IBRA’S WINNING COMEBACK
Ibrahimovich ecstatic over Sweden return after five years away
ZLATAN Ibrahimovic made a winning return to international football with Sweden on Thursday after nearly five years away as Germany came out for human rights in their opening qualifier for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Ibrahimovic set up Viktor Claesson’s 35th-minute winner in the 1-0 win over Georgia at the Friends Arena just outside Stockholm
in his 117th appearance for his national team, his first since Euro 2016.
The AC Milan forward had to hold back the tears as he spoke to reporters on Monday about his international comeback, and he was in good spirits after a win that puts Sweden top of Group B.
“It felt good. It felt like it was my first international match. It was a lot of adrenaline,” said Ibrahimovic.
Sweden lead their group two points ahead of Greece and Spain, who played out a surprising 1-1 draw in Granada.
Germany lined up with T-shirts that spelled out “human rights” ahead of their 3-0 Group J win over Iceland amid concerns over alleged human rights abuses in Qatar, the controversial hosts of next year’s finals.
On Monday, Amnesty International said “thousands of migrant workers continue to be exploited and abused” in stadium construction despite labour reforms put in place by Doha since the country was awarded the tournament.
“We have the World Cup coming up and there will be discussions about it... we wanted to show we are not ignoring that,” goalscorer Leon Goretzka told broadcaster RTL.
“We have a large reach —and we can use it to set an example for the values we want to stand for. That was clear.”
Once on the pitch Joachim Loew’s side got off to a rapid start, with Goretzka and Kai Havertz firing the hosts into a two-goal lead inside seven minutes.
Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan continued his fine recent goalscoring form, collecting the ball 10 minutes after the break and drilling home a low shot.
Robert Lewandowski struck with seven minutes remaining in Budapest to earn Poland a late point in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Hungary.
John McGinn’s stunning overhead kick five minutes from time rescued Scotland from a losing start to their campaign in an entertaining 2-2 draw with Austria.