Steven Gerrard was supposed to be the story.
Wednesday night in Stockholm marked a landmark few English footballers have reached. Gerrard became only the sixth player to win 100 caps for England, joining an illustrious group and receiving a warm ovation from the Swedish crowd at the opening of the Friends Arena.
Yet by the final whistle, even the England captain knew the night belonged to somebody else.
It belonged to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Swedish captain produced an extraordinary four-goal performance to inspire his country to a 4–2 victory over England, handing Roy Hodgson his first defeat as England manager, penalty shootouts aside. But even four goals do not quite explain what happened.
It was the fourth that transformed an impressive individual performance into something unforgettable.
A Goal That Defied Belief
With the match entering stoppage time and Sweden leading 3–2, England goalkeeper Joe Hart raced from his penalty area to head away a long ball. His clearance travelled towards Ibrahimovic, who was around 30 yards from goal and had his back to the net.
For almost any other player, the sensible response would have been to bring the ball under control.
Ibrahimovic chose something else entirely.
He launched himself into the air and, with his body almost horizontal, struck an astonishing overhead kick over Hart and towards the empty England goal.
From roughly 30 yards.
The ball flew through the Stockholm night and bounced into the net.
For a moment, it was difficult to comprehend what had just happened.
The technique alone was extraordinary. Ibrahimovic had to judge the flight of Hart's header, position himself beneath the dropping ball and somehow generate enough power and accuracy while facing away from goal. His leg seemed impossibly high as he followed through, his body corkscrewing through the air with the momentum of the strike.
It was not simply audacious.
It was outrageous.
And Gerrard, on the night of his 100th international appearance, immediately understood that he had witnessed something exceptional.
“It was the best goal I have ever seen,” Gerrard said.
Previously, Gerrard had regarded Wayne Rooney's spectacular overhead kick for Manchester United against Manchester City as the finest he had witnessed. Ibrahimovic had changed his mind.
“Everyone knows how special that one was, but this one tonight, an overhead kick from 25 yards when the ball is six feet in the air … only certain players can do that, and he is a special player.”
At the final whistle, Gerrard walked towards his opposite number and personally congratulated him.
“Sometimes you have to hold your hands up to a special individual performance,” the England captain admitted. “And that was a world-class performance from a world-class player.”
Not Just One Goal - Four
The bicycle kick will inevitably dominate the memories of this match, but focusing solely on that moment risks overlooking just how complete Ibrahimovic's performance was.
He scored all four Swedish goals.
Ibrahimovic opened the scoring before England responded through Danny Welbeck and debutant Steven Caulker to take a 2–1 lead.
For much of the match, England appeared capable of spoiling Sweden's celebration of their new national stadium.
Then Ibrahimovic took control.
With 12 minutes remaining, he equalised to make it 2–2. Minutes later, he completed his hat-trick with a superb free-kick, putting Sweden ahead.
And then, already possessing a hat-trick, he attempted the sort of overhead kick most footballers would hesitate to try on a training ground.
That context makes the final goal even more remarkable. This was not a spectacular consolation in an otherwise forgettable performance. It was the final flourish of a four-goal masterclass.
For years Ibrahimovic has attracted a peculiar degree of scepticism in England. His domestic achievements with Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona and AC Milan have been accompanied by occasional questions over whether he truly belongs among the world's elite.
On Wednesday night, he delivered his answer directly to England.
Hodgson’s Young England Impresses Before Late Collapse
For Roy Hodgson, however, the extraordinary nature of Ibrahimovic's performance should not completely obscure some encouraging signs.
England had been the better side for significant periods and led until the 78th minute.
Hodgson used the friendly to experiment, handing six players their international debuts. Among them, Liverpool teenager Raheem Sterling offered flashes of his considerable potential, while Tottenham defender Steven Caulker marked his first England appearance with a goal.
Everton's Leon Osman, making his international debut at the age of 31, also produced a composed performance in midfield.
“For 70 minutes or so we played very well and deserved to be leading,” Hodgson said.
The England manager acknowledged that his series of substitutions disrupted the team's rhythm, but that was a risk he was prepared to take in a friendly designed partly to assess new players.
“I was anxious to look at a few players and the changes disrupted us,” he said. “I took the risk to give debutants a chance, and obviously things opened up, but for large periods I can be more than satisfied.”
Then came Ibrahimovic.
“Unfortunately, that's when Zlatan decided to step into the picture and win the game for them,” Hodgson said.
The fourth goal, he conceded, was the “crowning glory”.
Gerrard’s Landmark Becomes a Supporting Story
On almost any other evening, Gerrard's 100th appearance would have dominated the headlines.
He became only the sixth Englishman to reach the century mark, following Peter Shilton, David Beckham, Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Billy Wright.
Even the Swedish supporters recognised the significance of the occasion, applauding the England captain.
“That was really touching,” Gerrard said. “But I have mixed emotions.”
There was pride in the achievement, naturally, but Gerrard's attention was already moving towards England's larger objective.
“Obviously I am very proud for myself. All eyes were on me and there was extra pressure and excitement. Now I am glad it is out of the way and I can focus on getting us to the next World Cup. That is the big challenge.”
For Gerrard, then, Stockholm represented both a personal milestone and a frustrating defeat.
Years from now, though, when this match is replayed, the number 100 may not be the first number people remember.
It may be four.
Four goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Night Zlatan Answered England
Football has a tendency to exhaust its vocabulary. “Great”, “stunning”, “sensational” and “world-class” are applied so frequently that when something genuinely extraordinary happens, there are sometimes few words left to describe it.
Ibrahimovic's fourth goal deserves them all.
Consider what was required: the awareness to recognise Hart was stranded outside his goal, the imagination to contemplate an overhead kick from that distance, the athleticism to execute it and the technique to direct the ball towards the net.
Plenty of footballers would never have attempted it.
Very few could have attempted it successfully.
Perhaps only Zlatan would have looked at that situation and decided that an overhead kick from around 30 yards was the appropriate solution.
And perhaps that is why the goal feels so perfectly suited to the man who scored it.
This was Ibrahimovic at his most spectacular: powerful, technically brilliant, audacious and utterly convinced of his own ability.
The debate over where the goal belongs among football's greatest can wait.
On 14 November 2012, inside Sweden's new national stadium, Zlatan Ibrahimovic produced a performance that will be remembered long after the result of an international friendly has faded from memory.
Steven Gerrard arrived in Stockholm expecting to remember the night as the occasion of his 100th England cap.
Instead, like everyone else inside the stadium, he left talking about Zlatan.
And about a goal that hardly seemed possible until Ibrahimovic scored it.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
