Swedes face long wait for the ‘next Zlatan’

SWEDES ES have a reputation as l e v e l - h e a d e d a n d patient, t, and it’s just as well – they’ll have to wait a while for a new “Zlatan” Zlatan” to suit up on the national football l squad.

Zlatanan Ibrahimovic, Sweden’s a l l - t i me h i g h scorer with 62 goals, put an end t o his 116-cap i n t e r n a t i o n a l c a re e r i n Ju n e 2016.

Since e then, the team has as had no star player of top international calibre to fill Ibrahimovic’s movic’s shoes.

Some e young hopefuls have ave however shown promise, like Emil Forsberg and Alexander der Isak. Commentators have rep repeated the phrase so often it’s almost comical. “The next Zlatan. Or the new Zlatan, Zl Zlatan junior, Zlatan of the NorthNort . . . It’s a journalistic genreg t hat’s e x i s t e d f or almost 15 years,”ye Swe d i s h Ra d i o sports commencomm tator JohannesJohan F i n n l a u g s s o n once joked. That was backb in 2014, whenw no one camec close to IbrahiIbr movi c’s s t a r power on the S w e d i s h squad. M a n y y o u n g t a l - e n t s h a v e been comc p a r e d t o him ove over the years, but none have lived up to expectations upon arriving in t he big leag ue.

But 17-year-old wunderkind Alexander Isak hopes he’ll be different.

The AIK forward was sold to Borussia Dortmund in January for a reported € 10 million ($10.7million), just two weeks after becoming Sweden’s youngest ever international goalscorer.

But despite that, Isak was not selected for Sweden’s 4-0 win against Belarus on Saturday, nor for yesterday’s friendly against Portugal in Funchal in the Azores.

Instead, coach Janne Andersson called on Anderlecht’s Isaac Kiese Thelin to replace striker John Guidetti. Thelin scored.

“I want to play on the national team, and to do that I have to make a good impression,” Isak told football channel Fotbollskanalen in January.

But for now, he’s setting his sights on the European Championships for the under-21s, where he’s still a novice having made the team just once.

Isak ‘making impression’

“I’m really keen. Obviously. This tournament would be my first, because I missed the Under-17 one in 2016 and I’m a little bitter about that. So my goal is to be in Poland this summer,” he said.

Swedish TV4 commentator Olof Lundh says he’s following Isak’s progress with Dortmund, where he’s only played for a few minutes in the German Cup. “It’s clear he’s making an impression so it could go quickly,” he said.

But for now, ot her, older players are tr y ing to make up for t he gapi ng hole lef t by Ibra himovic’s absence.

Wearing Ibra’s old No10 shirt is 25-year-old offensive midfielder Emil Forsberg, who plays for another Bundesliga club, RB Leipzig.

He scored twice in Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Belarus.

“Together with Victor Nilsson Lindelof, he’s part of a new generation of players who have taken important roles in Janne Andersson’s new team. They can become even better,” Lundh said.

Li ndel of , a 2 2 - ye a r- ol d defender, would have felt at home against European champions Portugal yesterday – he has played for Benfica since 2012.

Last week he was preparing the game against Belarus when he learned that he had been selected to the Portuguese AllStar team by his peers.