The darkest moments of Ibrahimovic’s career we simply can’t forget

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Takes centre stage

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Takes centre stage

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of the most celebrated footballers in the world and most certainly one of the best strikers that has ever put his feet on the field.

Zlatan is a player that can single-handedly alter the odds. Football fans all over the world love this amazing player for many things including his incredible goal scoring skills, nearly superstitious habit of winning titles, and strong personality. His arrogant and straightforward rude action frequently led to various issues and sometimes even threatened his career. If something went wrong, we might have had a world where Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not a superstar.

A teenage superstar

Zlatan is more than simply arrogant when it comes to talking about his skills. He is notorious for being less than welcoming those who want to question his abilities and roughly rejecting any auditions regardless of who offers him to test his skills. Malmo FF was not the best European team, but definitely the best team in Sweden.

Zlatan started his career in Malmo, but immediately attracted attention from multiple coaches who usually try to scout young talent as early as possible.

Arsene Wenger is certainly one of such coaches with a keen eye for potent youth. He offered Zlatan to come for an audition. Note that back in 2001 Arsenal was a dream team winning Premiere League, FA Cup, and advancing in European competitions. Arsene Wenger was building a team capable of competing against the best in the world. Having such an opportunity would be a blessing for any young footballer, but apparently not for Zlatan.

In 2000, he was a promising young star often scoring against older and more experienced opposition. His physique and technique were praised by Sweden press and many experts were predicting him to achieve greatness. Maybe, Zlatan was too confident or maybe he already had plans about his career, but he decisively rejected Wenger’s offer adding that “Zlatan does not do auditions.”

This is one of the most controversial decisions that Zlatan has made in his life. Imagine the world where Arsenal acquires him in 2000, proceeds to win in the 2001-02 season and with Zlatan’s talent continues to compete against the best teams in the world.

Ibrahimović’s career path could have been different and arguably even brighter than it was with him joining Juventus that was eventually relegated to Serie B.

Ajax, Van Der Vaart, and a tale about a broken leg

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: PSG striker apparently wants to join Arsenal

One the first big controversies that involved Zlatan occurred roughly 12 years ago. In 2004, Ibrahimovic was signed to Ajax and had been showing spectacular results. He was a young and hot footballer with amazing potential and undeniable skill. Maybe, he was too cocky (not like this quality ever changed) in his youth, but when two big authorities have to share one field, conflicts are inevitable.

One of such conflicts involved Van Der Vaart, Ajax’s captain at the time, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Two personalities did not go along well and their mutual enmity ultimately resulted in a big scandal. At the time, both Zlatan and Raphael were valuable members of Ajax. During a friendly match between Dutch and Sweden national football teams, Zlatan Ibrahimovic tackled Van Der Vaart.

The play was rough and Raphael had to visit hospital his ankle ligament torn apart. Thankfully, the injury was not as dangerous as press implied back then, but still put Van Der Vaart on the bench for at least two weeks.

After that, the conflict escalated quickly as Raphael was very vocal in media about Zlatan’s “dirty play”. Van Der Vaart was certain that the tackle was intentional and that Ibrahimović wanted to harm him. Despite being outraged by Raphael’s claims, Zlatan tried to apologize for the play and convince his teammate that the play was completely unintentional, but Van Der Vaart did not want to listen.

Eventually, both players had to sit down with their coach and talk. During a hot discussion, Zlatan said that if Van Der Vaart continues to lie, he will break his legs intentionally.
The conflict was way out of hand to settle it down by negotiations. Both players were adamantly clear about their respective points of view and both did not want to cooperate on the field. This resulted in Zlatan’s departure to Juventus.

A rough diamond

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: May be back at the San Siro next season

Whenever someone says “rough diamond” we think of a person with exceptional raw talent that needs “shaping” before taking its final ideal form.

However, when we call Ibrahimovic a rough diamond, there is a completely different connotation. Zlatan is a rough person with somewhat violent nature and explosive character. Sometimes, he has troubles with inhibiting his emotions and literally kicks and punches players that make a mistake to outrage him somehow.

There were multiple cases of him fighting with other players with the earliest being during his time with Ajax. He had a fistfight with Mido, his teammate from Egypt. However, that did not result in any meaningful consequences for both players. Many would call it an “inside quarrel”.

However, Zlatan’s fights and violent action later became very controversial and concerned many footballers, fans, and experts.

In 2011, Ibrahimović punched Marco Rossi in the chest. The punch was quite heavy, but some Zlatan’s fans would argue that it was intentional. Indeed, after multiple examinations of the episode, it is clear that the play was very rough and rude, but the punch was not intentional. Zlatan received a red card for his actions and was suspended for three games.

Another memorable moment occurred during AC Milan’s match against Napoli. Nacerino, his teammate, was arguing with Salvatore Aronica over a questionable situation on the field. With one of Napoli’s players laying on the ground, the discussion was heating up rapidly. Zlatan Ibrahimović approached two arguing players, hugged his teammate, and simultaneously slapped Salvatore Aronica. Zlatan immediately received a red card and was again suspended for three games.

Note that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a very tall and strong man with a black belt in Taekwondo. It is not recommended to pick up fights with this man and even his “light” slaps may be less than delicate. Salvatore Aronica definitely felt this “friendly” slap, but did not want to get involved in a conflict with this big Swede. Having his strength in mind, it is hard to ignore the fact that he can be dangerous and his somewhat violent nature can cause controversies.
Ignoring the authorities.

One of the problems with Ibrahimović is that he does not understand the very concept of authority and bends his knee in front of no one. Sometimes, this can lead to questionable and undesired consequences. Anger management is definitely something that Zlatan Ibrahimovic should consider.

When PSG won its match against Lyon and took the title, Zlatan was celebrating this victory with his teammates. When journalists were filming their moment of glory, Zlatan was caught by one of the cameras. He was yelling loudly at PSG’s sporting director Leonardo.

Ibrahimovic’s anger was apparent as he shouted loudly and gestured angrily. The problem was that Leonardo forced Zlatan to leave celebrations and go through a drug test. While his anger was understandable, he should have definitely avoid yelling on camera.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Striker signs for Manchester United

The conflict between PSG’s sporting director and Zlatan Ibrahimovic was not resolved in a friendly manner. Moreover, Zlatan demanded Leonardo to leave. The choice between the best player and sporting director was an easy one and Leonardo left PSG. Ibrahimovic is notorious for often conflicting with his managers, but his talent often bought him a way out of troubles. Hopefully, it won’t happen in Manchester United and Mourinho will find a proper approach to Zlatan.

Blood hotter than sun

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Poised to make move to Old Trafford

Ibrahimović is used to being suspended from games. His PSG period was very eventful and not all of his questionable actions were made on the field. During one of the matches, he was less than pleased with referee’s decisions and started shouting at him loudly. He expressed everything he thought about the referee and also mentioned France calling it a “s**t country” that does not deserve PSG. His outrage about referees and their quality continued for a long time.

The short comment about France did not impress neither fans nor politicians. Thousands of angry tweets immediately swarmed Zlatan’s twitter and millions were demanding him to publicly apologize for his words. He had to apologize later on after Patrick Kanner, the minister of sports in France, publicly announced his distaste for Zlatan’s comment. Such a reaction needed addressing and compliance even from the likes of Ibrahimovic.

The Swede had to apologize for his words, but he did not take back all his words. Zlatan said that he did not want to offend French fans and the country itself, but he would not take back his opinion about the referee. The apology was quite dry and many argued that it was far from sincere.

However, the apology was made and Ibrahimovic moved on with his career without heavy consequences. He was, nonetheless, suspended temporarily and PSG lost a very important asset for 4 games in Ligue 1.