Player Focus: Ibrahimovic Must Transfer Club Form to Country Against Denmark
Arguably the pick of the European Championship play-off encounters is the renewal of a battle between Scandinavian pairing Sweden and Denmark. Pride is on the line over the two-legged affair as well as a place at France next summer, with both teams desperate to avoid missing out on the chance of participating at Euro 2016 at the expense of their rivals.
With the first leg in Solna, Denmark know that if they can hold Sweden, they have a much stronger chance of securing a place at Euro 2016 at their expense. That, though, will be easier said than done. Erik Hamren’s side will understandably look to their talismanic captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic as a means of making home advantage count on Saturday evening.
Ibrahimovic, despite his advancing years, continues to be the shining light in the Sweden attack. As one expects, he shoulders the hopes of the nation over the coming days - having recently been named Swedish player of the year for the tenth time - as the Blågult strive to secure a spot in France. Fortunately for the national side, the 34-year-old comes into the meetings with Denmark in top form despite his advancing years. The PSG star is currently the highest rated player (8.34) in Ligue 1 this season and behind only Neymar (8.63) in Europe’s top 5 leagues.
After a summer of speculation linking him with a move away from the French champions, Ibrahimovic appears to be in some of the form of his career as he, like a fine wine, continues to get better with age. No player has scored more goals in Ligue 1 this campaign than the Swedish superstar (9), while his four assists is bettered only by Wahbi Khazri (5) in France’s top tier this term. As the focal point in the PSG attack in Laurent Blanc’s favoured 4-3-3 formation, he is tasked with not only finding the net, but bringing others into play, and it's something he is doing with aplomb.
He is averaging more shots per game (5.4) than any other player in Ligue 1 at present, while an average of 1.8 key passes per game ranks among the top 15 players in France. His size and sheer strength both on and off the ball has led many to believe he is the ideal frontman and the stats back that up. However, performing at the top of his game for a team that is expected to dominate their league and replicating his form for a national team that is bereft of world-class talent by comparison are two entirely different challenges.
Sweden’s national pool at present is lacking the personnel capable of reaching anywhere near the level of performance as Ibrahimovic. While the PSG star has nine goals in his last nine international games, if his impact is nullified, Sweden struggle. The benefit of playing for a team of PSG’s calibre is that those around him are in a similar bracket bracket - ability-wise - as Ibrahimovic. When playing alongside the likes of Edinson Cavani, Angel Di Maria and Lucas Moura, the trio are more than capable of holding the attention of opposition defenders, freeing up space in the final third.
Of course, these same defenders will look to stifle Ibrahimovic, but the spread of quality in the PSG squad means the striker is gifted the space to work his magic in front of goal, be it scoring or assisting. Unfortunately for Sweden, though, Hamren isn’t gifted with the same calibre of player as Blanc. As such, the charismatic frontman can be expected to be closely marked by the Danish defence.
Martin Olsen will surely have noted that nigh-on all attacks for Sweden over the coming fixtures are likely to come through Ibrahimovic. Given he is his nation’s all-time top scorer with 59 goals, this further reinforces the striker's importance to his national team. When factoring in Denmark have kept a clean sheet in each of their last five meetings with Sweden it's clear that the home side needs to put in an impressive offensive showing if they are to take a lead to Copenhagen next week.
With Ibrahimovic also guilty of underwhelming on the big occasion this season - back-to-back disappointing displays against Real Madrid in the Champions League, where he gained an average WhoScored rating of 6.46, a case in point - the pressure is certainly on Sweden’s captain to spearhead the offensive against Denmark. Of course, Ibrahimovic is a striker capable of performing in even the tightest of situations. The Denmark defence is expected to represent one of said instances for the PSG frontman as they bid to stifle Sweden’s primary attacking threat on Saturday to secure a positive result away from home, but the PSG striker's close control and ability to hold off defenders is certainly an advantage to the hosts.
Indeed, should Ibrahimovic transfer his club form onto the international stage, then one can expect Sweden to take one step closer to France 2016 when they meet Denmark this weekend.
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