{"id":14685,"date":"2025-07-18T23:12:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T03:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/18\/zlatan-steps-up-to-support-holmberg-following-penalty-miss\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T23:12:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T03:12:18","slug":"zlatan-steps-up-to-support-holmberg-following-penalty-miss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/18\/zlatan-steps-up-to-support-holmberg-following-penalty-miss\/","title":{"rendered":"Zlatan Steps Up to Support Holmberg Following Penalty Miss"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"article-meta\"><span class=\"timestamp\">December 18, 2025, 04:21 PM ET<\/span><\/div>\n<p>Zlatan Ibrahimovic extended his support to young defender Smilla Holmberg following Sweden&#8217;s exit from the Euro 2025 tournament in the quarterfinals. Her missed penalty during the shootout marked a shocking defeat against England.<\/p>\n<p>Sweden lost 3-2 on penalties after an intense shootout that involved 14 players taking shots.<\/p>\n<p>Holmberg was visibly upset after the match, but her teammate, Swedish football icon Ibrahimovic, stepped in to console her.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8211; England triumphs over Sweden in a thrilling match to advance to the semifinals<\/strong><br \/><strong>&#8211; Hamilton analyzes the unique challenges of Hampton&#8217;s matchups<\/strong><br \/><strong>&#8211; Women&#8217;s Euro 2025: Schedules, Results, and Bracket Updates<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She was a sad girl who held her arm around another player an hour after the game,&#8221; Holmberg&#8217;s father, Ola Parson, shared with Swedish radio on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She is resilient and has received immense support from her teammates, fans, friends, and family. This morning, Zlatan even sent her a text message,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline inline-photo full\">\n<figure>\n<picture><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a2.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2025%2F0718%2Fr1520716_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=570&amp;format=jpg, https:\/\/a2.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2025%2F0718%2Fr1520716_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=1140&amp;cquality=40&amp;format=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a2.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2025%2F0718%2Fr1520716_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=375, https:\/\/a2.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2025%2F0718%2Fr1520716_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=750&amp;cquality=40&amp;format=jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" class=\"lazyload lazyload\" data-image-container=\".inline-photo\" height=\"320\" width=\"570\"><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"photoCaption\">Smilla Holmberg (center) missed a crucial penalty leading to Sweden&#8217;s defeat against the UK. <cite>Sebastian Gollnow\/Picture Alliance by Getty Images<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The legendary Swedish striker, currently with Hammerby, reached out to Holmberg, who had the next penalty kick, encouraging her to continue believing in herself.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s vital that no one allows a single mistake to define their career. In fact, it\u2019s about learning and growing from these experiences,&#8221; Parson emphasized.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Fan Take:<\/strong> This incident highlights the immense pressure young players face at high-stakes tournaments. Support from established icons like Ibrahimovic not only uplifts individual athletes but also fosters a stronger community within soccer, making the sport more relatable and inspiring for fans everywhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 18, 2025, 04:21 PM ET Zlatan Ibrahimovic extended his support to young defender Smilla Holmberg following Sweden&#8217;s exit from the Euro 2025 tournament in the quarterfinals. Her missed penalty during the shootout marked a shocking defeat against England. Sweden lost 3-2 on penalties after an intense shootout that involved 14 players taking shots. Holmberg [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40,4430,46,121,45,831,1589,4429],"class_list":{"0":"post-14685","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-holmberg","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-penalty","12":"tag-soccer","13":"tag-steps","14":"tag-support","15":"tag-zlatan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}