PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Swedish football has thanked the great Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Now everyone is asking themselves what happens next with “Ibra”.
“The feeling is that the distance between Swedish football and Zlatan is greater than before”, writes a concerned Olof Lundh in a column on the Fotbollskanalen.
On Saturday night got Zlatan Ibrahimovic his big departure after a fantastic playing career. Friends’ arena was sold out for a training match against Serbia and everyone was there to pay tribute to Swedish football’s greatest ever player.
Zlatan’s tribute
Much can be said about the tribute ceremony itself and that it should probably have been more lavish for the Swedish men’s national team’s all-time leading scorer. Because Zlatan probably deserves an even bigger tribute than he actually got, such is the importance he has had for Swedish football in the 21st century.
“Zlatan’s unparalleled career took him from Malmö and out into the world and he made sure to work his way up to become one of the world’s greatest players in a period when the competition was greater than ever. The imprint on Swedish football is enormous and it is through Zlatan that Swedish football is mostly known around the world today,” writes the TV4 profile Olof Lundh in a column on Fotbollskanalen.
“It’s almost how you would have liked Jon Dahl Tomasson to invite Zlatan to the dressing room to set out the direction. He if anyone can make young players step up. The older Zlatan has had that effect on many young players in club teams and in the last few years in the national team. They look up to Zlatan”.
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But what is actually happening now? Ibrahimovic is currently working as an advisor to Milan and the question is whether he will ever return to Swedish football again or if we have lost our blue and yellow icon forever.
“The question is what does the future hold? When Zlatan returned home from the USA, the family moved to Stockholm and he became a partner in the company, which owns 49 percent of Hammarby. It looked as if Swedish football could benefit in various ways from contacts and experiences,” writes Lundh in his column.
“Then it was Milan and the family with the soccer-playing sons moved to Italy. The feeling is that the distance between Swedish football and Zlatan is greater than before and that his role in Milan’s ownership company does not speak for him having a future role in Swedish football”.
Lundh invites
The TV4 profile speculates on different ways in which Zlatan can be noticed more in order to retain him more in Swedish football. Where the statue became a disaster and plans to change the name of Friends’ arena to “Zlatan arena” are now crushed with Strawberry’s entry.
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Now Olof Lundh says what everyone is really thinking and what Swedish football must do to keep one of our biggest national team heroes with all his invaluable knowledge.
“More important than that kind of symbolic actions is opening up communication with Zlatan. It is clear that he can contribute to Swedish football and bring everything from experience, ideas and contacts to the Swedish Confederation Chancellery. Make sure to cultivate those contacts starting Saturday evening,” writes the experienced journalist and vents to SvFF.
“Even though Zlatan has done an enormous amount for Swedish football, it must not end with a thank you and something symbolic. It would be a misconduct not to try to take advantage of what Zlatan has with him after a long career. No one knows what the future looks like and it is important to have a working relationship with Swedish football’s greatest.”
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READ MORE: Jon Dahl Tomasson’s powerful tribute to Zlatan Ibrahimovic – words straight from the heart: “I wish he was…”
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