The Swedish men's national team has had a football psychological advisor since 2016. When Janne Andersson took over the national team, he brought with him Daniel Ekvall, with whom he worked in Norrköping.

With his help, players can get tools to handle the requirements and expectations before a major championship such as the European Championships.

- It's about relating to it, it gets a little cliché but to focus on what is within one's own control, says the national team's football psychological advisor Daniel Ekvall to SVT Sport.

- Only players and leaders know the exact tactics and match plan and that means in the long run that the opinions that are most important are the views of teammates and Janne and Peter.

The opinions of others may be there, but to try not to put so much emphasis on it,

"I want perfection"

For Dejan Kulusevski, who is only 21 years old and moved to Europe already four years ago, both expectations and the press have grown with his club change to one of the world's best teams - Juventus.

And the Swede's demands on himself are high.

- I want perfection in every training and every match and I will be disappointed if I do not deliver.

We are extremely judged from all different directions and will always deliver and that is the sport we are doing.

You have to learn to handle it and be able to relax sometimes, says Dejan Kulusevski.

He talks to loved ones if anything should worry him.

- You talk to those close to you about what you feel and your problems.

Of course, when things are going well, you do not have to think about anything, the problem is when things get worse, you try to change everything and find fault in your everyday life.

The one who handles it best does better.

Lustig appreciates Ekvall

Mikael Lustig thinks it is a shame that Daniel Ekvall is in place.

- If it were something and if you had some brain ghosts or something that you have a hard time letting go of, you know that he is around the corner.

Psychology is very important in today's football and we will see it more and more.

CLIP: Here the national team in Båstad is charging at the European Championships (May 26):

Javascript is disabled

Javascript must be turned on to play video

Read more about browser support

The browser is not supported

SVT does not support playback in your browser.

We therefore recommend that you switch to another browser.

Read more about browser support

See when the national team trains before the European Championship finals this summer.

Photo: Anders Wiklund / TT