Ibrahimovic lights up Sharjah International Book Fair
Thousands of fans greet him with a rapturous welcome
We all know about the sublime skills Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic possesses but it his confident personality that sets him apart from the pack. And the AC Milan star was at his assertive best on Sunday night at the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF).
There was bedlam inside Ballroom as thousands of fans waited for his arrival and when they caught a glimpse of the 6 foot 5 inch icon, he was greeted with a rapturous welcome. Eventually, the thunderous noise died down and he began talking about his career, his current knee injury and his plans for life after football.
“The knee is making good progress, I am working hard and I am aiming to come back and play football again soon,” said the 41-year-old.
Recovering
He is still recovering from surgery that he underwent in the summer and he is expected to join his club AC Milan for a training camp in Dubai later this year. Ibrahimovic is a leader on the pitch and his experience has been vital for the club who won the Serie A title last year after he rejoined them for a second time. “When I came back to Milan people said it would be a disaster, but I didn’t lose the passion for what I am doing. I promised them I would help them win the title — and
we did it. I was 39 when I came back, they said I should stop playing. They said I was too old. This fired me up. If you want to play with fire I will burn you!”
Most players retire in their mid-30s but Ibrahimovic is not ready to hang up his boots just yet. “I never lost the passion for what I do, I have a strong mentality. I believe in working hard. When you have this kind of mentality you reach far. I was surrounded by people who had the same mentality, I would watch them do certain things and follow and you build up this bullet proof mentality.”
He hasn’t only scored hundreds of goals in a hugely successful career with clubs including Ajax, Barcelona, Juventus, Paris-Saint Germain and Manchester United, but he has also set the pace in bookstores around the globe with the huge success of his best-selling novels. His latest anticipated release is called ‘My Untold Story’ and with such a colourful career that has seen plenty of controversies it is bound to be a riveting read. But when asked if he reads books about the beautiful game, he quipped, “I don’t read books about how to play football — I teach others how to play football!”
With the Fifa World Cup set to kick off in a matter of days, Ibrahimovic is looking forward to the showpiece which is being held in the Middle East for the very first time. “Every World Cup is exciting, it is the biggest stage for professional players. It is a different World Cup, it is not being played in the summer time in Europe. It is a tournament in the middle of the season. If I have to choose one team to win it I will say Argentina. I hope Messi will win it — he is a good guy, he is older now, but he is a person who loves football. He is phenomenal. I loved playing with him at Barcelona.”