by ‘Ifreke Inyang

 Even his national team coach was in awe. Erik Hamren said: “Sometimes, when Ibrahimovic is doing these things, in training or in matches, you don’t think it’s possible.”

There are a lot of footballers who divide opinions. But even at that, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is in a class of his own.

Last night, the entire Britain and indeed the world watched, as he bullied the Three Lions into submission, on his own patch. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi may struggle for individual honours year in year out, but the Big Swede, when in the mood, is definitely one of the best players in the world.

On an evening, when much of the pre-match talk, was about Steven Gerrard winning his 100th cap for England, it was the PSG man everyone was talking about after 90 minutes. He produced a performance of sheer power and lethal finishing.

Marco van Basten is the only player that has scored a hat-trick against England. No one has ever scored four. Ibrahimovic opened the scoring in the 20th minute, pouncing on a defensive mix-up to smash in the ball. Roy Hodgson’s men responded with two goals from Welbeck and Caulker. And the former Milan forward had the rest of the night to show off his abilities.

He brushed off Shawcross to tuck the equaliser away and grabbed his third, after he drove a low free-kick past Joe Hart, who looked bewildered himself. The last goal, was without a doubt, the pick of the bunch. Hart rushed out and headed the ball away. In one swift movement of his body, Ibrahimovic turned and volleyed the ball over the keeper and into the net. The stadium exploded.

Even his national team coach was in awe. Erik Hamren said: “Sometimes, when Ibrahimovic is doing these things, in training or in matches, you don’t think it’s possible.”

Maybe it was the England fans chanting songs comparing him to Andy Carroll. Maybe it was the B-list stars like Raheem Sterling, Carl Jenkinson, Danny Welbeck, who were on the same pitch with him. Maybe he felt the need to send out a timely reminder of his technique. Whatever it was that fired up Ibrahimovic, must constantly inspire him every other week.

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.