Janne Andersson said that he did not care whether opposing teams had underestimated Sweden, as he basked in the feeling of taking his country to a quarter-final against England.
Sweden added the scalp of Switzerland to those they have already taken at the finals and in qualification – Germany, Italy and the Netherlands – and it was put to the manager that they might have taken his team lightly.
Vladimir Petkovic, the Switzerland manager, admitted that his players had missed something in their performances. “Our emotions were playing tricks on us – maybe we were not focused enough,” he said.
Emil Forsberg scored the only goal against Switzerland and Andersson was asked whether the RB Leipzig midfielder had taken up the creative mantle vacated by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who retired from international football after Euro 2016.
“I don’t think he’s inherited it from somebody else,” Andersson said. “We are a team starting out and building. He is one of several players who is there to create decisive actions and he is doing really well. He has developed and, in every part of his game, he contributes in so many ways. I’m not going to talk about how things were before. We talk about now and this squad.”
Andersson said that what he and the team had achieved would only sink in after the tournament. In the meantime, he was focused purely on Saturday’s quarter-final. “It’s just full steam ahead and, Goddammit, we are going to put in a bloody good match,” he said. “We are not satisfied with this. We want to win the next match.”
Forsberg said: “What we have done makes me so proud it brings tears to my eyes. It is important to believe in what you do and that’s what’s making us so strong. If we can get everything right, we know we can be really, really good in defence and attack. It’s paying off.”