Zlatan Ibrahimovic
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Biography
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a Swedish football player who is best-known for his game-winning goal in the 2002 Dutch Cup.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was born on October 3, 1981 in Malmö, Skåne County. His parents were immigrants from Yugoslavia. His father, Šefik is Bosnian and was born in Bijeljina. His mother, Jurka is a Croat and was born in Zadar, Croatia. His parents met and married in Sweden and Zlatan grew up in Rosengård, a Malmö neighbourhood famous for its immigrant communities.
When Zlatan was just ten years old, he started playing football. He also successfully completed junior high school in Rosengård. He joined the Borgarskolan in Malmö, but he soon quit high school to concentrate on his football career.
In 1999, when he was just 18 years old, Zlatan embarked on his professional football career. His first professional team was Malmo FF, a second division Swedish Football club. In his first season, Zlatin scored an amazing 12 goals in 26 games and Malmo club soon jumped to the top division. Zlatan's successful season drew attention to his potential and Arsène Wenger from Arsenal of the English Premier League tried to lure him to Arsenal. However, Malmo did not let it happen.
Leo Beenhakker from Ajax Amsterdam of the Eredivisie also was interested in taking on Zlatan. When Beenhakker saw Zlatan score an amazing goal in a training game against Moss, the Norwegian side, he knew that Zlatan had great talent. He arranged a deal with Malmo and Zlatan was transferred in July 2001 to Ajax for €7.8 million, around 10 million dollars.
In 2002, Zlatan helped the Ajax team capture the Eredivisie Championship, the Dutch Cup and the Dutch Super Cup. At the UEFA Champions League, the biggest thing in European soccer, Zlatan scored two goals in his first game. He helped Ajax to reach the quarter-finals where they were narrowly defeated by eventual winners A.C. Milan.
In 2004, Zlatan helped Ajax win a second Eredivisie title. He then shifted to Juventus of the Italian Serie A for €19 million, around 23.5 million dollars.
In the Serie A season, Zlatan scored 16 goals and Juventus won the Serie A title. However, the title was canceled in a verdict of the 2006 match-fixing scandal.
In 2005, Zlatan was selected the Swedish Footballer of the Year and also won the nomination for the FIFA World Player of the Year.
In 2006, Zlatan helped Sweden qualify for the 2006 World Cup. However, due to injuries, Zlatan underperformed and Sweden was knocked out of the World Cup in the second round by Germany.
After the World Cup, Zlatan got a four-year contract with Inter Milan for € 24.8 million. Zlatan's goal is to touch the sky in the football world.
Links
AskMen.com - Zlatan Ibrahimovic
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