Ibrah banned from Sweden’s First World Cup Play-Off

Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss the first leg of Sweden’s World Cup qualifying play-off in March due to suspension after he brutally punched Spanish defender Cesar Azpilicueta with a shoulder attack in his side’s 1-0 defeat in Seville.

Alvaro Morata came off the bench for the hosts to score an 86th-minute winner in a tense La Cartuja and ensure La Roja automatically qualified for next year’s World Cup in Qatar.

The top spot in Group B was up for grabs before kick-off and Swedish boss Janne Andersson had hoped for a similar impact from Ibrahimovic as he sent him through at 0-0 ahead of his counterpart Luis Enrique from Morata.

But the 40-year-old failed to make any impact on the score after being introduced in the 73rd minute, but with only minutes to go, he certainly left his mark on veteran fullback Azpilicueta.

When a corner was kicked in from the left, the AC Milan attacker took no prisoners when his shoulder slammed into the back of the 32-year-old Chelsea captain.

Azpilicueta immediately landed on the ground in pain and after turning around, the Swedish striker soon followed suit, although not in the same pain.

Fellow Spain veteran Sergio Busquets  a team-mate of Ibrahimovic’s Barcelona during the 2009-10 season  led complaints to referee Felix Brych, and the Swede appeared to escape punishment on the pitch.

Azpilicueta was sent to the floor in agony when his Spanish teammates complained to the referee

But confirmed reports in Norway indicated Ibrahimovic was shown a yellow card by the referee, although none of the TV cameras caught him being shown the yellow card.

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The report adds that in UEFA’s official match report, Ibrahimovic is on the list with a booking, and as this is his second warning in qualifying, the rules say he will now play the first game of the qualifying match in March.