Federal Captain Janne Andersson: It's a lost half year

"I usually say that you have two relationships: One is with your wife and one is with your closest colleague," says Janne Andersson.

Speaking of circumstances, the duo receives some questions similar to the school play at a wedding.

TT: Who gets most nervous about a match?

Janne Andersson points directly to Assistant Confederate Peter Wettergren.

-Where we are different. I'm also emotional, but Peter is even more emotional right there.

Wettergren looks like just the thought of how he feels on match day - before the team comes to the stadium and "everything drops" - makes him feel bad.

-Everything goes great until the team is presented and we have had the last meeting with the players. Then it is x number of hours when you are pretty much yourself and then all the thinking begins: Have I done everything? Italy away was something terrible ... Ugh, so bad I've never had to measure.

TT: Who has the best control of everything around?

"It's not possible to hit Janne there," says Wettergren, describing how the federal captain has a comprehensive system for recording everything important - an almanac, post it notes and a dormitory block.

- Three places with everything we need to do. He has complete control, says Wettergren.

- You also have a pretty good track record, says Andersson.

- But not like you. There you are superior.

They sit on the football association's premises in Solna, at a reasonable corona distance from each other in an apricot-colored sofa.

The national team collection in March disappeared. The European Championships this summer is postponed to next year. And much of that in between, such as trips to watch players, was also deleted from the calendar.

Instead, they have been partially laid off and reduced their salary by 20 percent.

But if the time with the players has decreased drastically, their interaction has rather increased. In addition, Peter Wettergren, together with video analyst Christoffer Bernspång, has now taken a backseat to Andersson and his daily walks from home at Lidingö to the office.

-So we go here and work or sit at Bernspång. We decided quite quickly that it was a good opportunity to make a big difference when it comes to presenting our game idea and therefore we have spent a lot of time, more than usual, says Andersson.

TT: But aren't the walks your important home time?

-But I first go for an hour and twenty minutes myself. Then I pick up Peter and Bernspång and then we take an hour together. So I don't let them down the first bit, I really like their own time.

TT: Have you noticed any new sides to each other - how do you get into crises?

-We have fun together and that is a prerequisite for getting ahead. There, Janne has made a mark that when we are serious then it is full focus, but in between we must be able to flutter and have fun together and we have that, says Wettergren.

Stine Andersson:

-In these times, I think it is very important that you want to bid a little on yourself and not just walk around and be depressed. This is very serious, people die and we cannot ignore it, but it must not take the upper hand because then it will only be misery.

How close has the coronan come to you?

- It's strange, you take the seriousness in every way, but I have no one I know who has been ill, as I know. Then it is a little harder to take it in. But on the other hand, I have my mother and my in-laws who are in the risk group and that is what they have been thinking about, ”says Andersson.

-For me, there is someone in my vicinity who has been seriously ill, who says it was one of the worst he has been through. You have always understood that it has been serious, but you go for a bit when he tells you how bad he has been, says Wettergren.

In addition to conducting “The Great Review”, Janne Andersson calls around leaders and players when the football is down. The national team's psychological adviser Daniel Ekvall has also sent out information to players on how to think in the crisis.

-It's the most to see how they feel and such. Then I haven't had time with everyone, because these conversations are ... you just talk about boring stuff and that's why I only take something a day. It's a bit heavy to hold on and talk about it.

TT: How do you feel the players are doing?

- They think this is a pain, of course, like everyone else. Most of them are abroad, they are quarantined and may be alone if the family has returned to Sweden. Many of them have abstinence, they are used to being physically active every day.

One question has a given answer for everyone who has followed the national team matches - who has the hottest temperament. Peter Wettergren has seen the hot-headed Janne Andersson both from the opponent's side and from his own bench.

-I thought he was dangerous when we met him, when I was a coach in Elfsborg and he in Halmstad and Norrköping. He looked angry and you didn't want to get in touch with him. I think the opponents have that respect, and the fourth judge has a hell, to speak plain language.

But Wettergren says it with laughter and with warmth.

-He's not really like that, he's very kind.

Janne Andersson laughs. In this context, it is difficult to see the roaring federation that can emerge during a match.

-I get very angry, but I'm very clear-sighted in football so it doesn't affect my thoughts there. But if it is something that I do not think is fair then I can not hold back properly and it might have been better if I had not been, but on the other hand - I am who I am.

The next scheduled national team meeting is in September. Then the Nations League starts home matches against world champion France and European champion Portugal.

-We played November 18 against the Faroe Islands and next time will be September. It's a little strange, it's ten months, says Andersson.

The hope is to be able to get started and watch some matches and watch players in June. This is when all Swedes plan to start. Most international leagues are still in the air.

TT: Does it feel like a lost year?

-We have the autumn to look forward to and I really hope that it is possible to carry out as intended. But lost ... Yes, you can still say that. In any case, a lost half year, Andersson says.

At the same time, the captain duo is also delighted by the solidarity in Football Sweden, how supporters support their clubs despite no matches being played.

And maybe, maybe something good can come out of football absence - in the end.

-Many people have told me that "what you miss football". Little is it, after all, that you do not miss the cow until the booth is empty. Many people have probably realized how much football means to them, which in the long run may be something positive, says Janne Andersson.