Dejan Kulusevski Sweden 2022Getty Images

Reborn Spurs star Kulusevski out to lead Sweden's new golden generation to 2022 World Cup

Ever since his arrival at Tottenham in January, Dejan Kulusevski has become one of Antonio Conte’s key players.

With two goals and four assists to his name already in the Premier League, the attacking midfielder is now trying to carry that form into the international arena, as Sweden face a date with World Cup destiny on Tuesday.

After winning 1-0 against Czech Republic in extra-time on Thursday, Sweden have now travelled to face Poland in the UEFA play-off final, with the victor set to take their place in Friday's group-stage draw for Qatar 2022.

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And while Poland possess one of the world's leading players right now in Robert Lewandowski, Sweden know that this provides their potential 'golden generation' a first chance of making their mark on a global stage.

At 21, Kulusevski has already emerged as one of the leaders of that generation alongside Alexander Isak (22), while it is hoped Anthony Elanga (19) will join them after the Manchester United youngster debuted last week.

And while Zlatan Ibrahimovic remains part of the squad, and could feature (if passed fit following an Achilles tendon injury) against Poland after missing the Czech Republic game through suspension, his role now is more of a mentor and motivator to his younger team-mates who will attempt to carry the country's weight of expectation as he did for over a decade.

"Kulusevski is among the fans’ favourites,” Michael Wagner, a journalist at Aftonbladet, tells GOAL. “He’s important, because he’s one of the main threats of Swedish team in the attack, and also one of our future stars.

"He needs this playing time now so he can be at his best in two or three years. That means him being important both now and in the future."

Though Sweden boss Janne Andersson has plenty of attacking riches to choose from, with the likes of Emil Forsberg and Robin Quaison joining Kulusevski, Isak, Elanga and the veteran Ibrahimovic as options.

Wagner is in no doubt, though, of Kulusevski's importance, and the role he should be given if Sweden are to make it to the World Cup later this year.

"Sweden build their attacking game around Emil Forsberg," he explains. "He plays as a left-winger in the Swedish 4-4-2, and then you have two attackers: Alexander Isak, and the second one against Czech Republic was Kulusevski.

"In my mind, Kulusevski is a player at his best in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. He is not a natural attacker, nor a natural winger from the midfield. He’s more a kind of attacking midfielder, a No. 10, in a free position.

"You can‘t really have that kind of role in this team, because the only player close to that kind of position is Forsberg. You will never have a team with two No.10s in a free role like Forsberg now under Andersson, because that would create a tactical problem defensively."

Finding Kulusevski's best position in the current Sweden line up, then, is likely to prove tough given Andersson's favoured system, but at least now he is in the line up.

"What a f*cking joke!" was the reaction of Ibrahimovic to Kulusevski being left out of the Sweden team against France in September 2020, as the AC Milan star vented his frustration at his country's tactics on Twitter.

Dejan Kulusevski Sweden GFXGetty/GOAL

Having Ibrahimovic in his corner would no doubt have been a boost to Kulusevski so early in his career, having looked up the iconic forward throughout his youth.

Like Ibrahimovic, Kulusevski was born in Sweden to immigrant parents, with his mother and father hailing from Ohrid, North Macedonia.

Kulusevski even represented North Macedonia at Under-16s level before choosing Sweden ahead of making his senior debut in November 2019.

"I’ve always said that if I could play for Sweden and Macedonia I would," Kulusevski, who speaks fluent Macedonian, told The Guardian. "But I had to choose, and I chose Sweden because I am from there."

Kulusevski left Sweden as a 16-year-old to join Atalanta, from where he was signed for €35 million (£30m/$39m) by Juventus in 2020 following a superb loan spell at Parma.

He scored in Juve's Coppa Italia final win over Atalanta in his first season playing for the Bianconeri, but fell out of favour at the start of the current campaign following the appointment of Massimiliano Allegri, leading to his Spurs move.

Tottenham are obliged to pay €35m (£29m/$38.5m) to sign Kulusevski permanently, on top of the €10m (£8.3m/$11m) loan fee they have already forked out, if certain conditions are met, and all signs point to that becoming a reality.

Kulusevski has slotted seamlessly into Conte's 3-4-2-1 system in north London, forming a fearsome attacking trio alongside Harry Kane and Son Heung-min as Tottenham chase a top-four finish.

Back on the international scene, Tuesday offers Kulusevski and his Sweden team-mates to put right the disappointment of Euro 2020.

They suffered a shock loss at the hands of Ukraine in the last 16, while Kulusevski himself missed the opening two games of the tournament due to Covid-19 before providing two assists in a 35-minute cameo against Poland in his side's final group game.

If he can make a similar impact over the course of 90 minutes against the same opponents this week, then Sweden's new 'golden generation' can begin to put right the failures of their previous great side of the 2000s.

“At Euro 2004, Sweden were very unlucky to lose against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals after a penalty shootout," Wagner recalls. "I think we could even have won the tournament, we could have done the same thing as Greece, because we had a better team."

While winning the 2022 World Cup is probably beyond Kulusevski and Co., there is no doubt that they have the talent to light up the tournament if they can get there.

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