Steven Gerrard has heaped praise on "world class" Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic after he single-handedly destroyed England 4-2 in an international friendly on Wednesday.
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The Paris Saint-Germain forward was in devastating form as he fired home all four goals for the Swedes, including a stunning 25-yard scissor kick which caught Joe Hart off his line before nestling in the back of the net.
Speaking after the tie, Gerrard, who probably would have preferred to have marked his 100th appearance for the Three Lions with a more positive result, could not hide his admiration for the lanky striker.
Gerrard said: "He just scored one of the best goals I've seen live.
"I still stick by Zinedine Zidane, he was the best player in the world and the best player of his generation, but Ibrahimovic's performance was world class.
"I congratulated him after that. He said some nice things about me before the game which was really nice. If I could return the compliment I would say that was one of the best individual performances I have seen.
"He is not everyone's cup of tea but he is certainly mine."
England boss Roy Hodgson had used the match to test several of his fringe players, with no fewer than six players making their debuts, but Gerrard felt the numerous substitutions made proved too much of a disturbance to the team's structure.
He added: "When you make more than three substitutions it does spoil the game. The manager is under pressure from other managers and he is respecting those mangers.
"We were comfortable until we made changes. There were a lot of positives from our point of view, a lot of young players playing their first games and we can take a lot from this.
"All eyes were on me and there was extra pressure and excitement. Now I am glad it is out of the way and I focus on getting us to the next World Cup. That is the big challenge."
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