The second part of Zlatan Ibrahimović’s big interview with Slaven Bilić was broadcast on Arena Sport channels.
When asked about his personality and circle of close people, Zlatan Ibrahimovic answered that he is actually much different inside.
“Everyone thinks that Ibrahimović is strong and strong, but I’m actually sensitive! I protect the people who are close to me with everything I have. But sometimes it would be difficult for me to let someone into that close circle. I paid for those mistakes. But, you also understand that well. Football is a dirty world. There is a lot of money and everyone has their own interests. Everything has its price. I made a transfer, signed a contract, was in Spain, France, Italy, England, USA…”
In the continuation of the conversation, he reflected on the cruelty of the football business and the importance of self-confidence. “I’ve seen everything and I know how everything works. You either eat or get eaten. That’s the world. I had no mentor. I had self-confidence. People said I was arrogant. I had self-confidence. I learned how to believe in myself. I believed in myself so much that no one could stop and block me. That’s why I never liked it when I wasn’t playing. I would always get motivated when someone didn’t make me play.”
He recalled an anecdote from his student days and a conflict with the Italian language teacher.
“I had Italian at school, but I talked a lot in lectures and I was restless. The teacher told me that nothing would come of me. I told her that I would be a professional in Italy, that I would come back and that I would teach her how to speak Italian. That was my head, I was ready to invest 200 percent to succeed.”
When asked if there is anything he would change in his career, he said that there is one such situation, from his days in Malmö.
“The only thing I would change was when I was 17 years old. Then a boy from Trinidad and Tobago came to Malmö for a rehearsal. After a week he told me that if I didn’t make it, it would be solely my fault. At the time I didn’t understand why he meant that. He didn’t know who I was and had no self-interest; he was either attacking me, or protecting me, or giving me some kind of signal. Only later did I realize that everything depended only on me.”
Speaking about his first big transfer, he admitted that he wasn’t ready to leave Sweden in the beginning Ajax.
“I wasn’t ready. Malmö was my home. Five minutes from me there were my mother, father, grandfather… Ajax bought me for a record sum, and therefore the pressure was huge. The stress of the results was great, they wanted to perform immediately. In the first month at the club, I had no money because the salary came only at the end of the month. I bought a house, a big TV and a couch, and the fridge was empty. I contacted my teammate Maxwell. I came to the club and asked to be paid early so that I could to survive, but they said he couldn’t. I spent three weeks at Maxwell’s, too; we ate, slept, and did everything together. After three months, I begged the people in Malmö to take me back.”
He described in what way Ajax shaped his playing development and tactical discipline.
“At Ajax, they explained to me that there is not only the role of a center forward. There I was number nine and it was known exactly where each number on the field had to be. I remember when I was warming up to enter the game, and the fans started chanting the name of another player. Everyone was against me. I had no one to talk to. They noticed this in the club as well, and after a few months the coach Co Adriaanse was fired. He was replaced by Ronald Koeman and things started to change with him. Ajax plays football in a special way, everything is programmed and drawn.”
He recalled how two football legends influenced his mentality before going to Italy Juventus.
“My second season at Ajax was much different. Marco van Basten came to the club and advised me. He told me that the best way to help the club is to score goals. At Ajax, I didn’t learn that mentality before, but Van Basten was coached by Fabio Capello. That was that winning mentality.”
He described the strict methods of the coach Fabija Capella u Juventuswho insisted on changing his playing style.
“The first thing Capello told me was that he had to take the Ajax system away from me. I thought – how? Well, that’s not how I play football. He told me that I was a striker and that he would teach me how to score a goal. For six months, I went to shoot at an empty goal every day. Once after training I went to the dressing room, I was the last in line behind Cannavaro, and then I just heard: ‘Ibraaa!’. I had to go back and shoot the goal. The second day I tried to run away from training, but he found me. He taught Van Basten the same.”
Ibrahimović he also remembered the crucial meeting with the deceased agent Minom Raiolomwhich completely changed his perspective.
“I’ve always thought that agents are in this business only for money. That was my image of them. Everyone was looking for me when I was in Malmö, but I didn’t even give anyone a chance to talk. It also cost me because I had the worst contract at the club. One day I called a journalist and asked for help. He told me that my options were the agency that represented David Beckham or Mino Raiola. I came to the meeting with a Rolex and a suit to show him excited, and he showed up in a regular shirt and pants; he ordered food for five people, and I didn’t eat much. He showed me the documents with the best strikers in Italy. It said on my document: three goals in 27 games. I told him that I need an agent 20 goals, I would have sold myself easily. He told me: ‘You’re right, you need a miracle.’
He continued to describe what it was like Raiola took control of his life and forced him to exert maximum effort.
“He brought me a Fiat and said I should drive that car. He told me I had to wear sweatpants, and he even started taking my mail. He overthrew many prejudices. He told me I had to train twice as hard as before – he wanted me to suffer in order to succeed.”
