The 2018 MLS All-Star team is one of the best we've seen in years, with a plethora of American and international talent. The side is led by Gerardo “Tata” Martino, current manager of Atlanta United and former Barcelona and Argentina coach.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic used all of his 6-5, 209 pound Swedish frame to open the scoring for Los Angeles against DC United on the Fourth of July, making it 10 goals from 13 games for the striker. The 36-year-old is doing everything in his power to restore LA to prominence in MLS, but the Galaxy aren’t any good.
Sweden slipped past Switzerland to advance to the quarterfinals, and there's no more popular narrative surrounding the team than its apparent addition by subtraction in not including Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 23-man squad. Zlatan World Cup rumors were swirling after Sweden knocked off Italy in a two-legged playoff last fall. But manager Janne Andersson elected to leave Zlatan behind and go with the team that navigated through a difficult UEFA qualification.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has shown his support for Sweden throughout the World Cup, but after being left off the 23-man squad despite his status as the nation’s all-time top goalscorer, you can bet that the Blue-Yellow’s march to the Round of 16 has been somewhat bittersweet for the 36-year-old.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Megan Rapinoe and Crystal Dunn are the three soccer players in ESPN Body Issue 2018, the tenth edition of its kind. ESPN hadn't featured more than two soccer players since the first Body Issue back in 2009.
In the build up to the World Cup, Zlatan had been quoted as saying that there is no such thing as a World Cup without Zlatan. This led many to believe that he would come out of international retirement and play for Sweden in its first World Cup since 2006. Although Sweden manager Janne Andersson ultimately decided to go with the group that got through qualifying, this Zlatan tweet shows that both sides have officially moved on.
Heading into the MLS World Cup break, the Los Angeles Galaxy got a much-needed 3-0 victory over Real Salt Lake on Saturday night with Zlatan Ibrahimovic heading in his side’s first two goals at the StubHub Center.
Five minutes before opening the scoring in the 61’, Ibrahimovic clashed with RSL defender Sunny following a scramble in the goalmouth that the visitors just managed to clear.
#1 Something Putin
The 2018 World Cup is in Russia so we can’t wait to make fun of Vladimir Putin, the only world leader with more shirtless pictures than Cristiano Ronaldo. The cat-loving demagogue is more of a hockey fan but we wouldn’t be surprised if he used threats of violence to ensure the Russians perform well. And if Russia can’t beat Saudi Arabia, we may as well call the Russian president Sadimir Pouting. Eh? See what we did there?
#2 Historical World Cup Comebacks
Zlatan Ibrahimovic had one bad case of the Mondays for the LA Galaxy. Playing in a rare Monday afternoon match against the Montreal Impact, Ibrahimovic was shown red for a petulant slap upside the head of Michael Petrasso in the 41st minute. To make matters worse, Ibra then made a slow, unconvincing move to the ground to pretend to be injured.