Zero — that’s the number of goals Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored in World Cups. To be fair, he has played in only two of them — the second of them 12 years ago. His considerable talents weren’t enough for the Vikings to make it to either South Africa or Brazil.
But those failures did nothing to dampen the tall Swede’s self-esteem, and one cannot blame him for believing he has some unfinished business at the Greatest Show on Earth. After all, Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will be there, and Zlatan believes he is in the same league.
That explains his enigmatic assertion — Zlatan will be at the World Cup, he didn’t say in what capacity — after a Swedish team, without him, made it to the World Cup in Russia the hard way, beating Italy in a home-and-away play-off.
In his profound wisdom, now that his compatriots had done their bit, it was time for the World Cup to be blessed by Zlatan’s presence. Statements like “The chance of me playing in the World Cup is skyhöga (sky high)”, “If I want, I am there,” and “We are Zweden” would suggest the man is full of himself.
While it may seem conceited and selfish after he had turned his back on the national team after the 2016 European Championship, in Ibrahimovic’s opinion, “a World Cup without me is nothing to watch.” So typical of the great man!