By Philip O'Connor
June 13 (Reuters) - Sweden are set for their opening World Cup match against Tunisia in Monterrey on Sunday but it has been a long and winding road to get here for the team and coach Graham Potter.
Sweden finished bottom of their qualifying group and needed a Nations League playoff lifeline to make it to the finals.
Potter started out from humble beginnings as a manager, going through the highs and lows of club football before finding himself on the cusp of his first World Cup game.
"If somebody had said to me when I started out coaching a bunch of students at Leeds Met University that I would end up via the fourth division in Swedish football here at the World Cup, of course I would have taken that journey. It's incredible," he told reporters on Saturday.
"So now I'm just at a point where I'm super-grateful, super-grateful for the career I've had, for the life I've had, and to be here now."
Back in October, Potter was licking his wounds following his early-season sacking by then-Premier League side West Ham United when the Swedes came calling after sacking coach Jon Dahl Tomasson in the midst of a dismal qualifying campaign.
Knowing they had that Nations League lifeline, Potter took the job and quickly set about simplifying how the Swedes played, ensuring that everyone knew their roles.
The team delivered two playoff wins against Ukraine and Poland that saw them through to the finals, where they will meet Tunisia, Netherlands and Japan in Group F.
Potter said all of his 26-man squad are fit and available for selection, meaning that he will be able to deploy the feared strike partnership of Viktor Gyokeres, who got the winner in the playoff against Poland, and Alexander Isak up front.
"I wouldn't replace them with anyone," Sweden captain Victor Lindelof said. "I'm really happy to have the two of them.
"I'm trying to go through in my mind what other countries, you know, there are (that have a similar partnership), but I think they are two top-class forwards, so it's amazing to have them on our team."
The pair will face a Tunisia defence that did not concede a goal in their qualifying group, but Potter said his team will be ready for that challenge.
"If we're not ourselves, then every game is difficult. But at the same time, if we play well ourselves and we focus on what we can do well, then we have a chance to win," he said.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor, Editing by Ken Ferris)
