One of the early plotlines for the third season of Ted Lasso was the signing of Zava by AFC Richmond. The club added the talented, albeit eccentric, striker early in the season, and his addition led to a quick run of success for the club.
Ted Lasso confirms Zava was based off one of soccer’s wildest stars
We all knew it, but now we know for sure
Mark Schofield is a former college quarterback and attorney covering the NFL and F1.
However, that early success was more of a mirage than anything else. The team started to sputter, and eventually Zava became disinterested, deciding to step away from the game and focus on an avocado farm.
Zava’s addition led to speculation about who the show’s creators based the character on, and earlier this season actor Maximilian Osinski sat down for an interview with USA Today, and outlined the three real-life players that Zava was modeled on.
“Osinski says the character of Zava borrows from the “egos and energies” of real soccer superstars such as Frenchman Eric Cantona and Polish striker Robert Lewandowski. But the preeminent role model was Zlatan Ibrahimović, a Swedish-born marvel who Osinski does resemble, from the tall, lean physique to that man bun.”
“I read his book ’I Am Football,’ watched documentaries, and I just admire Zlatan so much more now, how he was raised, what people said about him, how he carries himself,” says Osinski.
Well, now that link has been confirmed, at least in part.
Ibrahimović announced his retirement this weekend, following a season with AC Milan beset by injuries. And his announcement even felt like something that Zava might have done. “Even my family didn’t know, because I wanted that when I announced it everyone heard it at the same time,” he said.
That led to this from the AFC Richmond Twitter account:
If Ibrahimović does try his hand at avocado farming, odds are he’d be pretty good at that too.
Just like Zava.
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