Controversial striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has yet stirred the hornet’s nest as he queried the existentiality of the creator amongst other provocative issues in an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair magazine.
“I am my God,” Ibra who was birthed by a Muslim father and Catholic mother reportedly stated. “And then who is God? When my brother died, where was God to save him?
“It’s just an example, but I believe in respect and discipline. If you respect me, I respect you, I do not care what faith you profess. I grew up in this way and my parents have never forced me on one side or the other.
“They are not of those who when they make a goal thank heaven. The goalkeeper who suffers it what should he do? Is there a god who favours me and disadvantages him? Does one grow and crush another? Sport and religion do not get along.
“Also because football is a religion in itself, it does not matter what you believe or where it comes from. You just have to play football. ”
Speaking on other wide range of issues from his love for the camera to his tiff with Pep Guardiola during his days at FC Barcelona, opened up on his fond admiration for foremost boxer Muhammadu Ali while growing up.
“I loved Muhammad Ali who is not an actor, but it was the myth I had, as a person and as an athlete,” the 37-year-old Swede reportedly said. “I loved how he did his things, always as he wanted. He had a vision, and he realized it. This is my mentality, I believe in something and I do it.”
That Ibra is a single-minded guy is never in doubt and he pulls no punches on matter dear and this was the threads in another tempestuous discourse about his days under Guardiola at Barcelona: “I see it differently. The first six months went very well, and then everything changed for the worse. In the book I will tell: Guardiola had a problem with me only that he did not want to face it and I could no longer be myself, with his attitude he managed to make me doubt myself and my abilities. Of course, it could have been better in football terms but I learned a lot. Learning and growing is a bit ‘the meaning of life.”
The Swede also gave the rationale behind a new book (I AM FOOTBALL) which is a sequel to ‘I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic’ even as he distinguishes between football and soccer in his usual contentious manner. “The first is the story of the person, of Zlatan. This is instead the story of the player. Photos, texts, memories and all the data of my career.
“ It’s easy to remember the goal I made last week or the first one I scored here, but my career is twenty years long and I think there are so many things to fix on a page, not to forget. Many players only played for one team, but I was lucky enough to shoot and play in the best clubs in the world and I was able to do well everywhere. ”
He speaks more on I AM FOOTBALL: “Soccer is when you make a difference. Soccer is when you are not one like many: when you are unique. There are players who play football and there are players who think football. When one thinks football invents, others only follow.
“When I play I love making a difference. I do not want to do just one or two things well, I want to do them all right. My goal as a player was to become as complete as possible and I think I succeeded .”
Now with LA Galaxy in the Major League Soccer in the US, Ibra has played for some of top European clubs including Ajax, Juventus, Barcelona, Inter Milan, PSG and Manchester United but he still covets a final hurrah in Milan.
He said: “There is interest. But I’d be fine another year here in LA. That Milan like me is not a secret. I spent two wonderful years there and I would not have liked to leave but, as I told in the book, they “forced” me to go to Paris.
“We won; I became top scorer, a great club, a great atmosphere. And there was the old guard. Incredible players with whom I was lucky to play and win. And I know what it means to win in Italy. It is everything to win. I managed with the three biggest clubs in Italy, Juventus (the two revoked championships, ed ), Milan and Inter. At Milan they treated me well: I came from Barcelona where I had experienced sadness and in Milan they gave me back my smile. I wanted to repay you. ”
So we go to Milan or not? “I do not say no and I do not even say yes. We’ll see…”
Ibra is undoubtedly one of the big stars that missed out of the Russia 2018 World Cup and he gave a vivid explanation about the relationship with the national team and his country: “I am still convinced today that if I had called Svensonn, things would have gone differently and I would have had a few more possibilities. But I recognize that it stimulated me a lot, I had to be ten times better than the others to reach the same goals. And being discriminated against has pushed me to work like crazy. ”
“I feel” the new Swede “and I think I represented Sweden with a lot of honour. If I had a different surname, they would certainly have protected me more, but I have never asked for favourable treatment, only to be treated like everyone else. ”
“There’s a wrong education and people are not well informed. I play football and give joy with a ball. I’m not a politician because I do not know how to be a politician. We are in 2018 and the world is a mix and that’s okay. We must accept change and appreciate it.
“With my work I believe I have opened the door to many people like me, who did not feel loved or welcome, the different, and the migrants. Then everyone makes their own choices, but I am living proof that with work and commitment everyone can succeed and emerge.”
