15 Nov 2012

Ibrahimovic destroys England

1:16 pm on 15 November 2012

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored all four goals as Sweden celebrated the opening of their new national stadium by coming from behind to beat England 4-2 in a football friendly.

The Sweden captain became the first player to score at the Friends Arena and then struck three times in the final 15 minutes after goals from Danny Welbeck and England debutant Steven Caulker had threatened to spoil the Swedish party.

The result meant that Sweden avenged their 3-2 loss to England at Euro 2012, while England coach Roy Hodgson - who handed debuts to six players - tasted defeat over 90 minutes for the first time in 12 games.

It also meant that England captain Steven Gerrard had to stomach a loss on the occasion of his 100th cap, as Ibrahimovic moved ahead of Henrik Larsson and into third place in the list of Sweden's all-time top scorers.

In other friendlies, Germany and The Netherlands drew nil-all in Amsterdam, France beat Italy 2-1, Scotland beat Luxembourg 2-1 and Greece beat the Republic of Ireland 1-0.