Zlatan Ibrahimovic is probably the only player on the planet who would come up with this defence after throwing the ball into the face of the opposition ‘keeper, but the ref seemed convinced.
Sweden’s talisman was on the scoresheet twice in a 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands in Stockholm this evening but probably his most memorable contribution was a highly amusing incident towards the end of the game when he threw the ball directly into the face of Faroes ‘keeper Gunnar Nielsen as he came over to debate a decision with Zlatan and another Faroes defender.
Nielsen was smacked straight in the face with the ball when Zlatan threw it in his direction but rather than offer an apology, he explained himself quite matter-of-factly in an interview after the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFrLvqkxQNg&feature=player_embedded#!
You have to hand it to Zlatan, not many, if any, players would have come up with such an explanation and done so as convincingly as he did, but the main thing to take away from the game from an Irish perspective was Sweden’s failure to go to town on the goal difference, even though they do remain three goals better off than Ireland (both are level on points with Austria) with six games played.
Hat-tip: 101 Great Goals
