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Zlatan crocked

June 17th, 2006 | By: Jon | 6 Comments »

Sweden could well be without Juventus star Zlatan Ibrahimovic against England in Tuesday’s World Cup match because of a groin injury. Darn!

The lanky striker was replaced at half-time during Sweden’s win over Paraguay after complaining of leg pain which he sustained during the warm-up.

“I stretched it a little bit during the warm-up and then it got worse and worse so I had to stop,” said Ibrahimovic.

That might explain why he struggled so poorly during the first half.

Asked whether he would be a doubt to face England Ibrahimovic said: “I don’t know. We’ll have to see what the doctor says.”

Sweden coach Lars Lagerback might have dropped him anyway if he was fit. He hasn’t exactly set the tournament alight with scintilating prowess in front of goal. Still, Lagerbäck hasn’t been giving anything away.

“I really don’t know how badly injured he is,” said Lagerback. “We have to wait one or two days to see how serious it is.”

Sweden doctor Anders Valentin fears the striker will miss the England clash and that he could be sidelined for up to two weeks.

“It can be healed in 24 hours, but it could also take 14 days,” Valentin told Swedish paper Aftonbladet.

With Zlatan injured, Marcus Allbäck is expected to come into the starting line-up against England.

Personally, I don’t know whether it will be that much of an absence. Zlatan has not been firing on all cylinders for months. Then again, although Allbäck had a stack of chances against Trinidat & Tobago AND Paraguay he hasn’t reproduced the form that saw him score freely in Denmark this season. Let’s just hope Allbäck’s practising chipping the goalie on the training pitch after last night’s limp effort.

Tags: England, group b, Sweden, Zlatan

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Comments

By Nate | June 17th, 2006 at 3:57 am

Am I the only one who would start Elmander (assuming Zlatan is hurt and can’t play) instead of Allback? Allback has gotten good chances, but has shown very poor finishing. Elmander is the next big young Swedish star, and was the 3rd best player on the field behind Ljungberg and Kallstrom against Paraguay, despite only playing 10 minutes.

Posted from United States

By GAGO | June 17th, 2006 at 11:44 am

Y SAY HELLO T OZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC AND Y SAY THAT HE IS THE BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD.
RELAX ZLATAN NOBODY CAN PLAY LIKE YOU

Posted from Serbia And Montenegro

By Cajun Nick | June 17th, 2006 at 8:53 pm

Zlatan MUST start against England. If he can’t go, then sub him out.

Please excuse my insistance. He’s captaining my fantasy squad.

Posted from United States

By MM | June 18th, 2006 at 6:40 pm

Is Ibrahimovic injured a set back to the match against England do you think? Sweden has some really good players, which was evident in both matches…
But really thought he and Larsson would have had better fate (so to speak) with the net.
Wanted Ibrahimovic play against England. Oh how disappointing.

Posted from Canada

By football_fan | June 19th, 2006 at 2:08 pm

Well Elmander played quite good, but you can’ t say that he was 3rd best player on the field. Also remember those good chances on friendly match with Finland - his finishing was even worse than Allback, who anoys me every time, becouse of missing all the chances, he’ s got, but i have to agree, that his passes are quite good - strongly better than shots

Posted from Lithuania

By OH NO ZLATAN | June 20th, 2006 at 9:11 am

Man i cant believe his injured and wont be in the starting line for Sweden, man his is a very unique player and not lanky you idiots, what you could do with a soccer ball he could with an orange, or even chewing gum. Well for me he is the best and will remain the best, but very disappointing to hear that zlatan will miss out on the England match.

Posted from Australia