Sweden switches focus from Zlatan to young stars

STOCKHOLM, March 22: Zlatan Ibrahimovic being unavailable for a big Sweden game would typically be a matter of national angst.
Not so much these days.
Sweden’s reliance on its all-time leading scorer – and possibly the country’s greatest ever player – has waned following the emergence of a crop of gifted attacking players who are about half his age.
Anthony Elanga, a 19-year-old wide forward, is enjoying a breakthrough season at senior level – at Manchester United, no less.
Dejan Kulusevski, 21, is proving to be a revelation at Tottenham following his move in the January transfer window.
Then there’s the 22-year-old Alexander Isak, the striker whose dynamic performances during last year’s European Championship made observers sit up and take notice.
Suddenly, Sweden going into the World Cup qualifying playoffs against the Czech Republic without the enigmatic brilliance of the 40-year-old Ibrahimovic isn’t the daunting task it once would have been.
For Sweden coach Janne Andersson, though, Ibrahimovic still has a huge role over the next week.
“He can contribute his experience here,” Andersson said. “I see him as a half-leader who can push, guide and give tips to the younger players, so he has an important role even if he does not play on Thursday.”
Not since Henrik Larsson was up front with Ibrahimovic in the early 2000s has Sweden been blessed with such strong attacking options. Having an icon like Ibrahimovic to mentor the country’s young forwards makes the situation even better.
Especially because the likes of Kulusevski, Elanga and Isak can relate to Ibrahimovic and his journey to playing for the Swedish team. Just as Ibrahimovic was born in Sweden to immigrant parents from the former Yugoslavia, Kulusevski was born in Sweden to parents with Macedonian heritage.
Elanga was born in Malmo – like Ibrahimovic – and his father is a former Cameroon football international. Isak is the son of Eritrean parents who moved to Stockholm in the 1980s because of the long civil war in eastern Africa.
“Zlatan opened doors to us people in Sweden that nobody can imagine,” Kulusevski has said.
Ibrahimovic might retire from national team duty again if Sweden loses to the Czechs. Or maybe after the World Cup, if Sweden gets there.
There’s unlikely to be too many tears shed when that does happen, though. After all, Sweden’s attack looks to be in a very good place without him. (AP)