‘God’ Ibrahimovic set for divine intervention against Portugal

Zlatan Ibrahimovic may have played second-fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo last week but an interview with Swedish broadcaster TV4 highlighted the supreme confidence the striker has ahead of their second leg clash with Portugal.

Paulo Bento’s side take a 1-0 lead to the Friends Arena in Solna but the stage could well be set for the Scandinavian side’s one true global superstar to finally deliver the goods in front of his home fans.

Ibrahimovic can be backed at 5/1 to open the scoring against Portugal and after the comments he made in his recent TV4 interview, you would be forgiven for backing a man seemingly brimming in confidence.

Asked by a reporter who will win the World Cup qualifier, the 32-year-old quipped: “Only God knows.” But when the reporter noted that it would be difficult to ask him, Ibrahimovic replied, without taking a beat “You’re talking to him now!”

While the comments appear arrogant and downright bizarre, his record at home for the Blagult certainly suggests he could be a deciding factor in the outcome of the game.

For one thing, the man known affectionately as Ibracadbra has scored in each of his last four appearances for Sweden at the Friends Arena, making odds of 5/4 on the man scoring at anytime something of a banker.

And should the God of Zlatan smile fondly on his compatriots then even better could be in store, with odds of 33/1 offered on those backing the PSG man replicating the feat achieved in a recent friendly with Norway and scoring a hat-trick.

How well the Malmo-born forward plays evidently has an impact on the success of the Scandinavian side, with the forward scoring in four of their last five victories.

With Portugal winning just three of their previous seven away games, the prospects look good for a home win at the very least and with 9/4 available on a Sweden win with the former Milan man scoring, then it may be time to kneel down at the altar of Ibrahimovic.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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