Loved by many and hated by others, Zlatan Ibrahimovic awakens divided passions in the world of soccer. In addition to being one of the stars of this sport, in which he played most of the top teams in Europe, the Swedish striker is characterized by having quite a particular personality.
However, behind this footballer who is self-centered and haughty in front of the cameras, he hides a humble person who suffered in silence for much of his childhood, as he himself recently recognized in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera
On the occasion of the premiere of his new book Adrenalin, the player spoke for more than an hour and revealed some stories that marked him during his childhood: “I am 40 years old and have two children. At this age, a line is usually drawn and the first sums, the first results, are made. Everybody knows the Ibra player, not man ”, He also secured in his account Instagram.
“I was a child who has always suffered”, revealed Zlatan Ibrahimovic about his beginnings in Malmo (Sweden). “As soon as I was born, the nurse dropped me from a meter high. I suffered all my life ”, continued the attacker before telling that he was a victim of bullyng during their school years.
“At school I was the different one: the others were blond with light eyes and a fine nose, I was dark, with a large nose. I spoke differently from them, I moved differently from them. The parents of my classmates requested that I be expelled. They have always hated me “, he counted. At the same time, he spoke of his origins: “I am Swedish, but I am also a mixture: my mother is Croatian and Catholic, my father is Bosnian and Muslim.”
This, however, was not the episode that most marked Ibra in his childhood, since he also had to live difficult moments during the Yugoslavian war: “My father suffered a lot. News came every day of the death of an acquaintance. He tried to keep me safe, he always tried to protect me. “
“When his sister died in Sweden, he did not let me go to the morgue. However, when my brother Sapko died of leukemia, I went. My brother was waiting for me and stopped breathing in front of me. We bury it with the Muslim rite. Dad didn’t shed a tear. The next day he went to the cemetery and cried from morning to night, alone, ”he recalled.
“I do not believe in God. I only believe in myself “, assured Zlatan, who also does not believe in the existence of another life: “No. It is like that, when you are dead, you are dead. I don’t even know if I want a funeral or a grave, it would be a place to make those who loved me suffer, “he said.
Despite the difficult moments he had to go through, the Swedish forward acknowledged that all this made him stronger: “I learned to transform suffering and even hatred, into force, in gasoline. If I am happy I play well, but if I am angry, hurt, or in pain… I play better! From those who love me I get energy, but from those who hate me I get much more ”.
Among various personal issues, Zlatan referred to his bond with women throughout his life: “Very shy. On the first date he had written down everything he had to say; if the girl was talking about something else, she would ask the question she had written anyway. I did everything much later than my colleagues … ”. “At what age did you make love for the first time?”the journalist asked him. “At 17. Because at 17, for the first time, I left the Malmoe ghetto and went downtown. Only then did I discover the Swedes as you imagine them: blond, free. In the ghetto, the girls wore short hair and veils”. A space was also made to talk about his bond of more than two decades with his wife Helena: “The secret is patience. Helena is ten years older than me, she has always been more mature “.
Before concluding the interview, in which he also mentioned Diego Armando Maradona, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, the reference from Sweden explained the famous altercation he had with Romelu Lukaku: “It was the Italian Cup Derby. First he fought with Romagnoli, then with Saelemaekers. I intervened to defend my teammates and he started attacking me on a personal level. I was shocked as we had been teammates in Manchester. “
“Lukaku has a big ego, he is convinced that he is a champion and he is really strong. But I grew up in the Malmo ghetto, and when someone approaches me with their head raised I put them in their place. So I hit him where it hurt the most: his momma’s rituals and he lost control”He added.
With the personality and humor that characterizes it, Ibra He continued: “Although I have an atrocious doubt left… We lost that derby, I was sent off and then I got injured. A lot of bad things happened Does the rite have something to do with it? Did Lukaku really do that to me? ” Later he tried to calm down and concluded: “These are things that have to be solved in the field. I don’t hate anyone, much less Lukaku. Hate is a demanding feeling ”.
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Source-www.infobae.com