Two young, low-key men get a sharpness in their voice when they talk about what hopefully awaits the national team next summer.
Tonight, the thought is that the first step will be taken when the World Championship qualification kicks off against Slovenia in Ljubljana.
This is what we have been working for since we started, to reach the World Championship. Now we begin that journey, says midfielder Ayari.
Striker Elanga fills in:
I felt directly when we gathered how important these matches are. Everyone is focused, we really want to go to the World Championship.
Only three left
It's been seven years since the national team created football fever in Russia. Only three players in the current squad were part of the World Championship team back then: Robin Olsen, Kristoffer Nordfeldt, and Emil Krafth. A new generation wants to write its history on football's biggest stage.
Yasin Ayari and Anthony Elanga were no different, like other football-interested boys, the World Championship was the highlight of the summer every four years.
2010 in South Africa is my strongest memory. That's when I first remember sitting and watching the World Championship, says Ayari and picks out Andrés Iniesta's goal for Spain in the final as the single strongest memory.
Dad played World Championship
Anthony Elanga's dad Joseph played the World Championship for Cameroon in 1998 and that has of course been talked about in the family.
But otherwise, I have many World Championship memories. Like when Mario Götze decided for Germany (2014), he says.
Captain Isak Hien gives another perspective on the importance of participating in the World Championship.
It's extremely important, of course, for Sweden as a football nation. I think we have an image of ourselves as a good football country with good football players and then you want to play in the big championships.
Now Hien and the rest of the defenders face 195 centimeters tall center tank Benjamin Sesko. That will be something to bite into.
How do you defend against such a player?
It's about being alert, having control over where he is, knowing his strengths, and trying to limit them as much as possible.
Slovenia–Sweden kicks off at 20.45. At the same time, Switzerland–Kosovo plays in the group's other match.
