By SHAUN CUSTIS
ENGLAND new-boy Wilfried Zaha said the other day he thought only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to be better than him.
Well, he will have to consider relegating himself to fourth best in the world behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic too.
Crystal Palace star Zaha had just come on when the Swedish skipper produced a stunning 35-yard overhead kick to rock keeper Joe Hart and kill off England.
Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson described it as “the crowning glory”. It was a harsh lesson for all of England’s debutants.
Ibrahimovic’s four goals overshadowed encouraging displays from Spurs centre-back Steven Caulker, Liverpool’s 17-year-old whizkid Raheem Sterling and 31-year-old Everton midfielder Leon Osman.
The big concern was the performance of Hart and a shaky display by Chelsea’s Gary Cahill.
And it was a surprise that Hodgson did not give Celtic’s Fraser Forster a second-half run-out in goal.
We have learned that Hart is not invincible and England are going to need a decent back-up keeper who has a few internationals under his belt. While the new Friends Arena stadium in Stockholm was smart, the pitch cut up before the start.
Sweden were coming off the back of a 4-4 draw in the World Cup qualifier against Germany last month, a game in which they were 4-0 down.
And, after 20 minutes, they continued where they left off.
Sterling was tackled and Martin Olsson got away down the left. His cross picked out Ibrahimovic whose initial shot was blocked by the sliding Caulker.
Unfortunately for the Spurs man he could not get up again quickly enough to clear the loose ball and Ibrahimovic pounced to prod into the roof of the net.
Tom Cleverley should have equalised after Glen Johnson drilled in a cross but the Manchester United midfielder turned it wide.
Cahill and Hart got in a tangle to give Sweden another opportunity but Mathias Ranegie put his shot over the bar having been set up by Ibrahimovic.
Though England were really poor at the back, the equaliser came on 35 minutes and was started by Sterling who picked out Ashley Young.
The winger had a lot to do but easily beat Sunderland’s Sebastian Larsson down the flank and his cross to the far post was just begging for his United team-mate Welbeck to finish it off.
By 38 minutes England had turned it right round after Sterling was fouled.
Steven Gerrard delivered one of his special free-kicks which beat the Swedish defence all ends up and Caulker was there to convert.
In doing so he became the first debutant to score for England since David Nugent against Andorra in Barcelona 5½ years ago.
Caulker was in the middle of everything and, at the other end, he got the touch which forced another Ibrahimovic shot over the bar.
Hodgson made no half-time changes and Osman was growing into the game.
With a lovely turn he set-up 100-cap Gerrard, whose shot was blocked.
And the Everton man fired in a right-foot effort from a difficult angle which Andreas Isaksson saved at the foot of his post.
Gerrard also had a shot pushed out by Isaksson before Cleverley was replaced by Jack Wilshere, for his first England game in 17 months.
Wilshere’s Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger must have been worried at seeing his man throwing himself into challenges on this pig of a pitch and would have been praying he got through to the end unscathed.
He took a bit of a kicking and Andreas Granqvist was booked as Wilshere was floored for the third time in as many minutes.
Arsenal’s Carl Jenkinson and Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross came on to add to the debut count as Sweden battled on for the equaliser.
Ibrahimovic blazed a good chance wide and England fans made the big mistake of taunting him by singing: “You’re just a **** Andy Carroll.”
They must have seriously tweaked his ponytail as he got behind Shawcross to chest down and volley in the equaliser on 77 minutes.
Then with Zaha waiting to come on, Ibrahimovic smacked a 30-yard free-kick low into the corner which caught out Hart.
He saved the best until last though. Hart came out of his box to head clear and Ibrahimovic produced his unbelievable overhead kick to complete the job for Sweden.
The visiting fans were not giving him stick any more — in fact they applauded his brilliance.
How often in England history have Three Lions supporters saluted an opposition player?
That was the measure of the goal — surely one of the best ever scored.
