Viktor Gyokeres was surprised to hear criticism of his performance in Sweden’s 5-1 victory over Tunisia at the World Cup, and he defended his display in the dominant win. Graham Potter’s side endured a nightmare qualification process, failing to win a single group game, but secured their spot in the tournament via a Nations League play-off. Their struggles seemed behind them in their opener in Monterrey, as they thrashed Tunisia to kick off their Group F campaign in dream fashion.
Tougher tests await against the Netherlands and Japan, but confidence is high after goals from Yasin Ayarai (two), Alexander Isak, Gyokeres, and Mattias Svanberg. The victory could scarcely have gone better, but former Sweden midfielder turned pundit Martin Aslund had criticism for Arsenal’s centre-forward during the match. Aslund posted on X after an attack broke down: ‘What the hell, Gyokeres. He’s gotta release the ball quicker. Sure, he often has a less than great first touch that means he needs more time, but he should still be able to let it go faster in a few of those situations. Isak should’ve had a breakaway there.’
The comment was put to Gyokeres after the match, and he responded via Sportbladet: ‘I got one assist and could have got two more. I don’t know how many assists you should get in a game.’ Sweden boast a dangerous front two in Gyokeres and Isak, with Potter devising a formation to accommodate both centre-forwards. The Arsenal and Liverpool stars assisted each other against Tunisia, and Gyokeres is happy to praise the partnership. ‘It was good as usual,’ he said. ‘As I said earlier, we have had good cooperation before and we have good again.’
Potter, who took charge of the struggling Sweden side in October, praised Gyokeres’ potential for a big World Cup ahead of the Tunisia clash. ‘He’s obviously had a fantastic season,’ Potter said of Gyokeres’ 21-goal campaign for Arsenal. ‘We want to use him to his best, try and get the most out of him. Because if we do, then he gives us a chance to win football matches. That’s for sure.’ After the big win in Mexico, the former Chelsea boss added: ‘I think it was a fantastic evening for us, a fantastic start. A solid performance that allowed Alex and Viktor to show their qualities, which they did. We were defensively solid, got goals from midfield and had good substitutions. I’m happy for the players. They’ve worked hard in recent weeks and made strides. All credit to them. As a coach you know when the team is developing, but you also have to win. We weren’t perfect, but we knew we wouldn’t be. I was a little disappointed with the goal we conceded, but that’s what can happen. We were mature in the second half, especially considering we lack experience from the World Cup.’
