Zlatan Ibrahimovic: ‘The legend can still deliver’
In his adopted city of Paris, the 34-year-old held court amid continued speculation about his club future but batted his proposed move to Manchester United aside with one remark to concentrate on the business of completing his Sweden career to his own high standards.
It is difficult to argue with Zlatan’s assertion that he’s improved with the years.
Inconsistency threatened to stunt his trajectory towards stardom, particularly during his time at Barcelona, yet he’s rightfully gained the reputation as Sweden’s man to depend on at this European Championship.
“I take responsibility on and off the field,” said the man with 62 goals from his 113 caps. To become a leader is not something you choose, it’s something you grow into.
“I’ve had this role for a few years and it makes you a lot better as a player, strong mentally on and off the pitch.
“I’m comfortable with that. You become the best by having team mates around you to make you the best. If the collective is there, then it allows for the individual.
“I am getting better with every year that passes. I know what I want and I know I will do it - simple as that. The legend can still deliver. I have been dominating wherever I go; I have no issue about that. I go in with a strong season behind me.
“I come here to enjoy and that’s what I say to my teammates. I have the greatest pressure on my shoulders and I want to take the pressure off the rest of the team.
“It would be great to score in four straight Euros. But the collective comes first and the individual second. Whatever I do after that is a bonus.”
As for the challenge of Ireland, a bit like the rest of the 22 other nations at the tournament, Zlatan is more consumed by what’s going on inside the Swedish camp.
“We’re not here to watch other people play football,” he asserted. “We need the points against Ireland because we want to progress into the second round.
“It’s going to be a difficult game against Ireland because they are a good team and fight hard. I agree with our coach that it’s going to be a 50/50 game but nothing happens from talking here; all the matters is how it goes on the pitch for that 90 minutes. I’ve played a lot of championships before and I go into this tournament with a freedom to play as good as I can.”
Keen to temper that bullishness with respect for the opposition, Zlatan didn’t embellish the view of his teammate Marcus Berg that slowness in the Irish defence represented a weakness Sweden would exploit.
“I’m also slow, it doesn’t matter,” he deadpanned. “Ireland can still be good even if they are slow.”
The Malmo native was also effusive about Martin O’Neill’s assistant Roy Keane, who over the weekend had likened the powerhouse to Eric Cantona for his admirable character.
“I take it as a compliment because if a player like Roy Keane speaks, he knows what he’s talking about,” he admitted.
“For me, with Manchester (United), there is nothing to say. I feel happy for the moment. What the future will be, you will know soon. Wherever I go I will be the same person.”
An outsider looking at yesterday’s press conference at Stade de France could easily assume the captain was the manager, given the volume of questions aimed at Ibrahimovic but Erik Hamrén did get to offer some of his thoughts on today’s game.
“The tactics are done, I just have to finalise my starting team,” said the head coach.
“A lot of the players from our last Euros are more experienced now and we will be better for that. Remember, a lot of that generation reached the semi-final of the Euro U21 finals but our latest group actually won the tournament last year.
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