Zlatan sends Holmberg support after penalty miss

Zlatan Ibrahimovic offered immoderate words of enactment to teenaged defender Smilla Holmberg aft her miss successful Thursday's punishment shootout ended Sweden's Euro 2025 run successful the quarterfinals pursuing an astonishing decision by England.

Sweden were beaten 3-2 connected penalties aft 18-year-old Holmberg fired her effort precocious implicit the barroom successful an unthinkable shootout that featured 14 players taking spot kicks.

Holmberg burst into tears aft her miss arsenic she headed backmost towards her crestfallen teammates but Swedish leader Ibrahimovic reached retired to connection immoderate comfort.

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"It was a bittersweet girl I held successful my arms astir an hr aft the game," Holmberg's begetter Ola Persson told Swedish vigor connected Friday.

"She is beardown and she has received a batch of enactment from some the team, supporters, friends and relatives, she adjacent got a substance connection from Zlatan present this morning."

Sweden's grounds goal-scorer for the men's squad is part-owner of Holmberg's Stockholm nine Hammarby and the 43-year-old messaged the young defender to archer her to instrumentality the adjacent penalty, and the adjacent one, and to support believing successful herself.

"The astir important happening is that no-one defines a vocation by those misses; successful fact, it's the opposite, you person to turn successful those situations," Persson said.