Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Alan Pardew relishing facing Manchester United superstar again after meeting in Sweden nearly 20 years ago
Pardew ran into a young Zlatan with his Swedish wife and can't wait to take him on with Crystal Palace tomorrow
CRYSTAL PALACE boss Alan Pardew can't wait for tomorrow's visit of Manchester United.
The clash at Selhurst Park will see him lock horns with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who he ran into in Sweden 18 years ago.
Pardew said: "Coming up against Zlatan is one thing I've not done in my career and I'm looking forward to it.
Sounding a bit like a star-struck teenager telling his pals about meeting his celebrity hero, Pardew said of Zlatan: "I met him when he was 17 in Sweden.
"My wife is Swedish and her family all love him to bits. He's an icon there, almost god-like.
"He always makes me smile, and he makes me smile as a person because I think he plays in the right spirit.
"He probably doesn't remember but it was a social kind of meeting and he carried himself well and spoke well, very professionally, even at a young age."
Pardew will be hoping that his defence is in the mood to repeat the shut-out in their previous home game, against Southampton.
If they play as they did at Swansea and Hull, where they shipped a total of EIGHT goals, Zlatan could have a field day.
But he would have jumped at the chance to manage the Sweden legend in the Premier League.
Keep up to date with ALL the Crystal Palace news, gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary
The Eagles manager reckons Ibrahimovic would have been a smash hit with the fans of a number of his previous clubs.
Pardew said: "Of course - can you imagine him at Newcastle, or West Ham, or here? They'd have loved him.
"He's just an infectious kind of person and I think he represents the game in the right manner.
"He plays it hard but he plays it fair.
"He has got great talent, and he has scored some wonder goals."
A sign of how highly regarded Zlatan Ibrahimovic is in Sweden is the new 2.7 metre tall statue of him being constructed outside the Friends Arena in Stockholm.
In typically 'modest' Zlatan fashion, the striker compared it to the Statue of Liberty.