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RECENCY BIAS is a real thing. Too often in sports we want to call someone or something the greatest ever, and 99.999% of the time we're wrong. But then there is that 0.001%. Let me just say it: Zlatan Ibrahimovi´c's debut for the Galaxy on March 31—in which he entered in the 71st minute, scored once from 40 yards and again in stoppage, helping L.A. win 4--3 over LAFC—is the most indelible moment in MLS history.
Ibrahimovi´c had just landed in California two nights earlier. There were questions about the effects of a knee injury that had sidelined him with Manchester United for much of the last year. But what happened when he came into a 3--1 game is the stuff of legend. After Chris Pontius scored for L.A. in the 73rd, Ibrahimovi´c beat LAFC's keeper with a sidewinder swipe of his right leg, the kind of shot that few in the world would even take, much less finish. In the 91st, Ibrahimovi´c (right) headed in the winner.
Shortly after signing, the 36-year-old forward took out a full-page newspaper ad that read, DEAR LOS ANGELES, YOU'RE WELCOME.
Somehow, he undersold it.
