Eyes down, speaking quietly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic can still command a room.
He has been commanding every room he walked into for at least half of his 34 years.
Entering his last major tournament (barring a mooted trip to Rio for the Olympics) the thought of a Zlatanless Sweden must be terrifying.
You would nearly wonder if that is why Erik Hamren is quitting after the tournament. No Zlatan would mean having to answer questions in a press conference. Something the Sweden head coach seems happy to avoid if at all possible.
Erik Hamren all but ignored but when asked a question about squad he offers one line answer #irl v #swe
Zlatan = box office
— Mikey Stafford (@me_stafford) June 12, 2016
He is safe enough as long as Zlatan is in the room. Whether the subject is Ireland’s slow defenders, Manchester United, his own sporting mortality or Roy Keane’s comparing him to Eric Cantona, he happily holds court.
It is one of the simplest examples of how Ibrahimovic takes the burden away from his team-mates.
Perhaps the most remarkable element of Sweden’s disconcerting 3-0 pre-tournament win over Wales was the fact Ibrahimovic did not score. He led the line with his usual athleticism and aggression but left the goalscoring to Emil Forsberg, Mikael Lustig and John Guidetti.
For a man who has scored 62 goals in 113 international appearances it was unusual, but it is something Sweden must get used to. Unfortunately, from an Irish point of view, Zlatan is determined to go out on a high.
"I want to take the pressure off my team-mates as much as possible… Go on the pitch and enjoy it" #irl v #swe pic.twitter.com/5BsdZ1rtk1
— Mikey Stafford (@me_stafford) June 12, 2016
While he moved to reassure Irish fans that the perceived sluggishness of our centre-halves is not a problem – “I’m also slow so it doesn’t matter” – the man widely expected to join Manchester United is relishing the prospect of going out on a high.
“We always have pressure and I probably have the greatest on my shoulders. I want to take the pressure off the team. I’m used to it. I want them to enjoy it and go and play, just go out an enjoy it, it’s all you can do,” said Ibrahimovic, who is departing an international team that has been rejuvenated with fresh blood from the European Under-21 winning team of 2015.
But none of those European champions are a Zlatan.
In their defence, there is most certainly only one Zlatan. The man who has entered the Swedish dictionary, had stamps made in his honour and, almost single-handedly “embodies Sweden’s open and tolerant approach to immigrants” – according to one newspaper who suggested the latest royal baby should be named after the former Ajax, Juventus, Internazionale, Barcelona, AC Milan and PSG striker.
Martin O'Neill clearly does not rate Zlatan Ibrahimovic as highly as the rest of us https://t.co/nUt5B1jYTW
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 12, 2016
Ibrahimovic may dominate the Swedish zeitgeist like a modern, one-man ABBA, but one-half of the Irish management team are not overly impressed with him.
If Martin O’Neill is unsure about him, Roy Keane is a fully paid up member of the fan club.
“Is he like Eric Cantona? They’re big characters, clearly, whatever you say about Cantona he was a popular lad, and I get the impression Zlatan is the same,” said the Ireland assistant manager.
“Whatever you hear about his playing career, you hear from his team mates and he seems to be a bit of a character, and you can see that in the way he plays.
“It’s good to see that, because there’s a lack of characters out there, and he certainly is that. On top of all that, he’s a very, very good player.”
Needless to say, Zlatan was not going to argue with the former Manchester United captain.
“I take it as a compliment because if a player like Roy Keane speaks he knows what he’s talking about, he has been in the game.”
Ireland are arguably still trying to fill the void of personality left when Keane walked away from Irish football. You wonder how Sweden will cope when Zlatan makes his exit.
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