Ibrahimovic hits out at Gunners
LONDON. — Zlatan Ibrahimovic appeared to take a swipe at Arsenal after Manchester United’s EFL Cup victory. The Swede scored twice as United beat Southampton 3-2 at Wembley on Sunday. Ibrahimovic opened the scoring with a free-kick before heading the winner late on. It was the striker’s 26th goal of a quite incredible season since moving to Old Trafford on a free transfer last summer.
LONDON. — Zlatan Ibrahimovic appeared to take a swipe at Arsenal after Manchester United’s EFL Cup victory.
The Swede scored twice as United beat Southampton 3-2 at Wembley on Sunday.
Ibrahimovic opened the scoring with a free-kick before heading the winner late on.
It was the striker’s 26th goal of a quite incredible season since moving to Old Trafford on a free transfer last summer.
Having already won the Community Shield during his short time in Manchester, the Swede seemingly had a dig at the Gunners.
Arsenal have won the FA Cup and Community Shield twice each in recent years but continue to wait for the English Premier League title.
“We are winning. After seven months I have two trophies with this club,” said Ibrahimovic.
“There are other clubs that didn’t win for 10 years. I’ve won what they won in 10 years, so I’m happy with that.”
The victory also saw United move ahead of Liverpool as the most-successful club in England, with their 42nd honour.
Ibrahimovic also likened himself to a lion after his match-winning performance for Manchester United in the EFL Cup final against Southampton.
The striker’s age had caused some to question how effective he would be but the 35-year- old said: “I’m an animal. I feel like a lion. I don’t want to be a lion, I am a lion.” Asked whether he meant he possessed the hunger of a lion, Ibrahimovic said: “The lion is born a lion – it means I’m a lion. I feel in good shape. I train hard. People who know me from the locker room know that I train very hard. I have an objective every season I go into. And to reach that objective I need to train hard and I need to suffer when I train; that is how I achieve what I achieve.
“I’m from the old school where they work hard and get what they get from doing the hard work, not like the new school where it
Yaya unsure of future
MANCHESTER. — Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has no doubts he will carry on playing next season, but the 33-year-old is unsure whether he will still be at the Etihad Stadium.
Four-times African footballer of the year Toure has been in fine form since returning to Pep Guardiola’s side, scoring six goals in 18 appearances in all competitions so far.
“In the past when you got to 33, you were done. Now with the science, players can go on much longer,” said the Ivorian.
“I don’t know about next season. I don’t think about it. I am just about enjoying having my team mates around. You have guys like Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling who sometimes pass me and say ‘Ah, uncle is on the phone’,” he told British media.
“When you see my career, it is one year, two years, three years maximum at one club. It is a long time. What the fans give to me, I want to give it back so I will do all I can until the last minute and if I am done, when I am done, I am done.
“It depends on the board because I don’t have nothing to say. I just try to play positive and win trophies for the fans.” — Reuters.
is easy to get what you want.”
Ibrahimovic added: “This is what I predicted. I came here to show people what I would do and I’m doing it.
“I came to win and I want to keep going. The more I win the more satisfied I get.”
Ibrahimovic celebrated his League Cup final heroics in typically bullish style as the Manchester United star insisted he never doubted he would thrive in England. Ibrahimovic scored twice in Sunday’s thrilling 3-2 win over Southampton at Wembley, opening the scoring with a powerful free-kick before sealing the first major trophy of his time at United with a clinical 87th minute header.
When t he Swedish striker joined United on a free transfer last year after leaving Paris Saint Germain critics questioned whether he was past his best.
But the 35-year- old has spectacularly silenced those jibes with a brilliant first season with
Rickie Fowler wins
MIAMI. — Rickie Fowler, buoyed by a brace of long-range birdie putts, won the US PGA Tour Honda Classic golf tournament on Sunday with a one- over par 71 in the final round at PGA National.
Key burdie putts of 40 feet and 25 feet helped Fowler overcome two tee shots into the water.
He started the day with a fourshot lead and with five birdies, four bogeys and a double-bogey finished with a 12-under total of 268 -- four strokes ahead of Morgan Hoffmann and Gary Woodland.
“My putter saved me,” said Fowler, who was in the water off the tee en route to a double bogey at the sixth, and shockingly in the water again off the tee at 17, where he salvaged a bogey.
He dropped another shot at the par-five 18th, where his third shot found a greenside bunker.
Despite the ugly ending, the round saw Fowler win for the first time when holding the 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour, after four prior misses. His lead had dwindled before he rolled in a 40-footer at the 12th and a 25-footer at the next, and his advantage was up to five strokes when he birdied 16. — AFP.
United.
His goals have kept United in the hunt for a top-four finish in the Premier League and now he burnished his already glowing reputation with a memorable Wembley double to take his goal tally for the season to 26 in all competitions.
But for Ibrahimovic, who has collected trophies wherever he has gone in a remarkable career encompassing spells at Barcelona, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Ajax, it was no more than he expected.
“This is a team effort. This is what I came for, to win — and I am winning. The more I win the more satisfied I get,” Ibrahimovic said.
“You appreciate it more the older you get. Wherever I have gone I have won. I think this is trophy number 32 for me.
“This is what I predicted. To many I could not do it. My friend, I keep doing it. I’m enjoying it in England.” — The Mirror.
Safa on new coach
CAPE TOWN. — The South Africa Football Association ( SAFA) is close to revealing who the new Bafana Bafana head coach will be.
SAFA spokesperson Dominic Chimhavi confirmed that an announcement will be made sooner rather than later.
“We are almost there,” Chimhavi told Sport24 exclusively when asked about the unveiling of the new coach. This week will be two months since the association sacked Shakes Mashaba, after the 66-year-old was found guilty of insulting top football officials. Earlier this month, SAFA announced that Bafana Bafana legends, Lucas Radebe and Benni McCarthy, were to have a hand in who the next coach would be. The 1996 African Cup of Nations winning captain, Neil Tovey, along with Farouk Khan, Buti Mathathe, Anna Nyman and Natasha Tsichlas are all part of the selecting committee.
SAFA recently released a list of candidates in line for the position. Roberto Mancini, Giovanni Trapattoni, Hassan Shehata, Hugo Broos and Bernd Schuster were some of the coaches SAFA was looking to employ as the national team’s new mentor. — Sport24.