Zlatan Ibrahimović
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| Zlatan Ibrahimović | ||
 |
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | October 3, 1981 | |
| Place of birth | Malmö, Sweden | |
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 31⁄2 in) | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Internazionale | |
| Number | 8 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1989–1991 1991–1995 1995–1999 |
Malmö Anadolu BI FBK Balkan Malmö FF |
|
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1999–2001 2001–2004 2004–2006 2006– |
Malmö FF Ajax Juventus Internazionale |
40 (16) 73 (32) 70 (23) 53 (32) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2001 2001– |
Sweden U21 Sweden |
7 (6) 51 (19) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Zlatan Ibrahimović' (pronounced [ˈslatan ɪbraˈhiːmovɪtɕ], pronunciation; born October 3, 1981 in Malmö) is a Swedish football striker of Bosnian and Croatian parentage who plays for Italian Serie A club Internazionale and the Swedish national team.
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Early life
Ibrahimović's parents were immigrants from the former Yugoslavia. His father was born in Bijeljina, Bosnia, and his mother in Zadar, Croatia, though they both met in Sweden. Ibrahimović grew up in Rosengård, a Malmö neighborhood known for its immigrant communities. He began playing football at the age of 8 for local junior club Malmö Anadolu B.I.
At age 10, he moved to rival club FBK Balkan, whose participants consisted of Bosnian and Somalian immigrants of the Rosengård neighborhood, though he was playing with kids up to 2 years older. He successfully completed junior high school in the ninth grade, and though he was admitted to Borgarskolan in Malmö, he soon dropped out of high school to focus on his football career.
Club career
Malmö FF
Ibrahimović signed with hometown club Malmö FF in 1995, and moved up to the senior side for the 1999 season of Allsvenskan, Sweden's top-flight league. That season, Malmö finished 13th in the league and were relegated to the second division, but returned to the top flight the next season. Arsène Wenger tried to persuade Ibrahimović to join Arsenal F.C. but Malmö did not allow the transfer[citation needed]. AFC Ajax coach Leo Beenhakker also expressed interest in the player after watching him in a training game against Norwegian side Moss F.K. On March 22, 2001, a deal between Ajax and Malmö regarding Zlatan's transfer to Amsterdam was announced, and in July, Ibrahimović officially joined Ajax for a record-breaking €7.8 million, the highest transfer fee ever paid to a Swedish club[citation needed].
AFC Ajax
Ibrahimović received little playing time under manager Co Adriaanse, but when Adriaanse was sacked on November 29, 2001, new coach Ronald Koeman inserted Ibrahimović into the starting lineup as Ajax won the 2001-02 Eredivisie title. The next season, Ibrahimović scored twice in a 2-1 victory over perennial French champions Olympique Lyonnais in his first career Champions League match on September 17, 2002. He scored four CL goals overall for Ajax, who were eliminated in the quarterfinals by A.C. Milan.
In his final season with Ajax, Ibrahimović netted a goal against NAC Breda on August 22, 2003 that was eventually voted the goal of the year by Eurosport viewers. He continued to flourish domestically, but also made headlines in a CL group stage match against Milan on September 16, when he was booked for tugging on the jersey of Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso as both were vying for the ball late in second-half injury time, after which Gattuso was sent off after backhanding Ibrahimović in the face. Ibrahimović scored his only European goal against Celta Vigo on October 22 as Ajax were eliminated in the group stage.
On August 18, 2004, Ibrahimović injured fellow Ajax teammate Rafael van der Vaart during an international match against the Netherlands, which led to accusations from van der Vaart that Ibrahimović had hurt him intentionally. This led to Ibrahimović's sudden sale to Juventus F.C. on August 31, 2004.
Juventus
Ibrahimović moved from Ajax to Juventus for a €19 million transfer fee. He quickly made it into the starting eleven due in part to top scorer David Trézéguet's injury problems, and scored sixteen goals. Near the end of the season, Juventus reportedly rejected a €70 million bid for him from Real Madrid C.F., which was later revealed to be a publicity stunt initiated by Ibrahimović's agent, Mino Raiola, in order to increase his market value. Ibrahimović was nonetheless voted the fans' player of the season in 2004-05, and he finished eighth in the voting for the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year. On November 14, 2005, he was awarded the Guldbollen, a prize awarded to the best Swedish footballer of the year.
The following season was a more turbulent one for Ibrahimović. His role in Juventus's attack changed, and he became less of a goalscorer. He moved more and more to the sidelines, taking much part in the build-up play, especially as a target player, a role that complemented his physical strength, and his assist numbers increased. However, criticism against the lack of goals started to increase both in Italy, where fans and journalists preferred Juventus icon Alessandro del Piero, often sidelined for Ibrahimović's benefit, and in Sweden. Even so, he retained his place in the starting eleven and Juventus eventually won the Serie A again.
Juventus were stripped of their last two Scudetti as part of the verdict from the Calciopoli scandal, and were relegated to Serie B. The new staff tried to persuade Ibrahimović, and other top players, to stay with Juventus, but the player and his agent were adamant to move, while Raiola threatened legal action in order to extricate Ibrahimović from his contract.
Internazionale
Ibrahimović signed a four-year contract with Internazionale for € 24.8 million on August 10, 2006.[1] He revealed that Inter was his favorite club as a child, gaining him immediate popularity with the Inter supporters. He started his spell at the club by scoring one goal and assisting another against ACF Fiorentina. After a close 4-3 win over A.C. Milan, Inter went on to a record seventeen consecutive league wins en route to Inter's first Scudetto on the field since 1989, and Ibrahimović was coach Roberto Mancini's first choice in attack.
On September 16, 2007, he played his 100th Serie A match. He scored two Champions League goals in the group stage against PSV Eindhoven on October 2, which marked his first European goals since December 2005 and his first goals overall in an Inter jersey.
On May 18, 2008, he scored two goals in Internazionale's 2-0 win against Parma as Inter won their third straight Scudetto.
International career
Ibrahimović debuted for Sweden in a goalless friendly match against the Faroe Islands on January 31, 2001. His first competitive match was a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan on October 7. Ibrahimović was part of Sweden's 2002 World Cup finals squad who were eliminated in the round of 16 by Senegal.
Ibrahimović was a fixture in the starting lineup for Euro 2004, scoring a penalty against Bulgaria and rounding off a fine performance against the solid defense of Italy by scoring a late equaliser. However, he missed a penalty as Sweden were sent home following a shootout loss to the Netherlands. He went scoreless during the 2006 World Cup finals as Sweden were again snuffed out in the round of 16, this time by Germany.
He was called up for a Euro 2008 qualifier against Liechtenstein on September 6, 2006, but two days before the match, he violated team curfew by leaving the hotel with teammates Christian Wilhelmsson and Olof Mellberg and attending a nightclub. Though neither of the players consumed any alcohol, they were nonetheless all sent home by coach Lars Lagerbäck as punishment and did not take part in the match. Mellberg and Wilhelmsson did not appeal the coach's decision, but Ibrahimović felt that it was unjust and therefore refused to take part in Sweden's next qualifiers against Iceland and Spain. He also skipped a friendly against Egypt on February 7, 2007, but ended his self-imposed boycott a month later[2], and returned for Sweden's loss to Northern Ireland on March 28. He went scoreless in all twelve qualifying matches; his one goal was disallowed for offside in a 3-0 loss to Spain on November 17.
On November 12, 2007, Ibrahimović was awarded the 2007 Swedish Golden Ball as the country's top player of the year.
Ibrahimović ended his almost two and a half year international goal drought against Greece in Sweden's opening Euro 2008 match on 10 June 2008.
Club career statistics
| Season | Team | Country | Division | Apps | Goals | Assists | Champions League Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Malmö FF |  Sweden |
1 | 6 | 1 | - | NA |
| 2000 | Malmö FF | Sweden |
2 | 26 | 12 | - | NA |
| 2001 | Malmö FF | Sweden |
1 | 8 | 3 | - | NA |
| 01/02 | Ajax |  Netherlands |
1 | 24 | 6 | - | 2 |
| 02/03 | Ajax | Netherlands |
1 | 25 | 13 | - | 5 |
| 03/04 | Ajax | Netherlands |
1 | 22 | 13 | - | 1 |
| 04/05 | Ajax | Netherlands |
1 | 3 | 3 | - | 0 |
| 04/05 | Juventus |  Italy |
1 | 35 | 16 | 10 | 0 |
| 05/06 | Juventus | Italy |
1 | 35 | 7 | 18 | 3 |
| 06/07 | Internazionale | Italy |
1 | 27 | 15 | 3 | 0 |
| 07/08 | Internazionale | Italy |
1 | 26 | 17 | 10 | 5 |
Honours
With the Swedish national team:
- Represented Sweden in the FIFA World Cup
- Appearances: 2002, 2006
- Represented Sweden in the European Championship
- Appearances: 2004, 2008
With Internazionale FC:
- Italian Serie A: 2006-07, 2007-08
- Italian Super Cup : 2006
With Juventus F.C.:
- Italian Serie A: 2004-05, 2005-06 (revoked due to Calciopoli scandal)
With Ajax Amsterdam:
- Eredivisie champions: 2001-02, 2003-04
- KNVB Cup: 2001-02
Personal Honours:
- Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year: 2005
- Guldbollen: 2005, 2007
- Jerringpriset: 2007 (Sweden's Sports Personality of the Year)
- Swedish Male Athlete of the Year: 2007
- UEFA Team of the Year: 2007
Personal life
Zlatan and his wife, Helena Seger, have two sons, Maximilian and Vincent. [3]
References
- ^ JUVE SLAP £25m PRICE TAG ON ZLATAN. sportinglife.com. Retrieved on 25 September, 2006.
- ^ Ibrahimović agrees to return to Sweden side. ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved on 2 March, 2007.
- ^ http://www.24sata.info/10568
External links
- Zlatan Ibrahimović at the Internet Movie Database
- The Big Interview: Zlatan Ibrahimović - The Sunday Times - Football
