"The Lion", Zlatan Ibrahimovic, one of the most deadliest strikers in the world has featured for nine different clubs all across Europe and the USA and has won eight consecutive titles with eight out of the nine clubs he played for.
Read on to find out some facts about him that most people don't know
Biography
Zlatan is a Catholic. Most people think he's a muslim because of his name. Zlatan was born to a Muslim father, Sefik Ibrahimovic and a Catholic mother, Jurka Gravic, who worked as a cleaner. Zlatan's parents separated two years after his birth and as a result he had to take turns with them in Rosengard, Sweden.
His father is a Yugoslavian who immigrated to Sweden due to the war in his country. He resorted to alcohol out of frustration and pain caused by the was which made him lose his family is Yugoslavia. Despite Sefik being a drunkard, he supported Zlatan wherever Zlatan found himself. In an interview, Zlatan recounted how he could go to his dad's place hungry, rush to the fridge only for it to be filled with beer and a pint of sour milk. He mostly had to go to his mom for food.
This rough upbringing carved out a stubborn character out of Zlatan where almost always got himself in trouble. It was either he was stealing a bike for training or he was stealing from a shop in order to fill his belly.
Another unknown fact is Zlatan has two black belts in Taekwondo which is quite evident in his goalscoring style.
Career
Zlatan is Sweden's all time top goal scorers with a tally of 62 goals and counting. He has also received the Swedish Player of the Year Award a record TEN times with nine being consecutive from 2007 to 2015.
His spectacular 30 yards bicycle kick goal against England won him the FIFA Puskas Award for the Goal of the Year in 2013.
Zlatan has won 31 trophies so far in his career. Winning League titles and League Cups in Netherland, Italy, Spain, France and England.
Zlatan turned down Arsene Wenger's Arsenal offer during his early career days. In his own words, "Arsene Wenger asked me to have a trial with Arsenal when I was 17, I turned it down, Zlatan doesn't do auditions".
Zlatan also broke L.A Galaxy's record for most goals scored in a single regular season by scoring 26 goals in the 2019 MLS season.
Zlatan is among only three players, namely , Cristiano Ronaldo and quite recently Luis Suarez, to have scored in every minute of a football game. He is also the only player to have scored consecutively in every year from 1996-2021.
Family
Zlatan is married to Helena Seger and they have two kids together, namely, Maximilian and Vincent Ibrahimovic. Helena is 11 years older than Zlatan. Zlatan met her when he was only 19 and they've been together ever since. Interesting fact about Helena is, she only allows him to hang one picture of himself and that picture has only his feet, the two things that made him famous in the world of sport.
Charity Works
In 2014, Zlatan donated $50,000 for a team of intellectually disabled players from Sweden to participate in the INAS World Football Championship.
He also launched a fundraiser to help fight Covid-19, aiming for €1 million for Humanitas Hospital.
Zlatan also joined the UN World Food Program to help fight against hunger in the world.
Tattoos
Zlatan is an ink addict. He loves tattoos and loves displaying them as much. He tattooed the names of 15 individuals he met who were suffering from hunger when he joined the UNWFP to help 805 million people suffering from hunger in the world. During a love football match, Zlatan said with regards to this tattoo" wherever I go people recognize me, call my name, cheer for me. But there are names no one cares to remember. That no one cheers for; the 805 million people suffering from hunger in the world today. From now on, I want this support to go to the people who really need it. So whenever you hear my name, you will think of their names. Whenever you see me, you will see them".
According to him, his first tattoo was that of his name done in white ink across his waist with "Only God Can Judge Me" on the side.
He also has the birthdates of all his family inked on his waist. He also has a large lion tattoo on his back to show the lion he is.
Hope you enjoyed these amazing facts of the greatest and most controversial footballers of all time, the Lion, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Let me know your favorite Zlatan moment.
Content created and supplied by: Sidiqul_Akbar (via Opera News )
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