Adrenaline powers weary Ibrahimovic to dream debut

LOS ANGELES – Agence France-Presse

Zlatan Ibrahimovic said adrenaline carried him through his fairytale debut for the Los Angeles Galaxy on March 31 after two late goals completed a second half fightback for a dramatic 4-3 win over LAFC.

The 36-year-old Swedish star lashed in a sumptuous 40-yard volleyed lob to level the score at 3-3 before heading home the winner in injury time to spark pandemonium at the StubHub Center.

Ibrahimovic, who only arrived in California on March 29 and had not played since December, admitted he felt exhausted from his match-winning 20-minute cameo after coming on as a substitute in the second half.

“I felt I’d played 40 games for my 20 minutes,” Ibrahimovic said.

“It was everything - jet lag, didn’t play for a long time. I did the first sprint and I was starting to breathe immediately. I was happy when the game finished because I don’t know if I could have played more.”

The former Manchester United star said fatigue had prompted him to attempt his audacious lob for the Galaxy’s third.

“When the second one came, I thought I’ll shoot and not run with the ball. That was the ball that went in,” he said.

“I saw the goalkeeper he was out and I thought I would shoot it over. I chose the power way and it went in and you don’t want the adrenaline to finish.

“If I had more strength, I would have run all over the pitch, but I just managed the one side of the field.

“Under these weather conditions, it’s not easy. I was asking for sun cream after 10 minutes.”

Ibrahimovic, who collected winners’ medals during previous spells with Ajax, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and United, said he hopes to carry on his record of success with the Galaxy.

“This is the start and I just want to be part of Galaxy’s history in MLS,” he said. “This is the first of many games to come.”