Zlatan Ibrahimovic Records
Ibrahimovic was born in Malmo, Sweden on 3rd October, 1981 to a Bosniak father and a Crotian mother. At the age of six, Zlatan was given his first pair of football boots, and fell in love with the game. Born in a poverty-stricken home, financial hardships was almost about to rob football of one of its finest talents. In 1996, at the age of 15, he considered quitting football due to his family's financial problems and wanted to join the local dock at Malmo as a labourer. But his Malmo Youth club manager persuaded the teenage Ibra to not let his hardships decide his footballing fate. Thankfully Ibrahimovic agreed to pursue football, or else the beautiful game wouldn't have witnessed Zlatan magic.
Ibrahimovic was promoted to the Malmo senior side in 1999 and started to impress. In his three seasons at the Swedish club, he netted 16 goals in 40 outings. His performances in the Swedish League grabbed the attention of several European heavyweights. In 2001, Arsene Wenger tried his best to sign this promising youngster for Arsenal. According to an oft-repeated story, Wenger had even handed the number 9 jersey to the towering Swede. When asked by Wenger to attend a training session with the senior players, a 19-year-old Ibra refused to do training, claiming that 'Zlatan doesn't do training'. Glimpses of his attitude was evident even at that early age. But Dutch giants Ajax agreed to sign the striker for a reported 8.7 million Euros in 2001. After a promising debut season at Amsterdam, Zlatan won his first league title, the Eredivisie in 2001-02, and the rest is history. Winning league titles at every club he has played for since then, Ibra has proven his worth on all the big stages of football.
Here are listed few of the many records that the towering 6 foot 5 inch-striker from Malmo has achieved:
- Since making his Sweden debut on 31st January 2001, in a goalless friendly against the Faroe Islands, Ibrahimovic has made 98 appearances. He ranks 10th on the list of most capped player for Sweden.
- The Sweden skipper has been really prolific in scoring on national duty. Ibra is just one goal shy of claiming the record of being Sweden's all-time top-scorer. With 48 goals, he needs one more strike to equal Sweden legend Sven Rydall.
- Ibrahimovic has raked in big bucks throughout his career. His move in 2011 to Serie A giants AC Milan made him one of the highest-paid footballers. While with the Rossoneri, Ibra collected 7.9 million Pounds a year, making him the then 7th highest paid footballer in the world.
- In December 2013, The Guardian ranked him 3rd on the list of the best footballers in the world, behind Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) and Lionel Messi (Barcelona).
- In a friendly game against England in November 2012, Ibrahimovic netted a breathtaking goal as the Swedes routed the Three Lions 4-2. Zlatan netted an astonishing 'bicycle kick' goal that was awarded the FIFA Puskas Award for Goal of the Year at the Ballon d'Or ceremony.
- The striker has an incredible record of winning eight succesive domestic titles. From 2003-04 to 2010-11, Ibra has won the domestic championship every year with different clubs. He won in 2003-04 with Ajax, followed by two titles at Juventus, three with Inter Milan, and one each with Barcelona and AC Milan.
- Ibrahimovic is the only player to have scored in the Champions League for six different clubs. The 32-year-old has netted in Europe's prestigious tournament for Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain.
- While with Inter Milan, Ibrahimovic was twice (in 2007 and 2009) named in the UEFA Team of the Year.
- With 41 goals in 103 appearances he ranks 12th on the list of top goal-scorers in the UEFA Champions League. The list is led by former Real Madrid and Schalke striker Raul with 71 goals.