David Beckham to Zlatan Ibrahimovic: 500 goals makes you really, really old!
Ibrahimovic reached landmark in Galaxy's 5-3 loss to Toronto
Monday 17 September 2018 15:37, UK
David Beckham has paid tribute to Zlatan Ibrahimovic by joking that the striker is "really, really old" after reaching the milestone of 500 career goals.
Ibrahimovic brought up goal No 500 in sensational style on the weekend, scoring with an improvised spin and flick in LA Galaxy's 5-3 defeat to Toronto FC.
In doing so, the Swede joined Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the only active players to reach the milestone, and went on to declare himself 'God of goals' on Twitter.
Having played with Ibrahimovic at Paris Saint-Germain, Beckham congratulated his former team-mate, and quipped that the 36-year-old should stop being so reserved.
"Zlatan, I want to say congratulations. 500 goals, what a career, what a player, what an achievement," said Beckham in a video shared by LA Galaxy's Twitter account.
"A pleasure to play with you, a pleasure to play against you, a pleasure to be your friend. 500 goals, that makes you really, really old.
"But on a serious note, congratulations. One thing you need to work on is that you're a little bit shy, so work on it, you'll get better. But congratulations mate, incredible."
Zlatan replied on Twitter, saying: "My friend! Thank you very much. I agree with you, I'm old. Will work on my shy side, I definitely need to improve on that."
Some 438 of Ibrahimovic's goals have come in club competition from spells in Holland, Italy, Spain, France, England and now in the United States where he has scored 17 times in 18 league appearances.
He has also scored 62 goals for Sweden.
