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While Zlatan Ibrahimovic may not have retired just yet, he has announced his move to the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer in the United States of America. Without intending to be disrespectful towards the league, players that have gone there have usually gone off the radar, almost as though they have retired from the game.
With the Swede saying goodbye to European football, this seems like the right time to bring up those moments from his past that made him the revered player that he is today. So without further ado, here are the top 10 moments featuring Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
#10 Goal against England
The great Swede striker was always a world class player, but he shot himself to the blazing limelight when he scored this goal against England. Before that, most English fans saw him as someone who failed at Barcelona.
Despite the fact that he had won the league in whichever country he played in—save England—he didn’t get the respect that he deserved. This unreal over-head kungfu kick goal, however, changed all that. He ended the match with four goals to his name and also the respect of the Premier League fans.
#9 Chewing-gum trick
Many didn’t believe it. Some, however, thought that if someone could do it, it would be Ibrahimovic. When Swedish commentator Pontus Kamark noticed something absurd with Ibra’s training routine prior to Juventus’ game against Lazio, he quickly took out his binoculars to check out what was happening.
And to his shock, his assumption was right: Ibra was indeed juggling with the chewing gum. When he reported it, many were skeptical. But then Ibra himself did it once again and wowed the people with this trick.
#8 Mourinho’s first trophy with Manchester
The Portuguese tactician is not someone who ends up without any trophies in a season. While it may look like a real possibility this season, Jose Mourinho’s first trophy with Manchester United came due to the brilliance of the former Sweden captain.
Ibrahimovic opened the scoring against Southampton in Wembley last February with a majestic free-kick. Jesse Lingard scored next to give the Red Devils a two-nil lead, but Southampton fought back with the help of a brace from Gabbiadini.
With the score tied at 2-2, Ibra scored the winning goal in the 87th minute to win the EFL Cup, Mourinho’s first competitive trophy with United.
#7 Destroying Lyon
This could be dubbed as the game where the Swedish legend introduced himself to European football. In fact, this was his debut in the Champions League. He was only 20 at the time and was already brimming with confidence.
For the first goal, he zoomed in from the left and smashed the ball into the far post to make it 1-0. A while later, he had an open goal to aim at and he didn’t disappoint. Ajax won the game 2-1 in the end and it was the beginning of the Zlatan-CL love-hate relationship.
#6 Interview when I say so
This one is a classic Zlatan moment. While he might be have been a world-class player, he was (is) also a maverick of sorts, known for his cheeky humour and tendency to keep himself as the equal of God. So when he was asked to cut short an interview and join the training, he flat-out refused.
The Swede wanted to conclude the interview while affirming that the training will only start when he says so. Such a character is hard to find these days and this was one of those moments that made him one of the most lovable characters in the game.
#5 Low budget camera guy
This slider is a stark contrast to the one earlier. In the earlier one, Ibra was seen wanting to conclude his interview—props to the journalist who made Ibra excited about an interview. In this one, however, he gave the journalist a really hard time for the questions that he was asking.
Clearly, the towering striker didn’t like the questions that were put out to him one bit and placed in a cheeky dig at the journalist by asking him why he was holding the camera if he is a journalist, before finishing it off with a quirky ‘low budget’ remark on the poor fella.
#4 Tattoos with names
You know, Ibra is not all hard bad-ass superstar who likes to give defenders and journalists a tough time. In fact, if anything, he is one of the nicest people around. He is someone who knows the ordeal that a poor person faces as he also had a rough childhood.
He once wrote in his autobiography that his fridge at home was almost always empty when he was growing up. So when he opened his shirt after scoring in the second minute against Caen, he revealed the names of 50 starving people that were tattooed on his body.
It was an awareness campaign from UN World Food Program named “805 Million Names”, which calculated the estimated number of people suffering from hunger in the world at that point in time.
#3 Goal against Inter in November 2010 to consolidate top spot
AC Milan hadn’t won the league since 2004. In the meantime, almost every top club in Italian football had won the Serie A title at least once. In November 2010, Milan were leading the Serie A charts after a win against Palermo.
And now they had to face their eternal rivals and reigning champions Inter. A win here would consolidate their place at the top—and that is precisely what happened. Only one goal was scored in the game and it came via a penalty from Ibrahimovic, the former Inter man who is loved by the fans of the club.
After the win, Milan never slipped from their top spot for the rest of the season and won their first Serie A title since 2004.
#2 Assuring Scudetto against Parma
Inter needed a win to clinch the Scudetto as Roma were breathing on their shoulder with just a point behind them in the table. It was the last day of the 2007-08 Serie A season and Inter had to win in order to ensure that they win the league title without having to depend on other results.
In such a time, Zlatan Ibrahimovic stood tall and scored two goals against the Roman club to shoot his team to Serie A glory. While Roma may have drawn their last game, they could take respite in the fact that Ibra never gave them a chance.
#1 Destroying Arsenal
This is perhaps his best moment in a Barcelona shirt. His time at Barcelona might not have been one to remember for him, but this match against Arsenal was when he took out the Gunners in their own backyard.
Manuel Almunia was one of the most eccentric goalkeepers in the world, but he was having an unbelievable day against Barca. He single-handedly stopped the Blaugranas from scoring against him, but lapsed in the second half.
Ibra took full advantage of that scored and two past the Spaniard to give his team two vital away goals.
