Doha / Stockholm. During Belgium’s World Cup premiere, two Swedish spies were in the stands.
Peter Wettergren and Lasse Jacobson went to Qatar to scout the European Commission’s opponent.
—I think there is a symbolic value to my not going, says Confederate Captain Jan Anderson.
Belgium faces Canada in the opening match of the World Cup at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium in Qatar on Wednesday night. The world number two is also Sweden’s first opponent in the EC Qualifiers starting in March. That’s why national team assistant captain Peter Wettergren and national team scout Lasse Jacobson are there to keep a close eye on Belgium.
– I don’t feel comfortable going there, but at the same time I am an employee of the Swedish Football Association and I will try to prepare my team in the best way, Wettergren said before the start of the tournament.
Jan stays home
Union captain Jan Anderson, however, chose to stay home.
Those who work with watching opponents go there to explore Belgium and also watch a number of matches at the same time. I don’t work with this stuff normally, so I’m not going. We’ll go as few as possible, besides, I think there’s a symbolic value of me not going.
Would you leave if you weren’t in Qatar?
– Then I would definitely go there, depending on where I might add. But normally I would go there.
Wettergren and Jacobson returned home after Belgium’s opening two matches against Canada and Morocco. Otherwise, only General Secretary Håkan Sjöstrand and President Karl-Erik Nilsson will be present during the tournament on behalf of the SvFF.
We don’t feel we need to go there based on Qatar as the host country beyond what is really necessary for us. Historically, there are usually partner and tournament-related flights, but we chose not to. We cut back to a minimum, says national team manager Jens T. Andersson.
FIFA World Cup matches Thursday, November 24:
11.00 Switzerland and Cameroon 14.00 Uruguay and South Korea 17.00 Portugal and Ghana 20.00 Brazil and Serbia