A glimpse of Ibra in his natural habitat ———- Source:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Zlatan_Ibrahimović_Euro_2012_vs_France_07.JPG
Boy do I wish he wasn’t Swedish. Zlatan has a knack for the spectacular. He consistently amazes with his bicycle kicks, long range bombs, and his back heel magic. At 6’3” Zlatan uses his strength and agility to bully people off the ball, control possession, and win headers. He scored 39 goals and assisted on 16 others for Paris Saint-Germain this past season. Although he has been criticized for not leading PSG past the Champions League quarterfinals, he has consistently been the best player on PSG and in all of France. Zlatan has been a beast for the Swedish national team as he is their all-time leading scorer. He scored 11 goals in the qualification stages for the European Championship and he is the only player to have scored 2 goals in 3 or more European Championships. Like many of the players featured in this article, Zlatan is perceivably on his way out of the Parc des Princes. For years, rumors have linked Zlatan to the Premier League, and recently Juventus has thrown their hat into the race. Like Buffon, at 34, Zlatan only seems to be getting better with age. Whether or not he is able to carry Sweden on his back to a championship, remains to be seen. Regardless, watch out for the Ibracadabra this summer.
Other Players:
Starters:
Midfielders: Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modrić, Dimitri Payet, Robbie Keane, Arda Turan
Defenders: Jordi Alba, Vlad Chiricheș, Ashley Williams, Taulant Xhaka
Goalkeeper: The Gianluigi Buffon
Substitutes:
Forwards: Eden Hazard, Jakub Błaszczykowski
Midfielders: Mesut Özil, Yevhen Konoplyanka, Gökhan Inler, James Milner, Balázs Dzsudzsák
Sources:
http://www.espnfc.us/player/11001/zlatan-ibrahimovic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zlatan_Ibrahimović
Written By: Austin Tran and Chris Arora
How to cite this article: “Euro 2016 Key Players to Watch” Written by Austin Tran and Chris Arora (2016), European Cup 2016 Guide, Soccer Politics Blog, Duke University, http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp/tournament-guides/european-cup-2016-guide/ (accessed on (date)).
