Zlatan slams 'joke' Sweden boss for benching Kulusevski

Former Sweden international Zlatan Ibrahimovic blasted national team boss Janne Andersson for keeping Juventus newcomer Dejan Kulusevski on the bench for all but 20 minutes of Saturday's defeat to France.

"What a damn joke. Another proof. Incompetent people in the wrong positions smothering Swedish football," the AC Milan striker said on Twitter.

The 20-year-old Kulusevski is set to join Andrea Pirlo's ranks at Juventus following a breakout loan spell with Parma, during which the attacking midfielder recorded 10 goals and eight assists in 36 Serie A outings.

Kulusevski told reporters he didn't think his second-half introduction afforded him enough time to make a quality contribution to the match.

"I felt really, really good in training. But unfortunately that's how football is," Kulusevski added, according to Philip O'Connor of Reuters.

Kulusevski would likely line up on the right side in Andersson's preferred 4-4-2 formation, but 35-year-old Sebastian Larsson earned his 119th international cap playing in the role against France.

"We'll see if he gets more playing time on Tuesday. He has great qualities and will grow into the role eventually," Andersson said about Kulusevski's potential involvement in next week's visit from Portugal.

Andersson, who guided Sweden to the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup, said post-match that he was surprised by Kulusevski's reaction.

"I haven't spoken to him afterwards but if he has said that then that's clearly his opinion. We'll have to talk about it," Andersson told reporters.