A global panel of football voters agreed on one thing: Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s four-goal spree for Sweden against England last week and his amazing 25-yard overhead kick goal made him the overwhelming choice to top the Associated Presss Global 10 football rankings.
The Paris Saint-Germain striker collected an astonishing 199 points — out of a possible 200 — from the panel of 20 journalists around the world. Each voter awards 10 points for his choice of the best player and team of the week, falling to one point for 10th place.
“It’s hard to look beyond Zlatan after his virtuoso performance and video game ‘golazo’ for Sweden against England,” said Will Tidey of the San Francisco-based Bleacher Report, referring to Ibrahimovic’s overhead kick.
Added panelist Christian Schaetzle of German blog derfussballblogger.de: “Four goals in the 4-2 victory over England, plus the bicycle kick from 25 metres for one of the greatest goals of all times.”
Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch also had no doubt.
“How can you not go with Ibrahimovic?” Timmermann said. “As much as (Lionel) Messi did, I’ll never get another chance to vote for something like that. Messi gets my vote 24 out of 25 weeks. This time, I salute a tremendous effort, and a pretty good game regardless.”
Messi, who usually tops the rankings, trailed far behind Ibrahimovic in second place with 138 points despite scoring twice in Barcelona’s 3-1 victory over Real Zaragoza. Liverpool forward Luis Suarez was third with 75 points.