Zlatan Ibrahimović

Zlatan Ibrahimović
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Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović Real Madrid-Milan.jpg
Personal information
Full name Zlatan Ibrahimović
Born 3 October 1981 (age 29)
Malmö, Sweden
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Milan
Number 11
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1999–2001 Malmö FF 40 (16)
2001–2004 Ajax 74 (35)
2004–2006 Juventus 69 (23)
2006–2009 Internazionale 88 (57)
2009–2011 Barcelona 29 (16)
2010–2011 → Milan (loan) 28 (14)
2011– Milan 0 (0)

National team‡
2001– Sweden 67 (28)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 April 2011.

† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 June 2011

Zlatan Ibrahimović (Bosnian pronunciation: [ˈzlatan ibraˈxiːmɔʋitɕ]; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish footballer of Bosnian and Croatian descent who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team for which he is captain.

Ibrahimović started his career at Malmö FF in the late 1990s under Roland Andersson. He was signed by Ajax, and made a name for himself under Ronald Koeman. Years later, he signed with Juventus for €16 million. Ibrahimović gained fame in Serie A, benefiting from his strike partnership with David Trézéguet.

In 2006, he signed with league rival Internazionale, where he won individual awards such as the Oscar del Calcio, the Guldbollen, and was named in the 2007 and 2009 UEFA Team of the Year, in addition to finishing as the league's highest scorer in 2008–09 while winning three straight Scudetti. In the summer of 2009, he transferred to Barcelona before moving to Milan the next season.

Ibrahimović holds the record for the second highest transfer fee in football history, with a total of €69 million for his transfer from Internazionale to Barcelona. He is currently the seventh highest-paid footballer in the world

Early life

Ibrahimović was born in Sweden to a Bosnian father that immigrated to Sweden in 1977, Šefik Ibrahimović, and a Croatian mother, Jurka Gravić, who emigrated to Sweden, where they first met. Ibrahimović grew up in Rosengård, a Malmö neighbourhood known for its immigrant communities, along with his three sisters and two brothers. Zlatan's father is Muslim, while his mother is Christian.

However, he is not very strict about either religion. After receiving a pair of football boots, Ibrahimović began playing football at the age of six, alternating between local junior clubs Malmö BI and FBK Balkan. He has stated in an interview that while his team was down 4–0 during halftime, he came on as a substitute for his Balkan youth team and dramatically scored eight goals.

While in his early teens, he was a regular for his hometown club Malmö FF. At the age of 15, Ibrahimović was close to quitting his football career, in favour of working at the docks in Malmö, but his manager convinced him to continue playing.Ibrahimović successfully completed junior high school in the ninth grade. Though he was admitted to Borgarskolan and had above average grades, he soon dropped out of high school to focus on his football career.