Why Sweden boss Potter is ‘super grateful’published at 12:54 BST
12:54 BST
Sweden v Tunisia (Mon, 03:00 BST)
Sweden
Image source, Getty Images
Sweden are set for their opening World Cup match against Tunisia in Monterrey (Monday, 03:00 BST) but it has been a long and winding road to get here for the team and coach Graham Potter.
Sweden finished bottom of their qualifying group and needed a Nations League play-off lifeline to make it to the finals.
Potter, meanwhile, was only drafted in to replace Jon Dahl Tomasson as Sweden boss in October, just a month after being sacked by West Ham.
The 51-year-old Englishman started out from humble beginnings as a manager, earning his break with Swedish minnows Ostersund before roles at Swansea, Brighton, Chelsea and West Ham, yet now finds himself on the cusp of his first World Cup game.
“If somebody had said to me when I started out coaching a bunch of students at Leeds Met University that I would end up via the fourth division in Swedish football here at the World Cup, of course I would have taken that journey. It’s incredible,” he told reporters in Saturday’s pre-match news conference.
“So now I’m just at a point where I’m super-grateful, super-grateful for the career I’ve had, for the life I’ve had, and to be here now.”