By Philip O'Connor
June 15 (Reuters) - Sweden's 5-1 World Cup Group F win over Tunisia in Monterrey provoked mixed feelings for midfielder Yasin Ayari, who scored two superb goals for the Swedes against the country where his father was born.
Ayari's father Azzouz has previously spoken with Swedish media about how his son turned down the opportunity to play for Tunisia at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, biding his time and scoring two crackers against them on his tournament debut four years later.
"It was
very emotional to play against Tunisia, which I have so many feelings for - as everyone knows, my father is from there, I've spent many summers there, I have a lot of family there, but now I'm playing for Sweden and I have to do my best for Sweden," Ayari said.
"As everyone knows, I have roots there. It was a special match for me. I have a lot of feelings for Tunisia, but I am happy that we won."
Ayari fired home a rocket of an opener in the seventh minute for the Swedes, engaging in a muted celebration as his teammates and the fans in the stands went wild, but there was no holding back when he netted an equally brilliant second in stoppage time at the end of the game.
"That was the nail in the coffin, then I could let loose a little. It is not every day that you score two goals in a World Cup," Ayari said.
Things would have looked a lot different if the 22-year-old had chosen Tunisia four years ago, but his father said Yasin was adamant he was going to play for the Scandinavians, who missed the Qatar World Cup.
"My children were born in Sweden. I want him to play for Sweden, he should feel like he is giving back to the country that really took care of him," Azzouz told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet in an interview before the tournament.
The Ayari family are deeply embedded in football in Stockholm, with Yasin and his younger brother Taha starting their careers at AIK and Amina, their Moroccan mother, often working at the Strawberry Arena where AIK and the national team play their home games.
The emphatic win puts the Swedes top of the group ahead of their second game against the Netherlands, who drew 2-2 in their opener with Japan, and Ayari is already looking forward to it.
"We focused on ourselves, we played this match, we didn't focus so much on everything else outside, now it's on to the next match that we will focus on," he said.
(Reporting by Philip O'ConnorEditing by Toby Davis)
