According to TV4 Football Channel, Hugo Larsson was asked to leave the gathering on Saturday evening. Something that national team manager Stefan Pettersson denies.
He went home solely because of his injury. There are so many speculations, but we know what we're doing, says Pettersson.
Dahl Tomasson also confirms this picture. Larsson himself decided to fly home to Frankfurt due to an injury.
"Felt something on Tuesday"
Hugo felt something on Tuesday, but kept going. Yesterday, he felt something again during the small-sided game. He talked to the medical team. Hugo made the decision to go home, says Dahl Tomasson.
Hugo Larsson expressed his disappointment at a press conference on Saturday that he didn't get playing time against Azerbaijan – and that the national team coach said publicly that the midfielder needs to play more offensively.
Dahl Tomasson's reaction:
He's a young man, 20 years old, has a lot of feelings. This is big for him. We need to take care of him. We have 23 players in the squad, everyone deserves to play, but not everyone can do it.
When the press asks me about him, I have to be open. It's not a weakness that you need to develop when you're 20 years old. He's a young, good player with great potential and not the only young player. We also have Ayari, Bergvall, and Nanasi.
"The team is most important"
Jon Dahl Tomasson has full understanding that a football player wants to play football – and especially in the national team. Therefore, he doesn't want to make a big deal out of Larsson's disappointment and the criticism the midfielder has directed at him.
But the national team coach also emphasizes, time and time again.
The team is most important, the team is number one. Sometimes you play, sometimes you're on the bench, sometimes you're not included at all. We need each other.
Will Hugo Larsson be included against Slovakia and Estonia in October?
I'll pick the players who are playing well. He's an extremely good player, one of the players we're following.
3–1 against Azerbaijan and 3–0 against Estonia was the start to the Nations League that the national team coach wanted to see.
I think we saw a team that touched the audience. I think this performance gives us confidence. We all know that the next match is against Slovakia, which is an excellent team. We need to look at each match. We're getting closer to becoming a decent team.
