It was late on Tuesday evening that Spanish authorities issued a red warning for extreme rainfall. A warning that landed as a mobile message for people who were in areas that could be affected.
Including Marbella – where the Swedish national team is preparing for the group final against Slovakia in the Nations League.
One became a bit worried anyway. One has seen in other cities in Spain how it has been, so it wasn't that fun. Hopefully, it won't be too crazy, says Alexander Isak at a press conference.
Recently, eastern and southern Spain were hit by severe flooding. Over 200 people have died.
"Decent amount of rain"
To get the best possible conditions for the group final against Slovakia, the national team flew to the Spanish sun coast.
The plan was to hold two training sessions in the warmth and sun – it didn't even become a full session. Wednesday's training had to be interrupted due to heavy rain and thunder.
There was a decent amount of rain. It wasn't optimal. We had to modify the training a bit. It became a bit shorter, but we still managed to get some running in, says Alexander Isak.
Did you get out any tactics?
It maybe wasn't optimal if you talk about tactics. But we've worked a lot theoretically, so it shouldn't be a big problem for us.
Isak was not alone in reacting strongly when the red warning appeared on the mobile phone.
I was actually a bit shocked. At first, it was an orange warning, then it became red, and we were told to go home earlier. We knew it would rain, but not that it would be this much, says Lucas Bergvall.
Carl Starfelt, with club address Celta Vigo, is well-informed about what Spain has gone through after the disaster in Valencia.
It's the first time you get such a (red warning), but good that they inform what's happening. It's been tough for the country, many in my team have family in Valencia. It's really terrible.
Training in Stockholm
Thursday's second scheduled training in Spain is now being moved to Stockholm Stadium. The national team is traveling home on Thursday morning, but Isak doesn't think that the team's preparations for Saturday's match against Slovakia at Strawberry Arena will be affected much.
It's actually today that it has changed a training, but hopefully tomorrow it will be back to normal, he says.
