Thursday, November 14, 2013

14 November 2012 - England Gets Zlatanned

On 14 November 2012, Sweden opened their new Friends Arena in Stockholm with a stellar performance from Zlatan Ibrahimović in 4-2 win over England.

A crowd of 49,967 gathered for the stadium's first match, a friendly, and watched as Ibrahimovićfresh off the publication of his autobiography I Am Zlatan two months earlierput Sweden up 1-0 in the 20th minute. But England countered with scores from Danny Welbeck (35') and debutant Steven Caulker (38') to take a 1-2 lead into the break.

They held the lead until the 77th minute, when Ibrahimović controlled a long pass with his chest and volleyed the ball past goalkeeper Joe Hart for the equalizer. The Swedish captain then restored the hosts' lead with an 87th-minute free kick from thirty yards out.

But it was his last goal that was the most impressive. In the first minute of stoppage time, with Sweden still leading 3-2, Hart raced outside the box to head a ball away. It went toward Ibrahimović, about twenty yards away from the goal, who then delivered an overhead bicycle kick to cap the 4-2 victory.

1 comment:

  1. I remember this match. Ibrahimovic is one of my favorites.

    Thanks for this blog. http://www.futbalovezajazdy.sk/

    ReplyDelete

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