Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak bagged a brace for his country last night as Sweden saw off Azerbaijan 3-1 in the Nations League.
It took the Swedes a while to break the deadlock, but after Alexander Isak netted the first goal, the rest swiftly followed.
Isak took just six minutes to double Sweden's lead and then around ten minutes later, the £63 million man won his country a penalty.
Instead of stepping up himself to seal his first-ever hat trick for his country, Isak passed the responsibility to his strike partner Viktor Gyokeres.
It was a selfless gesture by Isak and one that surprised a lot of people, so naturally, after the game, Isak was asked by the Swedish media why he didn't take the spot-kick himself (h/t The Mag).
“He (Viktor Gyokeres) is also a striker. He also wants to score goals.
“Not a big deal for me. Of course you would like a hat-trick and I haven’t yet got one for the national team. It would have been fun but I’m not worried. It will come.”
It is the measure of the man that he puts the team ahead of personal glory, and having seen his competitive streak in the videos the club puts out of the players doing challenges, it's really a surprise.
Who can forget his strop during a friendly game of Guess Who? that lead to another Magic Murphy Moment and the world questioning whether Isak was actually Swedish or from the streets of London?
We wonder if he will hand over penalty duties for Newcastle too. We doubt it.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
12 | 16 | 31 |
2 |
Manchester City
|
12 | 5 | 23 |
3 |
Chelsea
|
12 | 9 | 22 |
4 |
Arsenal
|
12 | 9 | 22 |
5 |
Brighton
|
12 | 5 | 22 |
6 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
12 | 14 | 19 |
7 |
Nottingham Forest
|
12 | 2 | 19 |
8 |
Aston Villa
|
12 | 0 | 19 |
9 |
Fulham
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
10 |
Newcastle United
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
11 |
Brentford
|
12 | 0 | 17 |
12 |
Manchester United
|
12 | 0 | 16 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
12 | -1 | 15 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
12 | -4 | 15 |
15 |
Everton
|
12 | -7 | 11 |
16 |
Leicester
|
12 | -8 | 10 |
17 |
Wolves
|
12 | -8 | 9 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
12 | -10 | 9 |
19 |
Crystal Palace
|
12 | -7 | 8 |
20 |
Southampton
|
12 | -15 | 4 |