With Sweden holding a narrow 2-1 lead over Denmark going into the second leg of their European Championship playoff qualifier on Tuesday, they needed a big-time performance from Zlatan Ibrahimovic -- and he delivered. With two goals against Denmark, he helped secure a 4-3 aggregate win -- and the result might not be as good as the goals.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores twice to send Sweden to Euro 2016
Sweden needed a big game from their top player to make sure they go to Euro 2016, and that’s exactly what they got.
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Credit: r/soccer
No, your eyes are not deceiving you: Zlatan wasn’t even looking at goal when he hit that sidefoot shot. He’d seen the goalkeeper was going to the near post and knew that since Simon Kjaer had followed his own run across goal that the far post was empty, a simple tap in the right direction would get the job done, so why look to shoot?
As good as that was, it pales in comparison to his second goal:
Credit: r/soccer
It's a shame that his angle is the only one we have a good video of, because it hides the best aspect of the goal. That super-casual, almost bored looking walkup Zlatan used for that free kick produced a shot that started high and well wide of the wall -- and then bend hard to come back into the top corner. It's little wonder Denmark's goalkeeper got a late jump on it, because that ball had no business coming back like it did. It was absolutely ridiculous, and a jaw-dropping display of skill.
Denmark would come back to score two goals in the closing minutes, but it was too little, too late. Sweden have advanced to Euro 2016, and we’ll get to enjoy the absolute joy of Zlatan doing ridiculous things on the pitch in France next summer.
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