(no subject)
Sweden is going to that championship with the pretty flowers in red and white and blue and yellow. We became best runners-up the other night and got the last automatic places together with Russia and Denmark. The qualifications tournament were awful - we went to second half without scoring against San Marino, how's that? And only barely managed against Finland in Helsingfors, where autumn rain storms tore up the pitch and blacked out the commercial sideboards ("like playing inside a washing machine" said goalie Andreas Isaksson afterwards so you see it was dramatic). In the end we needed to win our last game which meant joining Spain as the only team in four years to beat Holland (they did in the WC final). However! The Dutch were already qualified, there was no Zlatan to get Rafael van der Vaart going (he got sent home with two yellow cards after the Finland game), and Sweden resorted to that tight and boring game they played so well against better teams in the past (and in the 2-0 game against Spain last qualifiers), and won 3-2. So once again the topic for debate is Zlatan vs the team, although also all the new players (Sweden hasn't had this many in a long time). And Zlatan went through yet another phase, for my (once teenage) love to deal with.
But we're there! I feel nostalgic and will post pictures and quotes.
Old school celebration spam:
(Heh.)
The game was great. Not beautiful except for Kim Källström's free kick, but great (you can see the goals here). To quote one of Sweden's most beloved sports journalists:
"Sweden is going to the Euro 2012.
And I don't know if they could get the broadcast at the Milanello or if Zlatan watched it, but if he did, maybe he sat cursing his yellow card. Or maybe he was happy for Sweden. Or maybe he didn't care.
But we were 33 069 in the stands at Råsunda that won't forget October 11 2011."
Before moving on to Zlatan, I would like to note that these players have joined the NT and it would be great to get to see them in 2012:
Martin Olsson, Blackburn:
Albin Ekdal, Cagliari:
Denni Avdic, Werder Bremen:
Ola Toivonen with the funny face, PSV Eindhoven:
And let's not forget:
Sebastian Larsson, Sunderland:
Marcus Berg, PSV Eindhoven:
Johan Elmander, Galatasaray:
Also of course there will be Kim Källström, Andreas Isaksson, Olof Mellberg and Zlatan.
***
Zlatan broke everyone's heart when he announced he might retire earlier than expected, at a press conference before the Finland game. His press conferences are always charged, nervous affairs, where he'll let a certain mood (arrogant, flirtatious, pissed-off, bored) colour all his answers, and eventually all the questions. This time he was resigned.
"Slowly, and at some pains, Zlatan arrived at the confession that he might not like playing football anymore", the sports journalist I quoted earlier wrote afterwards. "And as he did I thought of a clip of a young Zlatan Ibrahimovic at SVT Play or Youtube, where he is gelling his hair in front of a mirror, and whenever he likes what he sees he curls his upper lip like Elvis Presley and puffs out air in a very Malmö kind of way (that's how they say "wow".) Yesterday he would do it again - 'What I think? Huh...' - but in this tired way. Not like Henrik Larsson used to, with not a little hint of contempt, but not playfully enthusiastic like in that clip - you could feel he's done this before and he wasn't enthusiastic - even though the trademark smile was there sometimes, the spark. It's one thing to grow tired of us, the media dogs, and another and very different thing to tire of football.
I asked about the future, I said: 'Something you say more and more is that you're 'growing old', and I know you're probably joking, but...'
'No', Zlatan said.
And then came this long monologue, on the importance of nursing these little injuries and not to neglect them, to listen to your body and look after it, to respect your body and how much time it takes to do that, how your whole life, as a matter of fact, is about that and has been for some time, and more importantly, has always been about football, and, taking your mind off football for a second, you might realise it's time to discover if there is anything else.
When asked whether he is still able to feel that sense of joy about football, in practise or otherwise, his answer was direct.
'No', Zlatan answered. 'It's all routine, sorry.'
He also said:
'I don't ever go into the garden, just to play. And I don't play with the kids.' He laughed a bit, thought for a few seconds, then added; ' And they aren't interested in football. They do other things. The little one might have been swayed, but then he's too moody. Like how I was. '"
***
But I hope everything will work out for the best in 2012. Dear me, I think Zlatan's cute when wearing his straightened hair in a pony-tail like a mop on top of his head, it's not like melodrama in interviews is going to put me off.