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ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC

Zlatan ruled out of playing Brazil friendly

Sweden captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been ruled out of Wednesday's friendly against Brazil on Wednesday after picking up a minor foot injury during club duty for Paris Saint-Germain last weekend.

Zlatan ruled out of playing Brazil friendly

 

“Zlatan won't be playing tonight. His foot hasn't improved as much as we had hoped,” said Marcus Allbäck, assistant coach for the Sweden national football team in an interview on svenskfotboll.se on Wednesday.

 

The 30-year-old striker, a recent PSG signing from AC Milan, misses out on a chance to add to his 33 goals in 80 international matches and the opportunity to take on Brazilian teammate Thiago Silva, who also moved from the San Siro.

 

The iconic Swede scored twice on his league debut last Saturday as he led a PSG comeback against Lorient in a match that finished 2-2 but picked up a sprained footin the process.

Sweden coach Erik Hamrén is also missing Galatasary marksman Johan Elmander as he opts to lead the attack against the South American giants with Hamburg's 25-year-old Marcus Berg.

 

Berg was not included in the Euro 2012 squad that failed to progress beyond the group stages but has scored five goals in 19 appearaces at senior level after coming up through the Swedish youth ranks.

 

The friendly will mark the final match to be played at the Råsunda stadium in the suburbs of Stockholm and the venue where Brazil famously defeated Sweden 5-2 in the 1958 World Cup, with two goals from a 17-year-old Pelé.

 

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Zlatan statue loses nose in latest Malmö vandalism

The statue of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Malmö has suffered its latest damage in a string of attacks by vandals.

Zlatan statue loses nose in latest Malmö vandalism
Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

During Saturday night or in the early hours of Sunday, the nose was sawed off the Zlatan statue and the effigy was also covered in silver paint, media including SVT report.

Since being unveiled in the presence of the world-famous footballer in October, the statue has been damaged on several occasions.

At the end of November, Zlatan announced his investment in rival team Hammarby, angering many fans of his hometown club Malmö FF.

READ ALSO: How Malmö fell out of love with Zlatan Ibrahimovic

December has already seen paint poured over the statue and a foot sawn off, with this weekend’s incident adding to the list of crunching tackles against the Zlatan statue.

Police said on Sunday they would investigate the latest instance of vandalism.

“We have not received any reports but have been informed that damage has been seen by the public. We will go out there and make observations this morning,” Katarina Rusin, a press spokesperson for the police in the southern Sweden region, told SVT.

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