Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro and Daniel Day Lewis of faking to shoot. Watch the goal above, for Paris Saint-Germain against Guingamp in today’s Trophée des champions, and watch the replays. You’re watching the soccer equivalent of method acting.
The two Guingamp defenders are fully convinced that Zlatan is shooting on goal. And they’re fully convinced because the big man isn’t just going through the creaky motions like Arnold Schwarzenegger in every movie he’s ever been in, Zlatan is committing to that fake shot in a way that would make Constantin Stanislavski himself applaud, even following through to the extent that he almost loses (or looks like he almost loses) his balance. With both defenders frozen, Zlatan is free to shoot for real.