Fifa World Cup: Sweden boss Graham Potter reveals ‘powerful experience’ before team opener
Englishman ‘older and wiser’ after contrasting fortunes in club game; Tunisian rival ‘cannot complain’ despite missing out on World Cup win
“Everyone wants to see Graham Potter,” observed Tyler Terens, the commentator from Fox Sports, and that was how it felt on Saturday in a jam-packed, stuffy press room in the bowels of the spectacular Estadio BBVA stadium in Monterrey, Mexico.
Ten cameras trained on the Englishman as he sat beside his Sweden captain Victor Lindelof, covering topics from the advantage of not being Danish, through coaching Leeds Metropolitan University, to “the best football experiences of my life”.
Dispelling suspicions that recent short, ill-fated spells with Chelsea and West Ham United had torched a sound reputation established with Ostersunds, Swansea and Brighton, here was a content and confident Potter on the eve of leading his adopted country into their opening World Cup game against Tunisia.
“I’ve got older and in some ways wiser,” Potter told the South China Morning Post during a press conference that stretched beyond 30 minutes.
“I think life teaches you to deal with the ups and downs … when you’re younger, you want to be successful and you want to win, and I think every human being has those desires. It’s normal.
“But, sometimes, when things don’t go your way, and you don’t achieve what you want, you can learn a lot from that. You can grow.