Aston Villa's Victor Lindelof risked having to undergo surgery during Sweden's win over Ukraine last week
Victor Lindelof of Aston Villa
Victor Lindelof of Aston Villa(Image: Getty Images)
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Victor Lindelof discarded his face mask for Sweden’s World Cup play-off semi-final last week, despite the risk of requiring surgery.
The 31-year-old had begun wearing a face mask earlier in March, although it did not affect his impressive performance in the club’s Europa League round of 16 second leg against Lille.
Lindelof was then left out of the squad to face West Ham before the March international break, but Unai Emery explained that this was simply because he had a full squad available - apart from Boubacar Kamara - following Youri Tielemans’ return from injury.
Speaking to Swedish media last week, Lindelof was asked why he had been wearing the mask.
“It was the day before the match against Lille… in training I got a skull in my nose,” he explained.
“It looks completely okay now. It’s subsided and all the bruises are almost gone. It feels good.
“It’s a bit special, of course. But it’s been almost a week and a half with the mask. It works. I’ve gotten used to it.”
However, he chose not to wear the mask for Sweden’s match against Ukraine last week, where he played a part in his nation’s 3-1 win, to send them into the World Cup qualification final against Poland.
“I brought it with me, but before we went out I threw it away," said the centre-back.
“It was my decision. I decide whether I want to play with it or not. If I had been hit, it would have come off again and then I would have had to have surgery on it. But it's worth it.”
Speaking of facing Poland on Tuesday night, Lindelof said: “Fun, really fun. These are the kinds of games you always dream of playing, Swedish fans singing. It will be great and I think everyone will be very ready.
“We know it's only halfway. We are very happy with this victory. It's nothing to take away from us. It gives a very good feeling. We know we have work to do and we have a World Cup ticket that we want to secure.”
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