Zlatan Ibrahimovic has recounted the first time he met Anthony Elanga while he was at Manchester United, after the 19-year-old this week received his first call-up to the senior Sweden squad
The youngster was playing in the academy when he first spoke with Ibrahimovic, who had played with his father, Joseph, at Malmo. Remembering the exchange, the 40-year-old told of how a young Elanga approached him while eating at Carrington.
“We had some lunch at the training facility in Manchester with the team, he said (via SVT Sport ). “Then this little guy comes up to me: ‘you know my dad’. And I just help myself: ‘Elanga’. And then it was just... okay.”
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Joseph Elanga featured in Cameroon's squad at the 1998 World Cup. His Sweden-born son is now a United first-team regular having racked up 18 first-team appearances and three goals this season. His 2022 form has earned him a call-up to the national team for their crucial upcoming World Cup play-offs, where he will hope to make his debut.
Elanga’s inclusion in Janne Andersson’s squad is well-deserved according to Ibrahimovic, who described his fellow countryman as a “great talent.” He added: “We are proud and happy that he comes from Sweden. That he can represent Sweden now makes it even bigger.
“He has all the future ahead of him, and if he continues just as he has done, it looks positive. It's just fighting, never being happy, striving for more. It depends on him how far he can develop.”
Sweden face the Czech Republic in the semi-finals of the play-offs. If they win the tie, they go on to face Poland - who were given a bye after Russian football teams were expelled by FIFA amid the Ukraine invasion - for a place at Qatar.
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