Stars of UEFA EURO 2016: Zlatan Ibrahimović
Friday, April 29, 2016
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Zlatan Ibrahimović has been his country's inspiration for more than a decade. UEFA.com's Sujay Dutt, in Stockholm, shines a light on the Sweden striker.
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At a glance
Ibrahimović's ten (and counting) Swedish player of the year awards speak for themselves. That haul, as well as his 62 international goals, is a national record. The impressive feats don't end on the pitch, though, Ibrahimović having sold 830,000 copies of his autobiography – proof, if it were needed, of his hero status in his homeland. At club level, the Blågult captain has won league titles in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France.
EURO pedigree
Ibrahimović got his first taste of major tournament football in 2002, when he came on as a substitute at the FIFA World Cup finals. Two years later he was a starter, scoring in his first EURO match – Sweden's 5–0 win against Bulgaria. Later, against Italy, an audacious karate-style effort became an instant classic, but Ibrahimović then missed from the spot in the quarter-final shoot-out against the Netherlands. He also scored twice in both 2008 and 2012, although Sweden did not get past the group stage on either occasion.
What he offers
Importance for Sweden
The numbers show how much Ibrahimović means to his team. Of Sweden's 19 goals in qualifying, Ibrahimović hit 11, including three in the play-off against Denmark. His strike rate for his country has soared during Erik Hamrén's time as coach and, as ever, he remains a great scorer of goals as well as a scorer of great goals.
International career
Debut: Sweden 0-0 Faroe Islands (31 March 2001, friendly)
Appearances: 112
Goals: 62
EURO final tournament (Sweden record)
Appearances: 10 (Olof Mellberg, 13)
Goals: 6
Record: W3 D3* L4
*One of which ended in a penalty shoot-out defeat by the Netherlands, in the 2004 quarter-finals
