USA

“The football I grew up playing is no longer there. Today, all players care about are their cars, their shoes with their names on, and their image. While for me, the only thing that counted was football. Nothing else.” -Miroslav Klose

Football is under attack. It’s a sentiment that, regardless of how much it resonates with you, is often expressed and passionately argued. Whatever the reason, be it the influx of money, the unsporting concentration of talent or the diminished draw of the international game, there’s cause for cynicism. 

So some giant Swede came to America last week and showed everyone how to do the soccer. Needless to say, people went nuts. Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his debut for the LA Galaxy over the weekend and made an immediate impact. Of course he did. The Zlatan debut goals had sports fans of all types absolutely buzzing Saturday afternoon.

A year and a half ago, Zlatan Ibrahimovic told the world that he’d been thinking about a move to North America. “It’s a huge option for me,” said the Manchester United striker. “For the football and everything else. I can see myself conquering the U.S. as I have with Europe. Lots of people stay in one place throughout their career, but I’ve travelled around like Napoleon, and conquered every new country where I’ve sat foot.

We thought it might be a dream, one of those real-enough-to-be-real but surreal-enough-to-be-a-dream dreams, but it isn't a dream. We were wide awake the whole time and ZLATAN IS HERE.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrived in Los Angeles last night and was greeted by a throng of fans.

He then trained with his new club for the first time.