\u201cDouble substitutions right at half-time didn\u2019t help. Instead, it was Kosovo who came close to extending the lead to 3-0 several times,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cSure, Alexander Isak created two huge chances when he came on, but it seems incomprehensible that the Swedish loss stayed at 2-0. There could and should have been more goals for the home team, who were better than Sweden.\u201d<\/p>\n
The outlet also said the whole team performance was a \u201cpainful drag\u201d and that \u201cplayers from the Premier League, Serie A and Bundesliga barely managed to play any organised game against a national team ranked in 95th place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Writing for one of the country\u2019s biggest newspapers, Sportbladet<\/a>, pundit Simon Bank said Isak was expected to \u201ccome on and lift the coffin lid\u201d but instead left the fans with \u201ctheir trousers down.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIsak had been on the pitch for 10 seconds before he was knocked down in an aerial duel and left lying on the ground. It wasn\u2019t that kind of evening.<\/p>\n \u201c600 Swedish supporters had travelled to Pristina to see this, and now they were left standing there with their trousers down. Is this your football team? Your idea of football?\u201d<\/p>\n Sweden\u2019s other biggest newspaper, Expressen<\/a>, focused their anger on the whole team rather than just Isak as pundit Therese Stormberg said it was a \u201cbetrayal.\u201d<\/p>\n READ:\u00a0\u2018Doesn\u2019t feel right\u2019 \u2013 Carragher & four other pundits unconvinced by Isak\u2019s \u00a3130m transfer to Liverpool<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThis effort was a betrayal. From everyone. Against each other, against themselves, against everything everyone believed this national team would be able to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n Unsurprisingly, Sweden\u2019s neighbours took great joy in their rival\u2019s misfortune. Danish outlet Ekstra Bladet<\/a> criticised manager Jon Dahl Tomasson and said they were \u201chumiliated\u201d by Kosovo.<\/p>\n Norwegian station TV2 merely said \u201cSweden in despair.\u201d<\/p>\n Plenty of the criticism of Tomasson was aimed at his decision to leave it so late before introducing Isak but the former Newcastle and Milan striker said that was all the player could manage. He said: \u201cThat was the maximum number of minutes I could give him.\u201d<\/p>\n Isak, meanwhile, suggested there was no instruction from his new club Liverpool to keep his playing time to a minimum.<\/p>\n \u201cNot that I know of. I\u2019m with the national team now. It\u2019s clear that clubs and national teams have contact and communication, but that\u2019s between them,\u201d Isak said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to know exactly how many minutes is right. It ended up being 20 minutes and it felt okay.\u201d<\/p>\n READ NEXT: How much Alexander Isak earns compared to the rest of the Liverpool squad<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Alexander](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Alexander-Isak-Jamie-Carragher.jpg\")
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