INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES CAN often be dull affairs, but tonight’s game between England and Sweden was a rare exception.
And the entertainment on the night was largely provided by one man – Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored four as Sweden ultimately prevailed 4-2.
Below are all four of the PSG striker’s efforts, and watch out for the fourth in particular, which will inevitably be a goal of the season contender.
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If Trap gets Ward to take him out in the first minute we might have a shot, Sweden aren’t great other than that enigmatic genius!
Ibra off injured, Ward sent off and a 3 game ban…. Win win situation…
It eould only be a 1 game ban in international footie
Is it?! Shite, get him to do a kamakazie job on him so, an injured Ward is better to Ireland’s cause than a fit one.
No if its violent conduct it can be more, Rooney got 3 reduced to 2 on appeal, do maybe if Ward sticks the nut on him and knocks him clean out…
It will only ever be more than one game if it’s deemed an act of misconduct off the ball or making no attempt for the ball
So the world cup eh
Amazing goal, amazing performance, from a player who is often written off. Guess he shut everyone up tonight. One of the in form strikers in the world at the minute. We should be very afraid.
I don’t think he shut anyone up. It was a friendly against a lightweight English squad. He had one crack at a top team -Barca- and he wasn’t good enough. Hasn’t won a European or World player of the year award and never will. Maybe I’m being harsh. He’a a knob too.
Im a big critic of him myself. Lightwieght England team or not ( And lets remember there were young players like Caulker out there, an a debutant like Osman, who’s finally got an England cap), he scored 4 fantastic goals. He does play for a team like Sweden who would be taking a match like this seriously. And you can hardly say that England weren’t trying.
I certainly take you’re point about Barca. That transfer deal may hang over him forever.
But his medal collection should speak for itself and he has been one of the best goalscorers in Serie A (probably the 3rd best league in Europe) and has adapted to life well in France, aswell as being one of Sweden’s greatest ever players, playing in 5 of the last 6 International tournaments.
Like I said I’ve been a big critic of him myself. But my god. What a bloody goal!!!
I’m not doubting the goal – it was a brilliant effort. Something I could only dream of pulling off. I just don’t get him and it’s reflected in his individual accolades or lack thereof. He’s at PSG because he’s nowhere to go at this stage and never had the drive to really make it at the top. He won’t go down as a great and wouldn’t make a world XI.
Well in terms of personal accolades he was named in the team of the tournament for Euro 2012, and was in Uefa team of the years for 2007 & 2009 He’s been the top goalscorer in Serie A on a number of occasions and won their player/foreign player of the year award more often then he’s not.
I think its fair to say there is nothing more he can do in Italy so his new challenge is in France, a decent league by all accounts, probably top 5 in Europe, Where he’s already in fine goalscoring form and could yet get more individual awards.
With that said I think looking at his medal collection is important too. The only occasions he didn’t win Serie A was last season and he had 2 medals taken from him after the Italian match fixing scandal in 2006. He then won 5 on the bounce and even got a La Liga medal for his brief stint in Spain. So in terms of Individual and Team accolades he has a hell of a lot more than most people.
He has never scored a goal in the knock out stages of the Champions League despite regularly being there with Juve, Inter, Barca and Milan. Despite being outrageously talented he isn’t great because great players turn it on in such big stages, not just in international friendliest.
He scored against Arsenal last season. He has scored in 4 of the 5 international tournaments he has played in aswell.
Ok so in approximately a decade at the top he has scored one goal at the sharp end of the competition that is see as the true test of a player/team in modern football, and that goal against the current Arsenal side, hardly a ringing endorsement of a big game mentality, and that separated the talented from the great.
You have a point undoubtedly. However I would define international tournaments as big games.
We can have crticisms of every player who is good in one competition but not in another. Take Gerrard and Lampard for example. They’ll go down in the annals of their clubs histories as Heroes. But for England they’ve always been fairly poor.
Were the meerkats commentating on that match…
Some goal. He is an egotistical maniac though. You can see by the way the others embrace him that they like what he does but not him personally. I would say that he literally looks down his nose at the rest of them….
4-2 against england,4-4 comeback against the germans,i think we should all collectively get our coats ; (