International Football
MALMO SUPPORTERS INSIST ON IBRAHIMOVIC STATUE MUST GO
“We are angry because he believes he can do whatever he likes and still be loved. He doesn’t understand how it is to be a true supporter.”
Simon Bengtsson is just one of many Malmo fans who is not ready to forgive Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
It has been a rough few months for the Sweden legend in his home city.
The veteran striker has seen his legacy as a Malmo icon toppled, both figuratively and literally, as investment in rival Allsvenskan club Hammarby and the boast that he wants to make them “the biggest in Scandinavia” proved the breaking point in a relationship that stretches back 25 years to when he first joined the club as a kid.
The statue honouring Sweden’s record goalscorer was only unveiled in Malmo in October, a beaming Ibrahimovic proclaiming to the sizeable crowd in attendance that it was dedicated to “everyone out there who doesn’t feel welcome”.
The striker was referring to difficulties he faced as an extrovert growing up in then homogenous Sweden – little did he know the statue itself would soon become persona non grata.
In the early hours of 5 January, vandals sawed the sculpture at the ankles until it collapsed, the final blow in a string of attacks following his investment in Hammarby that included cutting off the nose, spray-painting, and even an attempt to set the structure on fire.
The vandals account for the extreme end of the spectrum in the anti-Zlatan crowd, but the feeling of anger and disappointment is widespread.
“I would say a large majority of Malmo fans are disappointed with Zlatan,” Bengtsson tells the BBC. “Nobody I know defends him. Of course some think the vandalism is wrong but at the same time they understand why people have done it.”
Though he never won a trophy in Sweden and played fewer than 50 senior matches for Malmo, the club’s supporters used to see Ibrahimovic’s globetrotting success as a source of personal pride, thrilled to watch one of their own make it big. Now, they feel hoodwinked, and that sense of pride was not reciprocated.
“Before, he was something you were proud of. A global superstar brought up in our club, but now you don’t want to hear anything about him,” Bengtsson insists.
“He thinks we should be grateful for what he did for us but really he won nothing at Malmo. He was sold for a lot of money and that’s all.”
Fellow Malmo fan Alexander Ivanovski explains that there is a strong feeling of betrayal caused by Ibrahimovic’s decision to try to help Hammarby grow and not Malmo: “The reason it cuts so deep is it goes against what he always said. He has always said Malmo is his home town, he will always love Malmo and there is no club that’s bigger or can be bigger”.
The way Ibrahimovic chose to announce the business move made matters even worse, according to Ivanovski. “If he purchased the 25% and didn’t talk about it, or said something about Malmo, it would have been more accepted.
“But he bought a quarter of the club then said he wants to make them the strongest in Scandinavia. He didn’t just put in the knife, he turned it around to damage the Malmo fans even more.”
The outrage is so prevalent in the city that it has created an unwelcome dilemma for the local authority over what they should do with the statue.
Restore it, and the vandalism will likely continue unless resources are invested in tightening security, a move that isn’t likely to go down well among taxpayers in a one-club football-mad city. Move it elsewhere, and the message is that the vandals won.
What lawmakers will not be able to do is bury their heads in the sand. A petition demanding the sculpture be moved already has eight times the necessary number of signatures to ensure it is debated by the local government by the end of February.
Kaveh Houseeinpour, vice chairperson of Malmo’s official fan organisation MFF Support, is in no doubt regarding what should happen.
“We said as soon as he bought a stake in Hammarby that the statue should be moved. It was unavoidable that it would be vandalised unfortunately. For the sake of everyone it should have been moved straight away,” he said.
“After years abroad he has lost his grounding in the city and the club. The Malmo mentality of ‘us against the world’ created Zlatan, Zlatan didn’t create Malmo.”
Ibrahimovic left Malmo 19 years ago, and sold the property he once owned in the city back in 2015, so it is hardly a surprise that he isn’t on top of the zeitgeist there.
Perhaps, as the artist behind the statue suggested earlier this week, the sculpture would strike a better connection in a city where he has spent more of his adult life, and has a greater understanding of the prevailing mood: Milan.
Former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has been named the new head coach of the England national team, the country’s Football Association said in a statement on Wednesday.
The German, who is England’s third foreign manager, after Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello, will be assisted by Englishman Anthony Barry, the statement added.
“We are thrilled to have hired Thomas Tuchel, one of the best coaches in the world and Anthony Barry who is one of the best English coaches to support him,” FA CEO Mark Bullingham said.
Tuchel replaces Lee Carsley, England’s under-21 manager, who has been in temporary charge since the resignation of Gareth Southgate after England’s defeat by Spain in the Euro 2024 final in July.
-Reuters
German Thomas Tuchel has been appointed head coach of the England national team on Wednesday.
Born: Aug. 29, 1973 in Krumbach, Germany.
PLAYING CAREER
* Tuchel played for his local club TSV Krumbach, before moving to FC Augsburg’s academy at the age of 15.
* He never played for Augsburg’s senior side and joined German second division team Stuttgarter Kickers in 1992.
* After eight league appearances for Kickers, Tuchel moved to fourth-tier SSV Ulm.
* Tuchel made 69 league appearances for Ulm as a central defender before he was forced to retire in 1998 at the age of 25 due to a knee injury.
COACHING CAREER
* Tuchel began his coaching career with a youth team role at VfB Stuttgart in 2000, working with future Germany internationals Mario Gomez and Holger Badstuber.
* He returned to Augsburg and took charge of their reserve team for the 2007-08 season.
* Tuchel was appointed Mainz 05 manager in 2009, replacing compatriot Juergen Klopp.
* He guided Mainz to Bundesliga stability during his five-year stint at the club, gaining plaudits for his team’s high energy, attacking style of play.
* Tuchel took over from Klopp as Borussia Dortmund coach in 2015.
* He led Dortmund to a 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2017 German Cup final. He was sacked by Dortmund three days later.
* Tuchel joined Paris St Germain in 2018 on a two-year contract, replacing Unai Emery.
* He won two Ligue 1 titles, including a domestic quadruple in his second season, and guided the club to their first Champions League final, where they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich.
* Tuchel was sacked by PSG on Christmas Eve in 2020, despite the club finishing top of their Champions League group and sitting third in the Ligue 1 table.
* He was named Chelsea manager in January 2021 on an initial 18-month contract following the dismissal of Frank Lampard.
* Tuchel revived the team’s Premier League season and guided the London club to the Champions League final, where they beat Manchester City. Chelsea also won the Super Cup and Club World Cup.
* Chelsea sacked Tuchel in September 2022 following a shock 1-0 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb in their opening Champions League group game.
* Bayern Munich appointed Tuchel to succeed Julian Nagelsmann in March last year.
* Bayern decided to let Tuchel go at the end of the 2023-24 season despite a contract until 2025. Tuchel steered Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 2022-23, but they finished the last campaign without any silverware for the first time in more than a decade.
* Tuchel will become England’s third foreign manager after Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello.
* Tuchel will take over the team in January ahead of the qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup.
-Reuters
Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Mateus Mane has become hot property after Portugal named the 17-year-old in their Under-18 squad on Friday, one day after England included him in their squad.
Mane was called up for a second successive England youth camp by coach Liam Bramley before the team travel to Marbella for a four-team tournament this month.
Mane is eligible for both teams having played for the Portugal Under-17 side last season. As the Under-18 team is a non-UEFA age group, both nations are entitled to call the player up.
He made his England international debut last month against the Portugal Under-18 side who have named Mane in their squad for a four-nation tournament this month.
With both tournaments running concurrently, Mane can only play for one team and Wolves and England confirmed he would feature in Bramley’s side.
Reuters has contacted Portugal’s football association for clarification.
While players with multiple nationalities have played for more than one country if they are eligible, they are not allowed to switch allegiances at senior level – unless they have played only in friendly matches for the first country.
-Reuters
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