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WEEKLY
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| Ibra steals the show in his first ‘El Clasico’ |
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Tuesday, December 01, 2009
By Umaid Wasim
KARACHI: Ten minutes into the second-half of the greatest derby of them all, Barcelona’s Daniel Alves crossed over from the right wing to Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the far post who finished off a flowing move in style with a strong finish to give Barcelona the lead in the Spanish ‘El Clasico’ between Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The Swede had been on the pitch for hardly five minutes after coming on for Thierry Henry in the 51st minute. The impact, however, was lethal as Ibrahimovic’s goal proved to be a winner after much of the pre-mach emphasis was on the battle between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Argentinean striker and the Portuguese winger are odds-on favourites to win the Ballon d’Or award and for many, their performance against each other would have been the decisive point in deciding the winner who will be unveiled on Tuesday (today).
However, in the first football match to be shown at cinemas all across Spain, both of them failed to impact the game.
Ronaldo missed a glorious chance when his shot was brilliantly saved by Barca goalie Victor Valdes before being substituted in the 66th minute while Messi too failed to find his creative spark and had a shot blocked by Iker Casillas in the final stages of the match.
In one of the greatest footballing rivalry, Barca and Real have always produced great performances against each other. For two of Spain’s most successful clubs, the rivalry is not only confined to the pitch but is also political.
Barcelona acts as a spokesman for the state of Catalonia which represents itself as rebels to the establishment in the Spanish capital of Madrid. With so much more than just bragging rights to be won, the El Classico means much more to the supporters of both clubs and Sunday’s game was no different.
When the dust settled on a tense and absorbing contest, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the star who had appeared set for little more than a cameo role but came from the bench to crash home the volley that gave Barcelona a dramatic 1-0 victory.
It was Ibrahimovic who had promised Barca fans a victory and true to his word, the lanky hitman was the man with the goods when it counted the most.
Many believed that he would have to take years to fill Samuel Eto’o’s shoes and maybe even longer to warm up to the Catalans but after becoming the sole hero in Sunday’s contest, the ex-Ajax, Juventus and Inter Milan striker may very well have become the newest Catalan sweetheart.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
