Zlatan Ibrahimovic drew praise from every corner after hescored all four goals -- including a jaw-dropping long-range bicycle kick -- inSweden's 4-2 friendly win over England. Ibrahimovic's 20th-minute opener madehim the first player to score at Stockholm's Friends Arena..
"When I got the long ball, I saw the goalkeeper comeout, and I thought, 'Should I go in for the duel, or wait for him to put itout?'" the Sweden captain told reporters. "When he put it out, I hadit in my mind to score -- to try to score. I tried to put it in the goal andwhen I was on the ground, I saw a defender trying to get it, but it wentin."
Ibrahimovic did not regard it as his best performance forSweden, however.
"I think I've done many, many great games," saidthe Paris Saint-Germain striker.
"It was important to play a good game in the new arena.But if you ask me which goal I liked most, I'd say the first goal, because itwas a historic goal -- the first goal in the new arena."
Ibrahimovic's performance overshadowed Steven Gerrard's 100thEngland appearance, but the Liverpool midfielder could not help but admire theSweden striker's display. "I have been playing football a long time butZlatan's fourth goal is probably the best goal I have seen live," he toldBBC radio. "I cannot pay a bigger tribute than that."
Sweden coach Erik Hamren said that Ibrahimovic's fourth goalwas "not possible", and went on to laud his match-winner for hismaturity as a captain. "He's been really, really good," said Hamren."Especially with the young guys -- he was their hero when they weregrowing up, and now they're sitting beside him.
"Yesterday (Tuesday), after lunch, I saw him sittingwith the three least experienced players; sitting and talking with them. Andthey were eating his words, listening so intently. It was really good."
Despite tasting defeat over 90 minutes for the first time inhis tenure as England coach, Hodgson expressed satisfaction with theperformances of his six debutants. Caulker, Leon Osman and 17-year-oldLiverpool winger Raheem Sterling started the game, with Carl Jenkinson, RyanShawcross and Wilfried Zaha all entering the fray in the second half.
Hodgson reserved special praise for Sterling, saying he got"better and better", and describing him as "a young man for thefuture". He also defended Hart after an uncharacteristically uncertainperformance from the Manchester City goalkeeper. "These thingshappen," Hodgson said.
"The third goal got a slight deflection. On the fourthone, he got an unpleasant bounce -- the ball really pitched up and he couldn'tget any purchase on the header -- and it led to Zlatan scoring his acrobaticgoal.
