Bengaluru: There has seldom been a player who carries himself with self confidence bordering on arrogance with such nonchalant ease, producing extraordinary moments with alarming regularity and polarising opinions in the football world.
That is the aura that surrounds Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Humility does not come naturally to the pony-tailed Swede and if it ever did trickle down then it has seldom stopped him from voicing his views. As a player Ibrahimovic has it all ability, hunger for success, a panache for the out worldly and a knack for flamboyance.
While there is no doubt that he is one of a kind, the striker himself believes that much of his nuances comes from his early years in Sweden. Growing up in a small and difficult town, Rosengard, Ibrahimovic did not have the best of nurturing environment as a child. The lanky Swede got his kicks by stealing bikes and cars in his early years before finding his calling in the beautiful game.
“The neighbourhood where I come from, we had a lot of football fields but the possibilities were few. The only thing that was there was to play football. So we played in the streets and gardens and football fields. We played football everywhere so that’s how everything began,” recalled the striker in a chat with this newspaper.
“And I took it further to the club that I was playing in and learned a lot and today I am here. So I think I did really well.”
Starting off with local side Malmo FF, the winner of the Puskas Award for the best goal of the year has come a long way plying his trade at Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan and PSG in his career. With a bad boy reputation for his blunt interviews and squabbles with teammates from his early years preceding him, Ibrahimovic has finally become the leader and poster boy of the PSG revolution.
The Swede credits much of his success to his better-half Helena. “Behind every strong man there is a strong woman. She has been helping me a lot giving me the confidence and tranquility at home for the family so I could focus on my football as she takes care of the house and the children. She is a big part of my career,” he pointed out.
With the World Cup less than a month away and Sweden not qualifying, a long summer awaits the talismanic forward. “I think It will have a very difficult time to not play in the World Cup but we did our best but didn’t make it and that’s football.”
