By Philip O'Connor
June 22 (Reuters) - Sweden coach Graham Potter gave an impassioned statement of support for captain and centre back Isak Hien, who came in for severe criticism following Saturday's 5-1 World Cup Group F defeat by the Netherlands.
The first three goals the Swedes conceded against the Dutch all came from balls driven across the face of goal, prompting criticism of Hien's defending.
"I love Isak Hien. I don't care what anybody says - if I'm here, he's playing," Potter told a news conference
at the team's training base on Monday.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's a blame game. It's the world we're in, that somebody wants to blame. If everybody wants anybody to blame, it should be me, it's not him - he's absolutely doing everything he can to represent his country in the best way, and he gets dog's abuse because someone scores."
The Swedes made a flying start to their World Cup campaign with a 5-1 win over Tunisia, only to lose to the Dutch by the same scoreline in a game in which little seemed to go right for the 27-year-old Hien.
"No-one sees the other errors before him - my errors, the other players' errors, and it (criticising Hien) just feels nice because you're in pain after the defeat, which I understand social media is all about. When you lose a game of football, everyone's in pain, everyone's hurting. You guys are hurting, everyone's social media is hurting, our fans are hurting," Potter said.
"And then they push the blame to him, and then it makes them feel a little bit better, but the reality of it is, it's more complicated than that. And like I said, I love Isak Hien, I love what he's been for the team with me. We win and we lose together as a team."
Ahead of their final group game against Japan, Sweden are third in Group F on three points, one behind leaders the Netherlands and second-placed Japanese. Tunisia are bottom of the group with no points and have been eliminated from the tournament.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Ed Osmond)
