Graham Potter celebrated Sweden’s World Cup qualification with an ice-cold Rolex

Football giveth, and it taketh away. Italy are missing their third consecutive World Cup after going out to Bosnia-Herzegovina on penalties. But Sweden, under Graham Potter, are through – the son of Solihull took over late into a then-disastrous qualifying campaign, and the near-miraculous turnaround in fortunes was sealed with a win over Poland last night. They’ll have woken up with sore heads in Stockholm this morning.

It’s a bit of a turnaround for Potter too, whose last two managing gigs, at Chelsea and West Ham, lasted only seven and eight months respectively. But if Potter took anything from those jobs, beyond the hard knocks of experience, it was probably a great watch tip or two from all the horological geeks in the Premier League. What was he wearing upon Sweden’s moment of triumph last night? A Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, in platinum, with an ice-cold light blue dial.

Eagle-eyed watch spotters will know that Potter’s not the first in the footballing world to enjoy this one: Cole Palmer is a fan. But it’s too good a piece to complain about any potential copycatting. That dial is a very big deal, obviously – slick without being overly flashy, and in a shade that plays very nicely with the white watch hands and indices and the black edges of the subdials. Similarly, the platinum construction doesn’t, as gold would, visually depart too much from the usual steel, but it does add a subtler element of refinement that you can only appreciate from up close. (Indeed, this is the priciest kind of Daytona before you get into diamond-inlaid territory.)

There’s obviously little need to expound on the merits of the Daytona in general – though, given it sits in a nice sweet spot combining old-school style and technical function, it is worth wondering why more football managers don’t go for it, given how much their own jobs are about balancing flair and pragmatism. You can certainly see how this particular Daytona fits with Potter’s management style: cool and controlled in tight spots – Sweden’s winner against Poland was only scored in the 88th minute – but with abundant style when it’s needed.

So, not only will we be cheering on England at the World Cup, but English managers too: Graham Potter plus Darren Bazeley, whose New Zealand squad will be against the odds as the lowest-ranked team in the tournament. Sweden are a bit of a minnow too – but no one can say Potter isn’t high in the managers’ watch league.