give away chances, you are always disappointed.
“But we are also playing against an extremely good team.”