Sad end for Ibrahimovic as Belgium advance

Friday, 24 June 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s international career ended in a damp squib when Sweden lost 1-0 to Belgium in their final Euro 2016 Group E match on Wednesday and failed to reach the last 16.

Radja Nainggolan’s fine shot after 84 minutes sent Belgium into the knockout stages and a game against Hungary as they finished second in the standings, level on six points with group winners Italy.

The Swedes ended bottom on one point and Ibrahimovic’s bold promise that he would never finish with a disappointment proved to be mistaken. He tried in vain to inspire his team and had a second-half effort ruled out for offside but Belgium, without ever producing their most fluent football, had enough quality to deal with Sweden’s sporadic attacks and create opportunities of their own.

“Zlatan has done a lot of important things in his career and would have wanted to go further here,” Belgium captain and man-of-the-match Eden Hazard told reporters.

“It was a difficult match, complicated for our defenders. In the first half we had some possession and created chances. Nainggolan scored an important goal and from then on we had to manage the game.”