Ryan Shawcross says that Zlatan Ibrahimovic ruined his international career

Ryan Shawcross says that Zlatan Ibrahimovic ruined his international career after scoring four goals when he had just come on to see out the game.

England had a 2-1 lead going into the final 20 minutes of the match against Sweden in 2012. Shawcross was brought to defend this position and the Stoke City player was just making his debut for the national team. He would have been hoping for a much easier opponent than Ibrahimovic. Even though the PSG striker did not have a great record against the England national team or any of the English clubs, he had a fearful reputation across European football.

The game turned out to be one of the worst nightmares for Shawcross after he witnessed a masterclass from the big Swede. There was a major warning sign after the striker has scored the opening goal of the 20th minute. The real fireworks, though, came just after Shawcross was introduced. The striker scored an impressive hat-trick in the space of 15 minutes to win the match 4-2. The hat-trick included one of the wonder goals in the history of the game. Even though Ibrahimovic remains as one of the greatest strikers in the last few decades, Shawcross has not been forgiven for his part in the defeat.

The player never reappeared for the England national team. “I’m the butt of the joke in my family, just because the 10 minutes I had in international football was ruined by one man.They are consistently saying that Zlatan ruined my career! I had a chance and I don’t think many other defenders have stopped him.I was given 10 minutes to show what I could do and probably didn’t provide a good enough performance. I was against one of the best strikers in the world who was on a hot streak at the time and these things happen,” said Shawcross.