Biography of Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a famous Swedish soccer star of Bosnian-Croatian parentage who has already made his mark in international football. Born on October 3, 1981 in Malmo, Sweden he now plays club soccer for Inter Milan in Italian Serie A. Although Sweden bowed out of the 2008 European Cup quite early, football lovers won’t easily forget the brilliant goal Ibrahimovic scored against Greece.

Ibrahimovic's parents had migrated to Sweden from the erstwhile Yugoslavia. His father was born in Bijeljina, Bosnia, and his mother in Zadar, Croatia. The two, however, met only in Sweden. Ibrahimovic’s growing-up years were spent in Rosengard, a Malmö locality populated mostly by immigrant communities. He completed junior high school (ninth grade) there, and then got admitted to Borgarskolan in Malmo for high school education. But as his potential as a footballer was already established by then, he soon dropped out of school to concentrate on his soccer career. When he was 10, Ibrahimovic became a regular player for FBK Balkan comprising participants belonging mainly to the immigrant Bosnian and Somalian communities of the Rosengard neighborhood.

Beginning to play football at the age of 8, Ibrahimovic at 26 is now one of the world’s leading footballers who has excelled both for his club and country. The 1.92 m tall striker is happily married to Helena Seger, and is the proud father of two sons, Maximilian and Vincent.

Career history

Club career

Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined hometown team Malmo FF in 1995, and found a place in the senior squad for the 1999 season of Allsvenskan, Sweden's premier soccer league. Malmo finished a lowly 13th that season and were relegated to the 2nd division. But the team regained its place in Allsvenskan the next season. Ibrahimovic, however, caught the attention of some top level coaches while playing for Malmo. Arsene Wenger tried to lure him away to play for Arsenal in the English Premier League but Malmo refused to let Ibrahimovic go. But AFC Ajax coach Leo Beenhakker succeeded where Wenger had failed. Highly impressed by Ibrahimovic’s performance in a training game against Moss FK of Norway, he saw to it that a deal was reached between Malmo and Ajax and Ibrahimovic officially joined Ajax for a record fee in July, 2001.

At the famous Dutch club, Ibrahimovic soon forced his way into the first team under the new coach Ronald Koeman and cemented his place as an indispensable member of the team. He played a key role in Ajax’s triumph in the 2001-02 Eredivisie. At Ajax, he got the chance to exhibit his talents on the European stage playing in the Champions’ League. In his first Champions League match against the French champions Olympique Lyonnais in 2002, Ibrahimovic found the net twice in his team’s 2-1 victory. He scored four goals overall for Ajax in the tournament, but the Dutch team were eliminated in the quarterfinals by A.C. Milan.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, however, had to leave Ajax under bizarre circumstances when he was accused of intentionally injuring his Ajax teammate Rafael van der Vaart during an international match between Sweden and the Netherlands on August 18, 2004. The controversy resulted in Ibrahimovic leaving Ajax and signing for the leading Italian side, Juventus in August, 2004.

The Swedish striker lost little time to become a key player of the renowned Italian club with his brilliant scoring ability. As a reward for his outstanding performances, Zlatan Ibrahimovic received a nomination for the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year. However, in the next season, Ibrahimovic was found struggling to score on a regular basis and the striker came under mounting pressure from club supporters. Still, he managed to find a place in the starting line-up and Juventus won the Serie A again. But after Juventus were relegated because of a match-fixing scam, Ibrahimovic bade farewell to the club and signed a four-year contract with another Italian club, Inter Milan.

At Inter, Ibrahimovic has displayed consistent form and helped the club to secure the Scuddetto at the conclusion of the 2006-07 season. He earned the distinction of playing his 100th Serie A match on September 16, 2007. In the Champions’ League, Ibrahimovic scored two goals in the group stage against the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven on October 2. This was his first European goals since December 2005 and his first goals overall while playing for Inter Milan. In May 2008, he scored two goals in Inter Milan’s 2-0 victory over Parma as his team went on to win their third straight Scudetto.

International career

Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his international debut for Sweden in a friendly match in 2001 against the Faroe Islands. However, he played his first competitive match for his country in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan in October that year. He was in the Swedish squad for the 2002 World Cup finals, but they were ousted by Senegal in the round of 16.

In Euro 2004, Ibrahimovic featured in the starting eleven converting a penalty against Bulgaria and scoring a late equalizer penetrating the tight defense of Italy. However, he wasted a penalty as Sweden lost to the Netherlands in the shootout. Ibrahimovic failed to open his account during the 2006 World Cup finals as Sweden were again eliminated in the round of 16, losing to Germany on this occasion.

Two days before a Euro 2008 qualifier against Liechtenstein in September 2006, Ibrahimovic was accused of violating team curfew along with teammates Christian Wilhelmsson and Olof Mellberg. Though none drank any alcohol, they were still dispatched home by coach Lars Lagerbäck. Ibrahimovic could not accept the decision he considered unjust and abstained from taking part in some subsequent matches. He, however, returned to play for Sweden in March, 2007. He failed to score in all 12 qualifying matches, but was awarded the 2007 Swedish Golden Ball as the country's top player of the year.

He ended his international goal drought with a brilliant goal against Greece in Sweden's opening match in Euro 2008 and scored again against Spain. Sweden, however, could not proceed beyond the group stage.

Among the many awards Ibrahimovic has won are Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year (2005), Guldbollen (2005, 2007), Jerringpriset (2007 - Sweden's Sports Personality of the Year), and Swedish Male Athlete of the Year (2007).

A lot of football is left in this tall Swedish striker. Soccer fans all over the world can expect much more from him in the future.