Los Angeles: Zlatan Ibrahimovic announced his arrival in Major League Soccer (MLS) with two goals on his debut - including an injury-time winner - as the Los Angeles Galaxy fought back from three goals down to beat Los Angeles FC 4-3.
Ibrahimovic -- who arrived in California only on Thursday -- lashed home an imperious volley from 40 yards just six minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute to make it 3-3 at the StubHub Center. The Swede then headed home Ashley Cole's cross in injury time to put Galaxy ahead in an extraordinary finale that lived up to the hype surrounding the veteran striker's arrival from Manchester United.
"If you look back, every team I played for, I scored in my first official game. I wasn't going to let that stop today," a delighted Ibrahimovic said afterwards.
"I heard the crowd saying 'We want Zlatan, we want Zlatan' And I gave them Zlatan," he added.
"You saw early that he was thinking of shooting, and I thought, it's gonna go in - it's Zlatan, it's gonna go in," former Galaxy midfielder Stefan Ishizaki, who covered the game for Eurosport, said.
Not content with that, the 36-year-old threw all he had into a brave header to steal all three points for his side in stoppage time, completing one of the most stunning debuts in MLS history.
"His touch, his movement - he's not fully physically fit, but he decides the derby from the moment he comes in. He's a magical soccer player," said Ishizaki, who made his debut Sweden debut alongside Ibrahimovic in 2001.
"He was a huge talent, back then he did things mostly on his own but now he reads the game in a completely different way and gets in much better positions," he added.
"Just that he went there (to Galaxy) means so much. A big star like that attracts media, shirt sales, ticket sales - just the name Zlatan generates so much for Galaxy," Ishizaki said.
Another former MLS Swede marvelling at Ibra's show was ex-San Jose Earthquakes striker Henok Goitom, who expressed his sympathy for goalkeeper Miller while praising his country's greatest goal-scorer of all time.
"Against great players, you have to be ready for anything - they play so much faster than anyone else," Goitom said, adding that Ibrahimovic took the risk of being knocked out when heading the winner that sent Swedes in front of their TVs into raptures.
"You always feel a sense of pride when a Swede does well out in the wider world," Goitom said.
Los Angeles Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid hailed Ibrahimovic's "world class" second goal. "Ibrahimovic is the perfect definition of a guy who always dares to be brilliant," Schmid said. "If you do that, you can pull off things. That's a goal that will go around the world."
