‘A man like no other’: Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s best quotes on God, lions, and Pep Guardiola
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic[1] has announced his retirement from football at the age of 41.
One of the game’s most colourful and outspoken characters, the prolific striker has called time on his illustrious career after spells with some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Manchester United paid tribute to “a man like no other” while an emotional Ibrahimovic waved goodbye to the AC Milan fans[2] following their Serie A finale at the San Siro.
Ibrahimovic retires having won some of the game’s biggest prize and leaves behind a stunning collection of goals, as well as some outrageous quotes from his 24-year career.
Here are some of the best…
Ibrahimovic on rejecting Arsenal trial in 2001
“Zlatan doesn’t do auditions. You either know me or you don’t, and if you don’t know me, you can’t really want me.”
Ibrahimovic on Pep Guardiola[3]
"When you buy me, you are buying a Ferrari. If you drive a Ferrari, you put premium petrol in the tank, you hit the motorway and you step on the gas. Guardiola filled up with diesel and took a spin in the countryside. He should have bought a Fiat."
"Guardiola was staring at me and I lost it. I thought ‘There is my enemy, scratching his bald head!’ I yelled to him: ‘You have no balls!’ And probably worse things than that." - Following Barcelona’s Champions League semi-final defeat to Inter Milan in 2010.
Ibrahimovic and Guardiola fell out at Barcelona
(AFP/Getty Images)
Ibrahimovic on Jose Mourinho
"Mourinho is Guardiola’s opposite. If Mourinho brightens up the room, Guardiola pulls down the curtains."
Ibrahimovic on John Carew
"What Carew does with a football, I can do with an orange."
Ibrahimovic on joining Paris Saint-Germain in 2012
"It’s true I don’t know much about the players here, but they definitely know who I am."
"We are looking for an apartment; if we do not find anything, then we will just buy a hotel."
Ibrahimovic on God
Asked whether Sweden would beat Portugal in a 2014 World Cup play-off, the striker said:
Ibrahimovic: "Only God knows."
Journalist: "It’s hard to ask him."
Ibrahimovic: "You’re talking to him now."
Ibrahimovic on Sweden’s failure to quality for the 2014 World Cup
"A World Cup without me is nothing to watch.”
(Getty Images)
Ibrahimovic comparing himself to red wine
“The older I get, the better I get, like red wine! I’m a perfect example of that. The older I get, the better I play."
Ibrahimovic comparing himself to a lion
"Lions do not compare themselves to humans." When asked to rate himself against other strikers in the Premier League
“Lions, they don’t recover like humans.” When asked about his recovery from a knee injury in 2017
Ibrahimovic on playing in the USA
"I’m very thankful for MLS because they gave me the chance to feel alive. But the problem was I was still too alive. So, I was too good for the whole competition. That is what I showed...
"You never know, maybe one day I’ll come back, to give them a reminder of what real football is."
Ibrahimovic on leaving PSG
"I came like a king, left like a legend."
Ibrahimovic on joining Manchester United
"I won’t be the King of Manchester, I will be the God of Manchester."
Ibrahimovic’s scored 15 Premier League goals for United in the 2016-17 season
(Getty Images)
Ibrahimovic after announcing his retirement
“I have many memories and many emotions here. The first time I arrived here you gave me happiness. The second time, love. I will be a Milan fan for life.
“The time has come to say goodbye to football, but not to you. See you around, if you’re lucky. Forza Milan and goodbye.”
References
- ^ Zlatan Ibrahimovic (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ Zlatan Ibrahimovic in tears as he announces retirement from football after stellar career (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ Pep Guardiola (www.independent.co.uk)