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The 30-year-old has a lot to prove to an English audience that has always been sceptical about his ability, and constantly accuse him of being overrated

Svend Bertil Frandsen  Sweden Expert Follow on

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If ever there were a team that Zlatan Ibrahimovic would to give his left arm to do well against, it would certainly be England.

Over the years the often outspoken and controversial Swede has developed a love-hate relationship with pretty much all football fans around the world, but none more so than the English.

Perhaps the reason is that British football experts are often caught referring to his supposed failure in Champions League against English sides as evidence of his overrated reputation as one of the best footballers in the world.

Despite the apparent accomplishments of Ibrahimovic, British media have been keen on creating the myth of his English curse based on the fact that he apparently always has failed to shine against English opposition as if that was only barometer to measure your true football qualities.

Forgotten is the fact that he has won no less than seven league titles in three different countries with four different teams and finished at the top of the goalscoring list in two of the last four seasons, once each with Inter and Milan.

ANGLOPHOBIA?
ZLATAN'S RECORD VS ENGLISH TEAMS
GAMES PLAYED WON DRAWN LOST SCORED WIN PERCENTAGE	19 3 7 9 4 16%

True, for a man of his qualities, four goals in 19 matches against English opposition (three against Arsenal, one at international level) is far from satisfactory, but perhaps it says more about the expectations laid on his broad shoulders than his actual accomplishments when football experts are prompted to call him "the most overrated player on the planet," as Martin O'Neill dubbed him at the 2006 World Cup.

One might speculate if the failure to recognise his apparent qualities on the pitch among English football fans is not rooted in his personality. Zlatan's reputation as a flashy showman, dripping with arrogance, always at war with the world, has not done him any favours with the English crowds who seem to have adopted the idea of him being too conceited to succeed against the Premier League's top sides.

Zlatan himself has contemplated over the reception he has often been given in England in his recently-published autobiography.

"Just as it has always been in England," he wrote. "I had the fans and the journalists against me, and there was a lot of talk in the build-up. 'He never scores goals against English teams,' etc etc. On the eve of the match, I held a press conference and, despite everything, tried to be, more or less myself. 'Wait and see,'I said, more or less. 'We'll talk again after the game'."

His team-mate in the Swedish national side Martin Olsson, who has had his share of English football culture after spending the last five years with Blackburn Rovers, believes that the English criticism against Zlatan is created to play mind-games with Zlatan.

"I think they say what say to throw him off balance. Everyone knows that he is an awesome player, he has won something with all the clubs he's played for. I do not think anyone can argue with that. Maybe they feel a little scared now, nervous when we meet them. If Ibrahimovic is in the right mood, anything can happen. Sometimes he doesn't touch the ball for 20-30 minutes and then suddenly explodes. Hopefully it will happen against England as well, says Martin Olsson to Swedish paper Expressen.

Despite the current shortcomings of a Swedish side struggling to provide the necessary backup for Ibrahimovic to truly shine in Euro 2012, he once again proved his instinct in front of goal against Ukraine.  Now, perhaps, is his chance to collect his long overdue credit in England as one of the world's finest footballers.