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No one was as great as him: farewell to the retiring Zlatan Ibrahimovic - voila! sport

2023-06-06T07:12:27.686Z

Highlights: Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has announced his retirement from football. Ibrahimovic is the only player to have scored in each of the Clasico and Barcelona derbies in Spain, the Derby d'Italia and the Derby della Madonnina in Italy, the Manchester Derby and the North West England Derby. Between 2004 and 2016 he won 11 championships (out of 12) with 6 different teams. He will be remembered for not winning the Champions League, but for winning 11 championships.


Instead of trying to match Messi and Ronaldo's numbers, the Swedish maestro created a mythological image of a football player who rules the world and we are all his subjects


Zlatan Ibrahimovic retires from football and receives applause from players and AC Milan fans (official website, SerieA)

Zlatan was everything. He was the perfect striker, the winner you want on your side. He was a warrior, he was a legend, he hovered like a butterfly and stung like a bee. He left souvenirs wherever he was: wonderful goals, exciting titles and most of all - crazy stories. The name Zlatan has become a concept in football - a great player and an even bigger ego.

Zlatan starred in a generation where fans were divided between Messi and Ronaldo. Number and record writers who swear by the name of one of them. Zlatan gave the world something more. He wasn't at their level, he wasn't reaching the heights these two had reached. Does it change anything? Zlatan has done great things in his career: championships in so many different countries and teams with different cultures are no small matter. Iconic goals, from almost every season there is a particularly memorable one: the narrator against England, the heel against Italy at the Euros, the scorpion kick against Bastia. A wonderful goal against Bologna from a delivery by Adriano or a goal from a kung fu kick against Marseille. He adapted to the Juventine nature of victory above all else after coming from a completely opposite football culture in Amsterdam. Took what he learned at Juventus to make Inter champions. And then Milan, too. Then, a decade later, Milan again.

Zlatan also became a kind of cinematic, legendary figure. Not only the mighty footballer but also honed sentences, role-playing games and special monologues. We also loved him for the nonsense, the talk, the jokes. When Zlatan talks about himself in the third person, it doesn't sound mocking, it makes sense. As with Chuck Norris jokes, does it matter what's real and what's inventive? Footballer Zlatan will score an abnormal goal against Nak Breda in 2004 After passing six opposing players, the character Zlatan will answer the question of whether he plays Swedish or Yugoslav style with the answer "Zlatan style".

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Zlatan was always the center wherever he played. And if he wasn't, he couldn't stay. Despite arriving as a star at Barcelona, he did not get along with Pep and Messi and left after a season. They played football with him and for him, he didn't play for others. One can dislike it, one can marvel at the amazing athlete who too many times made us scream "This is unbelievable!" He will be remembered for not winning the Champions League, but between 2004 and 2016 he won 11 championships (out of 12) with 6 different teams. He is the only player to have scored in each of the Clasico and Barcelona derbies in Spain, the Derby d'Italia and the Derby della Madonnina in Italy, the Manchester Derby and the North West England Derby, the French La Classico and the Dutch Clasicocar. The only player to score in six teams was changed in the Champions League.

He started his career at Malmö and soon moved to Ajax. A young lion cub arrived in Amsterdam. The one who seems confident on the outside, but asks for reinforcement from those around him. Zlatan's stories began to emerge even then. On the pitch it was clear that he was a superplayer, a physical giant, an athlete, flexible, a taekwondo fighter who came first to every ball and scored special goals. A winner who doesn't give up to anyone in any game. But it was the off-the-court stories that laid the foundation for building the mythology about Zlatan.

In 2003, Ajax players stayed in a hotel in Groningen before a game in the city. In the middle of the night, the players woke up to the sound of an alarm, the players' bus caught fire and everyone was called out of the hotel with their bags. Steven Pienaar, Zlatan's roommate, grabbed his personal bag and started running. "What do you think you're doing," the Swede threw out, "you have to escape," replied the South African midfielder. "You don't go anywhere without taking my bag first," Zlatan clarified his status.

Zlatan was beloved at Ajax but did not get along very well with the stars who emerged from the youth, most notably Rafael van der Vaart. In the match between Sweden and the Netherlands, the Dutchman was injured and accused Zlatan of intentionally hurting him. Back in the Netherlands, coach Ronald Koeman gathered all the players in the dressing room and let them talk. Everyone expressed their opinion on the matter. Zlatan was the last. He got up and said one sentence: "If this boy talks about it again, I'll amputate his leg."

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His time at Ajax shaped him. Young Zlatan (Photo: GettyImages)

And most of all Amsterdam is remembered as the "scissors incident". After the Champions League match against Inter Milan, the players entered the dressing room. Zlatan remarked to Mido that he did not tell him on a convenient occasion. The Egyptian striker, a head case in itself, replied dismissively. Zlatan got angry and forcefully threw scissors he was holding at him. Zlatan moved at the last minute and the scissors hit the wall. The two began wrestling without anyone daring to intervene. After that, no one dared to be rude to Zlatan anymore.

At Ajax, Zlatan was designed to be who he is. Because even the man who outwardly displays never-ending self-confidence seeks reinforcement and real criticism. In Amsterdam he got to know one of the most important people in his career: the Brazilian Maxwell. The left-back was the only one who dared to criticize Zlatan for his performances on the pitch. Players say that at the end of games, Zlatan would look for Maxwell and ask him, "How was I today?" It is no coincidence that almost everywhere Zlatan went, Maxwell followed him right after him: to Inter, to Barcelona, to Paris. The psychologist, the visitor, the friend. Zlatan made sure Maxwell was always by his side.

More than any goal, title or unique statement, Zlatan's significance matters to the generation of children of immigrants in Sweden. Zlatan symbolizes the "new Swedishness," and one should not underestimate how much one person influenced Swedish culture. In Swedish culture, collectivism is above all. In a country where individualism is not only something undesirable but first and foremost unworthy, Zlatan is a trailblazer. Zlatan gave hope to all immigrants (even if he was born in Sweden, but the son of immigrants), speakers of foreign languages and all those with identity problems in the country.

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Together every step of the way. Maxwell (Photo: Reuters)

Zlatan fulfilled the word dream for migrants. He, the boy from Rosengard, the poorest suburb in the country, became the face of Sweden. Suddenly, immigrants who didn't know where they belonged felt an identity with Sweden. And the other side also learned a lot: through Zlatan's success story, the old Swedes better understood the new Swedes, the life of poverty in the suburbs. Want to understand how Zlatan penetrated and changed Swedish culture? IN 2012, A NEW WORD ENTERED THE SWEDISH DICTIONARY: ZLATANERA. The word means to rule, to rule. And this is Zlatan Ibrahimovic - the ruler. And we are only subjects in his world.

So ditch the Welcome ad in Los Angeles and the inflated ego and self-love. You are me and me and me. It's his and it will stay with him. Let's remember the wonderful moments when we saw the Swedish giant step on the grass, dance, hover, kick, conquer, hug, laugh, win. Zlatan was a symbol for immigrants in Sweden. For football fans in the Netherlands who have seen football by dozens of artists and added the works of the Swedish maestro to their memoir museum. For fans in Italy divided between the country's three biggest teams - and for all of them he left unforgettable moments, goals and titles.

Zlatan wasn't the biggest, but there was no one as big as him.

  • sport
  • World Football
  • Italian League

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Source: walla

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