In the World Cup qualifier against Spain, Zlatan Ibrahimovic caused an ugly scene. Now he declared: “It was intentional and I would do it again. “
Sweden will start the World Cup play-offs without Zlatan Ibrahimovic (40). The attacker had picked up a yellow suspension as a substitute in injury time of the last qualifying match in Spain (0:1), which was unnecessary for everyone – except Ibrahimovic himself.
During a Swedish corner, Ibrahimovic had brutally rammed his left shoulder into the back of Cesar Azpilicueta (32), so that the Chelsea captain crashed into his front man and finally to the ground. Now the culprit freely confessed: “I would do it again. 100 per cent. That’s me.”
What on earth had gone through his mind? “I did it on purpose, and I’m not ashamed to say that. Because he did something stupid towards one of my teammates “, Ibrahimovic told the “Guardian “ Azpilicueta had “played the big man” towards the unnamed teammate.
“You don’t have the balls to do it to me “
In retrospect, Ibrahimovic finds it “stupid” that he punished it with an assault for which red would have been appropriate, but: “I did it anyway to make it clear to him: ‘You don’t fucking do that. You don’t have the balls to do it to me. I’ll show you what happens if you do that.’ That’s why I did it. “
Azpilicueta’s only reaction to the scene after the game that secured Spain’s World Cup ticket was to tweet “All good here” and a photo of him smiling on the plane. And on the pitch? “What’s he going to say?” said Ibrahimovic scornfully. “He won’t tell me, he’ll tell my teammate – who won’t do anything because he’s too nice.”
The fact that he is now suspended does not seem to bother Ibrahimovic. “It’s not about that “, he says. “It’s about making the guy understand that you don’t make fun of someone who is down. You don’t attack a dog that’s not talking. You attack the one who is in a position to do something. It’s too easy to bully my teammates who are 20 and very nice. I hope he understands that now. “
