The former Swedish striker believes he was a more complete player than the Norwegian goalscorer.
What is most relevant in defining a great football player? Goals are the statistic that many prioritize when remembering a footballer, but they are not everything. At least not in Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s opinion. And is there anyone with more authority to speak on this topic (or any other) than the Swede?
Zlatan’s reflection was based on an opinion from Alexi Lalas, who represented the United States of America in the 1994 and 1998 World Cups. The former defender had the audacity to state, with conviction, that he places Erling Haaland above Ibrahimovic. The Swede, to no one’s surprise, disagreed.
He needs to do a lot more to reach the level of a natural phenomenon, Zlatan began, in a Fox Sports panel that also included a certain Thierry Henry.
Lalas, astonished, asked: What more does Haaland have to do? He based his conviction on the more than 370 goals scored by the Norwegian striker for Manchester City, who is still only 25 years old, but that’s not enough for Ibra.
“He scores goals, he’s a killer in the box, but I saw myself everywhere, I liked playing with the ball. He’s one-dimensional, he’s intelligent, he does what he needs to score, but he doesn’t do more than he’s capable of, explained the Swede, before delivering the final blow.
I saw an interview where he said his dream was to touch the ball twice and score two goals. I would say something else, that my dream was to touch the ball twice and score three goals. Elementary, dear Zlatan.
Norway, with Haaland, Odegaard, Schjelderup, Aursnes and company, will make its debut in the 2026 World Cup on the evening of June 16 (11:00 PM), against Iraq.
