‘Deadly scenes’ – Coventry City goalkeeper in spotlight after international howler
Coventry City news from CoventryLive as Oliver Dovin makes the headlines in Sweden for all the wrong reasons after a tough night in goal for his country’s Under-21s
Coventry City’s Oliver Dovin had a night to forget while on international duty with Sweden Under-21s in the European Championship qualifiers.
The 22-year-old summer signing from Hammarby would have been hoping for a confidence boost after being dropped by Mark Robins in recent weeks, replaced by Ben Wilson in goal for the Sky Blues six games into the new Championship campaign.
On the bench for the last three domestic matches, Dovin went away with his country for the international break and played in Thursday night’s Group C match at home to Georgia Under-21s. The hosts went a goal down as early as the 12th minute but battled back to take a 2-1 lead into the break.
Winger Jacob Ondrejka told Sweden’s TV4 during half-time: “We get off to a rough start. We knew it would be a tough match. But we fight back and score two good goals. Now it’s time to build on it.
He continued: “The only thing that matters is that we don’t concede a goal. Then I don’t care how it looks. Three points are the important thing.”
Sweden promtly extended their lead with a third goal to make it 3-1 two minutes into the restart but Dovin when he conceded an embarrassing own goal to let Georgia back in the game with almost 40 minutes left to play. Teammate Samuel Dahl sent a long back pass to him but the goalkeeper somehow mis-judged the flight of the ball and it bounced before Dovin attempted to kick it, only to see it roll in at his near post.
Swedish sports outlet Fotbollskanalen’s match report described the incident, saying: “Then deadly scenes unfolded. Samuel Dahl sent a pass home to Oliver Dovin, who didn’t have the “stick in the ice” and the ball slid into Blågult’s (Sweden’s) goal.”
The result means that Sweden lie second in their group with one game left to play. The side’s qualifying match, however, is against tough opposition in the Netherlands away from home. The match will be played on Monday. The Netherlands have already qualified for the Championships next summer.
