Arsene Wenger watched along with the rest of the world, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, ripped England apart in a friendly match on Wednesday. And the Frenchman was very impressed by the Swede’s performance and the quality of his last goal.
“They say he’s a master in kung fu. You could see that on Wednesday night. You need some special flexibility, subtleness and physical strength to do that, apart from the fact that you have to realise what you have to do,” he said.
“When [England goalkeeper Joe] Hart headed the ball, he took a distance to eventually get the ball. There’s intelligence included as well. I’m an admirer of collective goals, but as an individual achievement, just you and the ball in the situation of the game, it is something exceptional.”
The 67-year-old also revealed why Ibrahimovic, who was 16 at the time, failed to move to North London.
“He came here to visit the training ground,” he recalled. “He didn’t want to make a trial because he was 16 years old at the time. He went home and we concluded to watch him again.
“I wanted to see him in training but it didn’t stop him from making a great career. In the end, he chose to go to Ajax Amsterdam. That happens. He’s not the only one in that case.
“The confidence he shows… if a performance isn’t there you can say [that] you don’t agree with it, but when a performance is there, you think [that] his confidence is justified. Through his career, he has justified why he believes in his own talent.”
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