Alex Douglas left Allsvenskan and Västerås as recently as July to play for Polish Lech Poznan.
Since then, he has, according to Jon Dahl Tomasson, "taken Poland by storm", and when the national team captain presented the squad last week, the centre-back was on the list.
Now, the super talent also gets the chance in the starting eleven, when Sweden takes on Azerbaijan in the first group stage match of the autumn's Nations League. It is his first international match, both as a junior and senior.
Beside him in central defence is Isak Hien, who normally plays for Atalanta.
New partnerships are also being formed in midfield. Wolfsburg's Mattias Svanberg and Brighton's Yasin Ayari start as inner midfielders, and thus players like Hugo Larsson, Lucas Bergvall, and Jens Cajuste will start the match on the bench.
The goalkeeper question has also been debated, as Robin Olsen is not included due to injury. But now it is clear that Viktor Johansson will take his place. Kristoffer Nordfeldt and Jacob Widell Zetterström will take a seat on the bench.
Sweden lines up as follows:
(4–2–3–1): Viktor Johansson – Linus Wahlqvist Egnell, Alex Douglas, Isak Hien, Ludwig Augustinsson – Mattias Svanberg, Yasin Ayari – Dejan Kulusevski, Alexander Isak, Anthony Elanga – Viktor Gyökeres.
