Swedes look to Zlatan
Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be just as well called an 'enigma' than his nickname 'genius' given his inconsistent displays for club and country.
Going into Euro 2008 Swedish fans will be hoping that the Ibrahimovic that turns up is the one that came off the bench to score a brace and secure Inter Milan's third successive Serie A title on Sunday than the one who failed to score in their qualifiers and sneak in as the second placed team behind Spain, who they will oppose again in their first round group.
The 26-year-old - son of Bosnian immigrants -- has consistently starred for his respective clubs Ajax, Juventus and Inter but intermittently for his country despite rave reviews before major tournaments.
The 2006 World Cup finals was a case in point when he singularly failed to step up to the plate and left most of the burden to veteran Henrik Larsson who found it too much to carry -- Larsson has again been called up at nearly 37 years of age but this time round Ibrahimovic will have to assume his responsibilities.
However, till this season in the heated atmosphere of Serie A, Ibrahimovic in spite of his undoubted talent had given the impression that when he was involved in the major matches he lost his bottle or went missing.
Not that that seemed to be the case either for Inter coach Roberto Mancini -- who has described him as 'the phenomenon' -- or assistant coach Sinisa Mihajlovic.
"He (Ibrahimovic) knows everything and is impossible to mark," gasped Mihajlovic, who starred for the former Yugoslavia and for Sampdoria and AS Roma in Serie A.
Despite such plaudits Ibrahimovic has not always gelled well with the placid and stable Swedish people even if he was named 2007 sports person of the year ahead of hurdler Susanna Kallur.
One particular incident irked them especially, deemed by the Swedes to be emblematic of his arrogance and star status, was when he returned to the poor neighbourhood of the town of Malmo where he was brought up driving a Ferrari.
Ibrahimovic insists though that he is a different person from those days after having had two sons Maximilan and Vincent.
For as many people who don't admire him there are also as many diehard fans who cite his genius, highlighted by a goal he scored for Ajax in a Dutch league match against NAC Breda in August 2004 in which he picked the ball up 40 metres out dribbled round several opposing players and scored.
Love him or hate him Ibrahimovic is never dull but Sweden awaits the time that he really replicates in a major finals what he has shown he can do at club level -- should he do so then the 'enigma' will really have become the 'genius'.
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