Poland 2 Sweden 0: Robert Lewandowski upstages Zlatan Ibrahimovic as penalty helps seal World Cup spot

A WORLD CUP without Zlatan Ibrahimovic isn’t worth watching – according to Sweden’s greatest ever goalscorer and showman.

But even the great Zlatan must be sorely tempted to pull up his armchair and tune in to see what chaos Robert Lewandowski can cause in Qatar this November.

Robert Lewandowski fired Poland to the World Cup in a 2-0 win over SwedenCredit: Getty

The Bayern Munich star’s penalty set Poland on their way to victoryCredit: Getty

Despite his most memorable quote, the one thing Sweden’s iconic striker Ibrahimovic was never able to brag about was scoring at a World Cup finals.

AC Milan’s Zlatan scored 19 goals in World Cup qualifiers but even he blanked on the biggest stage of all when he failed to score in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup finals.

Don’t bet on Lewandowski suffering the same fate in Qatar this time out!

The Bayern Munich goal-machine proved to be his nation’s talisman again as he calmly slotted home his 75th international goal from the penalty spot, four minutes after the break in his 129th appearance for Poland.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 40, barely made an impact as an 80th-minute subCredit: Getty

Lewandowski is now set to run riot at Qatar 2022Credit: Getty

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Swedish hearts sank when clumsy Jesper Karlstrom lived up to his ‘unlucky 13’ shirt number and sent former West Brom midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak crashing to the turf inside the box.

It was a rash move by the Swede, who plays his club football for Lech Poznan – and he will never go short of a Tyskie beer in Poland for the rest of his days.

And it spelled the start of the end of Sweden’s World Cup dream as the reigning, twice crowned FIFA Men’s Player of the Year stepped up to face Aston Villa’s Robin Olsen.

A hop, a skip, and a jump later and Lewangoalski had bagged his 51st goal of the season to leave the Poles with one foot in the finals.

Napoli’s Piotr Zielinski was also on the score sheet for the hostsCredit: Getty

It was Poland’s first competitive win against Sweden since 1974Credit: Getty

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And the sorry Swedes hit the self-destruct button after 72 minutes when a defensive cock-up opened the door for Napoli’s Piotr Zielinski to race through unchallenged and beat Olsen from 12 yards.

Lewandowski almost added a couple more before the end as Sweden boss Jan Andersson played his joker and sent on 40-year-old Zlatan.

But even Mr Modest couldn’t pull off the miracle the Swedes required as Villa’s Matty Cash and Co finally got the better of the Swedes in a competitive match for the first time since 1974.

Harry Kane might just have some decent competition for the Golden Boot in Qatar this winter!

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk

Poland 2 Sweden 0: Robert Lewandowski upstages Zlatan Ibrahimovic as penalty helps seal World Cup spot

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