Never again. It is difficult to put together two words that will have a more painful meaning. When you say “never again” for pain, there are moments when you ask yourself if the pain will be missed, because you are used to it. The yellow shirt, the “ten” on the back, almost two meters in height, 90 kilograms of bodyweight and a hairtail. The worst of all children. The original of all originals. Zlatan Ibrahimović ended the era in the national team of Sweden.
The defeat of Sweden by Belgium (1:0) meant the dropping out of the Swedes from EURO in France, but also the farewell to Zlatan Ibrahimović, the best player that Sweden ever had and one of the best players that football has ever seen.
On the occasion of leaving the national team, in cooperation with Volvo Ibrahimović made an emotional video in which he returns to his hometown Rosengard, the province of Malmo, hangs his yellow “ten” on the fence of the playground, looks at its nostalgically, and then turns around and smiles when he sees his sons, takes their hands, and leaves the playground.
Zlaja will keep playing, though. This is not an homage to his football career but to his national team career. That is an enormous chapter by itself, because if a player could ever be found in some club who is “greater” or equal to Zlatan, all national team players in Sweden together would be easier on the scale than the “Bosnian desire”.
Sweden will remember Ibrahimović as the player who was selected the best player of that country ten times. He will be remembered after the goal he scored in the match against Italy at the EURO in 2004, when he checkmated Buffon with his heel in 85th minute and thus won a point for Sweden, the point which turned out to be the crucial for the dropping out of Italy in the group stage and the qualification of Sweden for the quarter finals.
His last goals for Sweden were scored in November last year, when Sweden defeated Denmark with 4:3 in the playoffs for EURO. Ibrahimović scored three out of the four goals. There was no Zlatan’s magic at the EURO, but without Zlatan’s magic Sweden would probably not even see the EURO.
“To discover a new Zlatan? No. He is special, he is unique,” said the coach of Sweden Erik Hamren after the match with Belgium.
Hamren said what no one can deny. Such a playing quality, charisma, mentality and looks in one body were never seen in the world of football and in Sweden. When his former teammate from Inter Olivier Dacourt told him during an appearance at Eurosport five years ago that he finally started dressing better, Ibrahimović laughed, praised Dacourt’s taste in clothes, and responded: “I dress the way I want. I come from the so-called ghetto in Sweden. We do not wear suits. It is good to dress nice, but I am not trying to be someone who I am not. There are some players who see clothes in a boutique and buy the combination that is on the model in the shop window. They think that the clothes will fit them like they fit the doll, but that is not how it works. Because you cannot buy class, class comes by itself”. That response does not only describe his way of dressing, but also his way of living.
(Source: klix.ba/photo: eurosport.com)
