2025-02-18, 08:29 AM - Word count: 396
It's only a friendly but both teams are made up of hopeful academy products, each trying to do the most across the ninety minutes to prove their worth. It's a scrappy affair, the nerves perhaps stifling any real moments of magic but there is one player who doesn't look phased. Gibrahimovic's body language suggests he couldn't care less in fact, the service is minimal but there's no real effort to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. That is until stoppage time when Gibra came to life, it was as if he got the kick off time wrong treat the first ninety minutes as a warm up. What followed was a late late brace out of nowhere leading many confused journos scrapping their planned headlines and match ratings - 'Gibracadabra' is what the Accra Gazette opted for.
Gibra's second outing was more of the same in terms of his all round game. With limited stoppage time Zlatan didn't even get a chance to perform another late show for the Accra faithful. Scouts and pundits struggled to make their mind up on the young striker, was he any good? He could finish, no doubt but his all round game looked like he had just picked up the sport in recent weeks. The Gibra apologists will say the service was poor and he is a striker who thrives off chances as part of an attacking set up. Only two games into his career he had already been heralded as a hero and written off as a failure - quite the character building experience.
The third game was a chance for the real Zlatan to please stand up but even his biggest admirers were left twiddling their thumbs as the American-Geordie forward wandered round the pitch as if he was waiting for the whistle. When it comes to the draft, this unpredictability won't stand him in good stead but around the hour mark he popped up with a fine finish leading many recruitment teams concluding he might just be worth the risk. Accra went on to lose the game and the stats showed Gibra's goal was his only chance of the game. The big question any scouts will be asking is...is the service to blame? Or does Gibra need to do more to create his own moments?
Gibra's second outing was more of the same in terms of his all round game. With limited stoppage time Zlatan didn't even get a chance to perform another late show for the Accra faithful. Scouts and pundits struggled to make their mind up on the young striker, was he any good? He could finish, no doubt but his all round game looked like he had just picked up the sport in recent weeks. The Gibra apologists will say the service was poor and he is a striker who thrives off chances as part of an attacking set up. Only two games into his career he had already been heralded as a hero and written off as a failure - quite the character building experience.
The third game was a chance for the real Zlatan to please stand up but even his biggest admirers were left twiddling their thumbs as the American-Geordie forward wandered round the pitch as if he was waiting for the whistle. When it comes to the draft, this unpredictability won't stand him in good stead but around the hour mark he popped up with a fine finish leading many recruitment teams concluding he might just be worth the risk. Accra went on to lose the game and the stats showed Gibra's goal was his only chance of the game. The big question any scouts will be asking is...is the service to blame? Or does Gibra need to do more to create his own moments?
