Zlatan determined to make his mark
Ibrahimovic out to make history
HISTORY beckons for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the self-styled demigod of world football who yesterday proclaimed he was a legend who can dominate Euro 2016.
Should he score for Sweden against the Republic of Ireland this evening, the 34-year-old will become the first player to find the net in four consecutive European Championships.
He smiled when that particular stat was put to him at the Stade de France, but the Swede’s tongue sharpened once it was pointed out that his average of two goals per tournament proved he had yet to really rule on this stage.
‘I’ve been dominating wherever I go,’ he insisted. ‘I have no issue about that. I go in with a strong season behind me.
‘I feel really strong. I feel like I’m getting better and better with every year that passes. It’s about developing and learning new things. Not to be satisfied. You’ve got to have the hunger to be a better player.
‘That’s when I feel I have accomplished something, learn and practise and not just sit down and do nothing. I know what I want. I know that I am going to do it. ‘The legend can still deliver.’ This was box-office stuff and the most sought-after free agent in the game even earned the Roy Keane seal of approval over the weekend.
The Ireland assistant manager admitted that characters like Ibrahimovic are a dying breed in the game and felt he could replicate the sort of impact Eric Cantona made at Manchester United should he arrive at Old Trafford later this summer.
‘I take it as a compliment because if a player like Roy Keane speaks, he knows what he is talking about,’ said Ibrahimovic. ‘For me, in Manchester, there is nothing to see. What the future will be you will know soon. Whatever happens, whatever comes, I’ll be the same person.
‘I take responsibility on and off the field. To become a leader is not something you choose. It’s something you grow into. I’ve had this role the past few years and it has made me a lot better and stronger mentally. On and off the pitch.
‘You become the best by having team-mates that made you the best. If the collective succeed, you succeed.’
His career is not over, of course, and it was under Fabio Capello at Juventus that a 23-year-old Ibrahimovic was taken to one side and given some sage advice as he struggled in front of goal.
‘My fear at being summoned will never leave me,’ he wrote in his autobiography. ‘Capello was wearing only a towel. His glasses had fogged up. Capello came up to me half-naked in that room and I wondered again: “What is this? What have I done to you?”.
‘There is something about Capello, especially when you’re alone with him, that makes you feel small. He grows in stature. You shrink,’ he said, before revealing Capello’s method of inspiration.
‘Don’t get stressed out by the comparison. You are not the new Marco van Basten. Study his movements. Absorb them. Learn from them.’
And when Ibrahimovic struck his 50th international goal in September 2014, he reached the incredible milestone of netting in every minute of a football match. So, Ireland’s defence will know they cannot afford to switch off at any point during this evening’s encounter.
‘We want to start the Euros with a good game,’ he said. ‘We need points. We know that we’re not favourites but we are here. We’re not here to watch others play football, we’re here to play.
‘We want to go through and can’t focus on others. We’re here to enjoy most of all. I’ve played a lot of championships. I go into this tournament with freedom to play as good as I can. I feel strong. I go into the tournament with a good season behind me.
‘Hopefully I can bring that with me into the tournament and, first and foremost, into the Ireland game. It’s all about the 90 minutes.’