Nottingham Forest have a host of players jetting off to play international football during the latest break for domestic action.
For Anthony Elanga, however, it’s rest and recuperation instead of helping Sweden in their Nations League campaign.
It will feel strange for the Forest winger not to be away with his country for the next two weeks.
When the Sweden squad was announced it was a surprise that Elanga had been omitted.
Since the last international break, Elanga has started to show some solid form in the Premier League and the bombshell came as a shock.
Forest will benefit from Elanga staying put for two weeks and it’s no skin off the club’s nose that Sweden doesn’t want to use him.
Photo by Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/Getty ImagesThe real reason Anthony Elanga hasn’t been called up by Sweden
This is quite a tale.
Jon-Dahl Tomasson has taken over the Sweden national team and it would appear that he’s ruling with an iron fist.
Elanga didn’t feature at all for Sweden in October clashes against Estonia and Slovakia and that upset the Forest man.
Now, according to Fotbollskanalen, it’s claimed that Elanga upset the national boss by not turning up to a dinner during the last international break.
A squad get-together was called before the players returned to their clubs but after failing to get on the pitch, Elanga had other ideas.
The Forest man didn’t show up for the meal and although Tomasson says his omission is football-related, this perhaps suggests that isn’t entirely correct.
Anthony Elanga’s record for Sweden
Well, it’s fair to say that Elanga hasn’t really been considered the first choice for Sweden.
It might actually do the player good to miss out on the next two games and try to revive his fitness ahead of a long run of games for Forest.
Elanga has scored three goals in 19 appearances for Sweden with his goals coming against Norway, Azerbaijan and New Zealand.
The Forest winger has played for a number of Sweden youth teams before making his first senior appearances against the Czech Republic in 2022.
Related Posts