MONTREAL - Jacob de la Rose won't be among the nearly 21,000 spectators at Saputo Stadium on Monday watching countryman Zlatan Ibrahimović and the LA Galaxy battle the Montreal Impact.

If he weren't overseas, the 23-year-old Swede would definitely be in the house, though.

After all, the international superstar striker has long been de la Rose's favorite footballer.

"He's the best player Sweden ever had. Everybody loves him in Sweden," said de la Rose, who isn't at all surprised to see Ibrahimović enjoying success on this side of the pond in Major League Soccer. "I stopped being surprised five years ago by what he was doing. It's just natural for him right now."

While de la Rose hasn't met his soccer idol in person, he has enjoyed watching him play live with the Swedish national side on several occasions.

"It's been like the qualifications for Euros and the World Cup. And, the last Euros in France," recalled de la Rose. "We were down there, me, my brother and Filip Forsberg were there watching him against Ireland."

Helt ok. ���� Une publication partagée par Jacob de la Rose (@delarosejacob) le 13 Juin 2016 à 8 :54 PDT

The Canadiens' forward enjoys everything about the way Ibrahimović goes about his business both on and off the pitch.

"He's on a different level. He's so athletic, so good at what he does. Being 36 and still playing at the level he is right now is pretty amazing," praised de la Rose. "I love it, especially when he scores. He's really, really cocky and confident in himself. It's just really fun to see him play."

That was certainly the case when Ibrahimović scored both the game-tying and game-winning goals in his MLS debut on March 31 against rival LAFC.

LET HIM EAT. Une publication partagée par LA Galaxy (@lagalaxy) le 31 Mars 2018 à 3 :02 PDT

"Those were some nice goals, but he's scored some even crazier goals, too," said de la Rose. "It's nice to see people realizing just how good he is in North America now."