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| years2 = 2001–2004 | clubs2 = [[AFC Ajax|Ajax]] |caps2 = 74 |goals2 = 35
| years2 = 2001–2004 | clubs2 = [[AFC Ajax|Ajax]] |caps2 = 74 |goals2 = 35
| years3 = 2004–2006 | clubs3 = [[Juventus F.C.|Juventus]] |caps3 = 70 |goals3 = 23
| years3 = 2004–2006 | clubs3 = [[Juventus F.C.|Juventus]] |caps3 = 70 |goals3 = 23
| years4 = 2006–-| clubs4 = [[F.C. Internazionale Milano|Internazionale]] |caps4 = 88 |goals4 = 57
| years4 = 2006–| clubs4 = [[F.C. Internazionale Milano|Internazionale]] |caps4 = 88 |goals4 = 57


| nationalyears1 = 2001 | nationalteam1 = [[Sweden national under-21 football team|Sweden U-21]]
| nationalyears1 = 2001 | nationalteam1 = [[Sweden national under-21 football team|Sweden U-21]]

Revision as of 10:34, 18 July 2009

Zlatan Ibrahimović
Personal information
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 3+1⁄2 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Internazionale
Number 10
Youth career
1987–1991 Malmö BI
1989–1995 Balkan
1995–1999 Malmö
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2001 Malmö 40 (16)
2001–2004 Ajax 74 (35)
2004–2006 Juventus 70 (23)
2006– Internazionale 88 (57)
International career‡
2001 Sweden U-21 7 (6)
2001– Sweden 56 (21)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 May 2009
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 March 2009

Zlatan Ibrahimović (born 3 October 1981 in Rosengård, Malmö) is a Swedish football striker of Bosnian[2] and Croatian[2] descent who plays for Italian Serie A club Internazionale and the Swedish national team. As of February 2009, Ibrahimović, along with Kaká, were the highest salaried football players in the world.[3] Ibrahimović won the Capocannonieri on 31 May 2009 with 25 domestic goals during the season.

Early life

Ibrahimović was born to a Bosniak father, Sefik, and a Croatian mother, Jurka,[2] who emigrated to Sweden, where they first met. Ibrahimović grew up in Rosengård, a Malmö neighbourhood known for its immigrant communities. After receiving his football boots, Ibrahimović began playing football at the age of eight, alternating between local junior clubs Malmö BI and FBK Balkan[4][5] While in his early teens, he was a regular in his hometown club Malmö FF.[6] At the age of 15, Ibrahimović was close in quitting his football career, but his manager convinced him to continue play.[7] Ibrahimović successfully completed junior high school in the ninth grade, and though he was admitted to Borgarskolan, he soon dropped out of high school to focus on his football career.

Club career

Malmö FF

Ibrahimović signed his first contract with his hometown club Malmö FF in 1996, 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. Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger unsuccessfully tried to persuade Ibrahimović to join, while AFC Ajax coach Leo Beenhakker also expressed interest in the player after watching him in a training match against Norwegian side Moss FK On March 22, 2001, a deal between Ajax and Malmö regarding Ibrahimović's transfer to Amsterdam was announced, and in July, Ibrahimović officially joined Ajax for €7.8 million.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).

Ajax

Ibrahimović received little playing time under manager Co Adriaanse, but when Adriaanse was sacked on 29 November 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 Champions League debut on 17 September 2002. He scored four Champions League goals overall as Ajax fell to AC Milan in the quarter-finals. In his final season with Ajax, Ibrahimović's profile rose when he scored a breath-taking goal against NAC Breda on 22 August 2004, a goal that was eventually voted the "Goal of the Year" by Eurosport viewers.[8] He netted only once in the 2003-04 Champions League (against Celta de Vigo on 22 October) as Ajax were eliminated in the group stage.

On 18 August 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 on 31 August.[9]

Juventus

Ibrahimović moved from Ajax to Juventus for a €16 million transfer fee. He was promptly inserted into the starting eleven due in part to top scorer David Trezeguet'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, which was later revealed to be a publicity stunt initiated by Ibrahimović's agent, Mino Raiola, in order to increase his market value.[8] On 14 November 2005, he was awarded the Guldbollen, a prize awarded to the best Swedish footballer of the year.[10]

The following season was poor compared to his first season; his role in Juventus' attack changed, as he became less of a goalscorer and moved more to the sidelines, taking much part in the build-up play, especially as a target player, and his assist numbers increased. In the 2005-06 season, Juventus fans often got frustrated with him due to his anonymous presence in certain important games such as the Champions League defeat to Arsenal. 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 on, with Raiola threatening legal action in order to extricate Ibrahimović from his contract.[11]

Internazionale

Ibrahimović and Mario Balotelli against Palermo 2009.

Ibrahimović signed a four-year contract with Internazionale for € 12 million a year on 10 August 2006.[12] He revealed that Inter was his favourite club when he was young, and that Ronaldo was his favourite player. He started his spell at the club by scoring one goal and assisting another in a league match against Fiorentina and ended his first season as Inter's top goalscorer with 15 goals.

Ibrahimović played his 100th Serie A match on 16 September 2007. He scored two Champions League goals in the group stage against PSV on 2 October, which marked his first European goals since December 2005 and his first goals overall in an Inter jersey, and finished with five goals in seven Champions League matches. Against Parma FC in the final league matchday on 18 May 2008, he returned from a chronic knee injury and scored both goals as Inter won 2-0, clinching their third straight Scudetto.

On 16 November 2008, Ibrahimović said that he would not return to the Allsvenskan of Sweden as an active player, but he would stay the rest of his active career as a player abroad.

Ibrahimović's 2008-09 season started brilliantly, hitting the back of the net in Inter's first league match. His goal against Bologna FC was voted "Goal of the Year." He scored it with his heel without moving and accurately into the net from a cross by the Brazilian Adriano.[13] Ibrahimović's form this season has so far been eye-catching, with clever movement off and on the ball, and his passing has been outstanding, such as his acrobatic pass against SS Lazio [1]. He ended a month long goal drought against Genoa CFC, handing them their first home loss of the season, making Inter the only team not to lose at home in the league. In the final league game of the season, Ibrahimović scored twice against Atalanta, securing the Capocannoniere for himself by finishing one goal ahead of Marco di Vaio and Diego Milito.

International career

Playing for Sweden.

Ibrahimović debuted for Sweden in a goalless friendly match against the Faroe Islands on 31 January 2001. His first competitive match was a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan on 7 October. Ibrahimović was part of Sweden's 2002 World Cup finals squad who were eliminated in the round of 16 by newcomers 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 6 September 2006, but two days before the match, he violated team curfew by leaving the hotel with teammates Christian Wilhelmsson and Olof Mellberg and visiting a nightclub. Though none 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 7 February 2007, but ended his self-imposed boycott a month later,[14] and returned for Sweden's loss to Northern Ireland on 28 March. He went scoreless in all 12 qualifying matches; his one goal was disallowed for offside in a 3-0 loss to Spain on 17 November. On 12 November 2007, Ibrahimović was awarded the 2007 Swedish Golden Ball as the "Country's Top Player of the Year."

Ibrahimović ended his international goal drought, which had lasted for over two years, against Greece in Sweden's Euro 2008 opener on 10 June 2008, and the next match against Spain four days later, only the second player to breach the starting back four. He finished the tournament with the two goals as Sweden were eliminated in the group stage by Russia.

Career statistics

Template:Football player statistics 1 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |1999||rowspan="3"|Malmö||Allsvenskan||6||1||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||6||1 |- |2000||Superettan||26||12||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||26||12 |- |2001||Allsvenskan||8||3||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||8||3 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2001-02||rowspan="4"|Ajax||rowspan="4"|Eredivisie||24||6||3||0||6||2||33||8 |- |2002-03||25||13||3||3||13||5||41||21 |- |2003-04||22||13||1||0||6||2||29||15 |- |2004-05||3||3||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||3||3 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2004-05||rowspan="2"|Juventus||rowspan="2"|Serie A||35||16||0||0||10||0||45||16 |- |2005-06||35||7||2||0||9||3||46||10 |- |2006-07||rowspan="3"|Internazionale||rowspan="3"|Serie A||27||15||2||0||7||0||36||15 |- |2007-08||26||17||1||0||7||5||34||22 |- |2008-09||35||25||3||3||8||1||46||29 Template:Football player statistics 340||16||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||40||16 Template:Football player statistics 474||35||7||3||25||9||106||47 Template:Football player statistics 4156||80||7||2||41||9||202||91 Template:Football player statistics 5270||131||14||5||66||18||348||154 |}

International goals

  • Sweden score first

Honours

Ajax

Internazionale

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Ibrahimovic Zlatan bio". Inter Milan. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  2. ^ a b c Hawkey, Ian (2005-12-11). "The Big Interview: Zlatan Ibrahimović". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2009-04-13. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "The 50 highest salaries of football players 2008/2009". www.futebolfinance.com. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  4. ^ "Zlatan Ibrahimović". Evolvia. Retrieved 2009-05-28. Template:Sv icon
  5. ^ "»Rosenberg - för mig är han högerback«". Sydsvenskan. Retrieved 2009-05-28. Template:Sv icon
  6. ^ "»Rosenberg - för mig är han högerback«". Sydsvenskan. Retrieved 2009-05-28. Template:Sv icon
  7. ^ Jönsson, Jan (2001-06-23). "Så blev Zlatan stor". Sydsvenskan. Retrieved 2009-05-28. Template:Sv icon
  8. ^ a b Career - Zlatanibrahimovic.net retrieved on December 7, 2008
  9. ^ Player Profile: Rafael van der Vaart - realmadridzone.com retrieved on December 7 2008
  10. ^ Guldbollen 2005 till Zlatan Ibrahimovic - svenskfotboll.se retrieved on December 7 2008
  11. ^ Ibrahimovic set to take legal action to escape from Juve - The independent retrieved on December 7 2008
  12. ^ "JUVE SLAP £25m PRICE TAG ON ZLATAN". sportinglife.com. Retrieved 25 September 2006. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  13. ^ "Allsvenskan lockar inte Zlatan" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet.se. 2008-11-16. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
  14. ^ "Ibrahimović agrees to return to Sweden side". ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved 2 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
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