Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s absurd MLS debut deserves a deep rewind

Who’s ready to deep dive the first ever El Tráfico?

Zlatan is a special character in sports. He speaks in the third person, he’s more arrogant than Gaston, and he seems to really hate wearing shirts. However, he somehow backs it all up and then some with his otherworldly performance. Zlatan seemed like a natural fit with the city of Los Angeles.

Ibrahimovic joined a storied list of international names who had sought out the city of angels to finish out their careers. First and most famously there was David Beckham, but so had Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard, Nigel de Jong – all incredible talents, but all men who leaned on both first and last name for notoriety. They were not like Zlatan.

Interestingly enough, Zlatan came to LA just after a brand new franchise also came to LA. When he joined the Galaxy, his debut came against their brand new, intra-city rival, LAFC. This is the story of worlds colliding. Zlatan and the MLS. Galaxy and FC. Jaw and floor. Let’s rewind.