Zlatan Ibrahimovic is walking steadily towards the age of 40, still installed in the elite of world football. His return to Milan, after his stint in the Los Angeles Galaxy and MLS, brought the show back to the Italian Serie A. Now, about to say goodbye to an atypical 2020, Ibra confesses in an extensive interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
At first he may seem arrogant, but his more than 20 years in the elite of world football give him license to show himself as one of the most important footballers of all time. Since his beginnings at Malmoe, he has gone through Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, Milan, PSG, Manchester United, Los Angeles Galaxy and again Milan, the club that marked him. “I have played for many clubs and I have respect for all of them. But Milan is the club where I feel at home. I go to Milanello every morning and I'm in no rush to get home. This is how I felt the first time I came to Milan, it was in 2010. With Galliani and Berlusconi, with the team, everyone who worked there, there was another feeling, another atmosphere. I was told: 'You're at home, do what you want but you have to give results'. I liked this because I could be myself and at the same time played for one of the biggest clubs in the world. That's why Milan is for me to be at the top. “
“Xavi is in my eleven. Barcelona was a phenomenal team: first six months up, then because of the coach it was not well …”
Ibrahimovic
Ibra has a long history where he has had the opportunity to play with the best and when asked about his ideal eleven he does not hesitate to include Xavi, along with Vieira: “Barcelona was a team of phenomena: first six months up, then for fault of the technician (Guardiola) was not well … “. Also, of course, Maradona, whom he puts before him: Maradona, because he is the strongest of all time. Yes, he was also stronger than me. “Bufon, Nesta and Cannavaro, of whom he says:” He was crazier than me “, Maxwell, Maicon, Nedved, Vieira, Xavi, “the offensive midfielder Zidane” … Ronaldo, “the phenomenon, my idol” and Maradona.
In the aforementioned interview, he shows some of his most personal facets, such as his beginnings. He does not hesitate to recognize his humble origins, from “the ghetto”, how he met his wife Helena and how he hooked her up and how he tried to impress her with his red Ferrari and also from his thorns, he never won the Ballon d'Or.
“My goal against England in 2012, that's my vision of a (Chilean) bicycle … Then there are the ones I stole”
Ibrahimovic
“I never went downtown, I was from Rosengard, the ghetto. The first time I was there and I saw all those blondes, it looked like a movie, I was 17 years old, it was another world for me. I liked it and started going downtown all the time. time, In the afternoon. One day I saw her at the station, by chance, she got out of a taxi, I was with my brother. I told her, wow, sooner or later I'll meet her. (..) She didn't know who I was I wrote you, I'm the one with the red … He had a red Ferrari. What a shitty figure. But when you come from the ghetto, it's good to have a good car. It is a sign that you have succeeded. I was 19 years old, I had just moved to Ajax. She looked at me like a little boy, but I didn't give up. “
In sports, he recognizes that winning is his great “drug”, although despite this he downplays the fact that he has never won a Ballon d'Or: “I would not trade my 12 Guldbollen (the annual recognition of the best Swedish footballer in any league in the world who has won 12 times, the last one precisely this year) by one from France Football. Because for me they mean continuity. I have seen many who have won the World Cup, the Eurocup, the Champions League, even the Ballon d'Or, they had a wonderful, fantastic year, then they disappeared. But I've been in the game for 25 years. Always on top. Always on top. So I don't change anything for nothing, because something is like a knockout, a stroke of luck. This is not a fluke. There is a big difference “.
“I had a red Ferrari. When you come from the ghetto, it's good to have a good car. It's a sign that you've made it.”
Ibrahimovic
Regarding the goals, he has scored many, more than 500 in more than 1,000 games, but he keeps one, the one he scored in 2012 against England, in the Eurocup: “My goal against England in 2012. Backwards from 40 meters. Above. That's my vision of a (Chilean) bicycle kick. And then there are the bikes that I stole When I was young, not one, many: to go to training I had to do 7 kilometers, I did not have money to buy one and if I found one on the street, I would 'borrow' it and then return it.