Ibrahimovic 'proud' to become Serie A's oldest goalscorer

By Sports Desk March 18, 2023

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was "proud" to become Serie A's oldest goalscorer, but it was little consolation after Milan were beaten 3-1 at Udinese.

Aged 41 years and 166 days, Ibrahimovic's penalty in first-half stoppage time at Stadio Friuli saw him overtake former Milan defender Alessandro Costacurta (41 years and 25 days – May 2007).

Ibrahimovic – who captained Milan – slammed his spot-kick down the middle of the goal after being fortunately allowed to retake it, having seen his initial effort saved by Marco Silvestri before the VAR ordered it to be taken again after Udinese's Beto had encroached.

That equalised Roberto Pereyra's ninth-minute strike, but Beto restored Udinese's lead just two minutes after Milan levelled, before Kingsley Ehizibue wrapped things up in the second half.

"It would have been much better if Costacurta had kept this record," Ibrahimovic said to Sky Sport Italia after the game. "I am proud to enter the history of this club which is a great club where many great players have passed and that means a lot to me.

"This goal didn't bring three points in my first as captain and unfortunately the game didn't go as we wanted. I felt very well, I haven't played in the starting line-up for 14 months, the important thing is to feel good and if I'm as good as today, I can play, I have no doubts about that."

The Rossoneri have suffered seven defeats in the league, five of which have come in their last nine games, having lost just four on their way to winning the Scudetto last season.

Ibrahimovic suggested that teams have been putting a bit more effort in against Milan this season as the defending champions.

"Playing as the Italian champions means that each team faces you as if it were a final, it's different from last year," he said. "This year we have more pressure in all matches, it's normal but you have to be ready because everyone wants to beat you.

"This team doesn't have the experience of playing as champions of Italy, we can't have the same high performance in all the games, but that's not an excuse, it's just an explanation to understand the situation."

Related items

  • Medvedev battles into French Open second round after Koepfer triumph Medvedev battles into French Open second round after Koepfer triumph

    Daniil Medvedev staved off a Dominik Koepfer fightback to record a battling victory in the French Open first round on Monday.

    The world number five raced out the blocks on Court Simonne-Mathieu and eventually triumphed 6-3 6-4 5-7 6-3 in Paris.

    Medvedev, a five-time major runner-up and 2021 US Open champion, broke Koepfer's first service game in the French capital with that a seeming sign of things to come.

    Though the 28-year-old dropped his serve in the first set, Medvedev had little trouble in responding with the score finely poised at 3-2 to claim first blood at Roland-Garros.

    The fifth seed has only ever gone as far as the quarter-finals, three years ago, at the French Open but showed his clinical best to snatch the second set after holding all six service games for a narrow triumph.

    World number 65 Koepfer battled back in the third but the resilient Medvedev responded by breaking his German opponent early in the fourth set, finally securing victory in just over three hours.

    Data Debrief: Medvedev gets better of Koepfer again

    Medvedev has won all four of his meetings with Koepfer, with his most recent such victory seeing him reach the second round at Roland-Garros for the third time in eight attempts.

    Since the start of the 2021 season, Medvedev is 27-1 against players ranked outside the top 50 at major events, with his only loss in that run coming against Seyboth Wild in the French Open first round last year.

    Koepfer, meanwhile, extends to 1-17 against top-10 players in his career, earning his only such victory against over Gael Monfils – then ranked ninth in the world – at the 2020 ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome.

  • Euro 2024 absence caps cruel period for Netherlands midfielder De Roon Euro 2024 absence caps cruel period for Netherlands midfielder De Roon

    Netherlands will be without Marten de Roon at Euro 2024 after an injury blow capped a cruel period for the Atalanta midfielder.

    De Roon suffered a muscle injury two weeks ago in Atalanta's 2-0 Coppa Italia final loss to Juventus, subsequently missing Gian Piero Gasperini's side lifting the Europa League with victory over Bayer Leverkusen.

    The Netherlands international was in the stands in Dublin for the 3-0 win over Xabi Alonso's Bundesliga champions that secured Atalanta's first European trophy in history.

    Having already been named in Ronald Koeman's 30-man provisional squad for the Euros in Germany, starting in June, De Roon suffered another gut-wrenching punch after his absence was confirmed.

    "I can't imagine I've had a week in my career, or in my life, that has had so many ups and downs," the Atalanta man wrote on social media on Monday.

    "Lost the Coppa Italia, couldn't play the final, win the Europa League.

    "In that last euphoric state, I spent a lot of time with the medical staff: it turns out I can't play the Euros.

    "I will get over it, I will watch the squad and my friends as a fan, but for now it's a very tough day."

    De Roon has won 42 caps for his country and featured at the last European Championships and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

    His absence means Koeman has to cut just six players down from his provisional squad for the final 23-man selection, which will be announced on Wednesday.

    Netherlands open their Euro 2024 campaign against Poland on June 16 before facing France and Austria in the group stages.

    Koeman's squad assembled on Monday for their pre-tournament training camp, ahead of warm-up matches with Canada and Iceland.

  • Al-Nassr 4-2 Al-Ittihad: Ronaldo breaks Saudi Pro League scoring record in final-day win Al-Nassr 4-2 Al-Ittihad: Ronaldo breaks Saudi Pro League scoring record in final-day win

    Cristiano Ronaldo claimed a piece of Saudi Pro League history after scoring twice in Al-Nassr's 4-2 final-day victory over 10-man Al-Ittihad on Monday.

    The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was on target in either half at Al Awal Park, moving to 35 goals across the 2023-24 league campaign in Saudi Arabia.

    Ronaldo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time after receiving a long ball from Mohammed Al-Fatil, before doubling his tally – and Al-Nassr's lead – with a header from Marcelo Brozovic's corner.

    That second finish after Suwailem Al Manhali was dismissed for the visitors saw Ronaldo eclipse Abderrazak Hamdallah's 34-goal tally – in the 2018-19 season – for the most strikes in a single campaign.

    Abdulrahman Ghareeb then added another from the penalty spot before Meshari Al Nemer made sure of three points after late goals from Farhah Al Shamrani and Fabinho had pulled Al-Ittihad back into contention.

    Having already been unable to stop Al-Hilal secure the title, Al-Nassr finish second in the table – ending on 82 points after 26 wins from the 34-match campaign.

    Data Debrief: Al-Nassr dominance pays off

    Much will be made of the record-breaking Ronaldo, who has scored 50 goals in as many games across all competitions this season.

    Yet Al-Nassr were dominant from the off in this one, mustering nine shots on target to Al-Ittihad's three, while accumulating 2.73 expected goals (xG) – far superior to the visitors' 1.43 xG.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.