Sweden boss gives Ibra cold shoulder
Andersson wants Los Angeles-bound striker to call him
>> STOCKHOLM: He has an ego to match his towering physique but Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s pride must be smarting: he’s taking a massive paycut to play for LA Galaxy, and Sweden are showing no interest in his return to their 2018 World Cup squad.
Ibrahimovic completed his move to Los Angeles Galaxy on Friday, aiming to conquer Major League Soccer in the final stop of his glittering career.
The iconic 36-year-old striker announced his move in a typically enigmatic full-page advert in the Los Angeles Times, which read simply: “Dear Los Angeles, You’re welcome.”
“Coming to play in the United States, it is only fitting for me to join the most successful team in Major League Soccer, the LA Galaxy,” Ibrahimovic said in a statement released later by the Galaxy. “I am excited to join a club with a winning legacy that has embodied soccer in Los Angeles for over 20 years.”
Asked by the Los Angeles Times if he believed Los Angeles was big enough to accommodate his larger-than-life personality, he added: “If not, I’ll make it bigger.”
Ibrahimovic, who became the latest in a long line of ageing stars to swap the heights of European football by leaving Manchester United for LA Galaxy, said earlier this month he missed playing for Sweden. “I miss the national team,” said the former Sweden captain who retired from his national team duty after Euro 2016.
Known for his swagger, he added confidently: “If I want, I do it. I want to feel that I can deliver a good performance.”
But Sweden coach Janne Andersson is clearly not chasing after the 6ft 4in striker.
“It doesn’t change anything for me,” Andersson said as he announced Sweden’s squad for yesterday’s friendly against Chile — which did not include ‘Zlatan’, as he is simply known in Sweden.
“Zlatan is very welcome to call me,” Andersson said, hinting he would not take the initiative.
Andersson took over coaching duties in August 2016 — after Ibrahimovic’s departure. In 19 matches, he’s registered 11 wins, four losses and four draws.
The question of whether the country’s most prolific goal-scorer — 62 goals in 116 games — should return to the squad for the World Cup in Russia in June-July has divided the Scandinavian nation.
Some would love nothing more than to see him don the blue-and-yellow kit again.
But others argue he has no place on a squad that managed to qualify without him.
Sweden survived a tough qualifying group that included France and the Netherlands before beating Italy for the first time in six decades in a stunning play-off upset.
Football commentator Daniel Nannskog at Swedish public television SVT said he wasn’t sure the striker’s return would be a good thing.
While no one player exhibits Ibrahimovic’s star quality, the squad has evolved and is playing with more team spirit.
“The problematic bit is that we now have a national squad that is fighting for each other and has played a fantastic qualifying round,” Nannskog said.
Ibrahimovic has 31 winners’ medals in spells with Ajax, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United.
However, his salary will be limited to around US$1.5 million, a fraction of the reported £19 million a season he was paid by United.
Speaking to Swedish news agency TT, he said: “After playing in Europe ... playing on the best teams in the world and with the best players in the world, I wanted to go to the US.
“I want people there to like my game and I want to win. I chose Galaxy to do that.
“I’m like a little child who you give candy to for the first time and he’s looking for the candy all the time.
“That is what I need. I need to play and I want to play. I’m hungry to play because it’s gone too long now, I haven’t felt involved in the game and I need to feel involved. Because this is what I’ve been doing all my life.”