This was the night any player would have dreamed of on the international stage. In the grand scheme of things, it will not matter if it was a friendly or not. What is going to matter was the way that the main protagonist, Zlatan Ibrahimovic took the spotlight.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was simply brilliant in the friendly against England in the christening of the Friends National Arena in Solna. The Paris- St. Germain playmaker had one of his most memorable nights in his career scoring four goals in a 4-2 win over the Three Lions.
All four goals were gems, including his low lying free kick that beat Joe Hart,but there was no doubt that the fourth one was a goal for the ages. Joe Hart came out of his area to head the ball away but Ibra was able to recover it and bicycle kick it from outside the area and score his 39th career goal with his national team. This performance sees the native of Malmo surpasss legendary goalscorer Henrik Larsson for third on the all-time list.
Zlatan now finds himself four behind another legend- Milan icon Gunnar Nordahl for second on the all-time list with the Swedish national team. The national team will resume World Cup qualifying play in March when they face Ireland and then against Austria in two crucial matches that could decide the squad’s chances to get to Brazil 2014.
Erik Hamren’s side continue to stay on pace with Germany although they have a match in hand and could equal Die Mannschafft atop Group C. The match against Ireland will be crucial as both teams are separated by one point and a win for the Swedes would separate them from the rest of the pack .
With his four goals, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has now scored six goals in his last three caps for Sweden.
