CARSON, Calif. – Christian Wilhelmsson is back from international duty with Sweden and has his eyes set on starting role with the LA Galaxy.
During the international break, Wilhelmsson started and went 66 minutes for the Swedes in their 2-1 victory over The Faroe Islands last week before serving as an unused substitute during Sweden’s dramatic 4-4 draw with Germany on Tuesday. The results put the Swedes into second place in UEFA World Cup Qualifying Group C, one point ahead of Robbie Keane's Ireland.
Now that Wilhelmsson has returned to Southern California, the Swedish winger admits that he has shaken off a left calf strain that plagued him prior to the international break and is ready for a spot in the starting lineup—beginning this weekend against the San Jose Earthquakes.
“Fitness is good now; I’ve been working for a month now. It’s just a matter of playing games and getting into the game,” said Wilhelmsson. “As a player, you always want to play I’m just excited to show myself and help the team as much as possible and you can only do that on the field. I’m excited. I hope that I get in there soon and get in the shape that I was in before I came to L.A.”
But what of the dramatic comeback against Germany? It was simply “incredible,” says Wilhelmsson.
“That was some crazy stuff going on there, I don’t know, it was incredible,” said Wilhelmsson. “They played their best football in the first half and thought it’d be easy five or six to zero for them, but it was three to zero and then with an early goal in the second half, it was four to zero so we thought it was finished. When we scored, four to one, it was still quite even, but we scored on the four chances that we got in the game so it was incredible.
“Normally, [a comeback is] not possible against a team like Germany in Berlin; it was one kind of a night and just incredible,” Wilhelmsson added. “One point against Germany is always good and the way that we did it was amazing so we’re very satisfied and we need to keep going.”
