Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Player Information

Full name: Zlatan Ibrahimović
Date of birth: October 03, 1981
Birthplace: Malmö, Sweden
Nationality: Swedish
2nd nationality: Bosnian
EU passport: Yes
Height: 192 cms
Weight: 84 kgs

Club: Inter Milan
Position: Striker [C]
Squad Number: 8
Contract expires: June 2010
Previous clubs: Malmo > (€7.8m) Ajax > (€16.9m) Juventus > (€24.8m) Inter Milan

International debut: January 2001, v Faroe Islands
International Caps: 56
International Goals: 20
World Cups: Korea/Japan 2002, Germany 2006

Awards

Dutch Eredivisie (2002, 2004)
Dutch KNVB Cup (2002)
Dutch Super Cup (2002)
Italian Super Cup (2006)
Italian Serie A (2007, 2008)

Sweden's Footballer of the Year (2005, 2007, 2008)
Italian Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year (2005)

Biography

1981
Born October 3 in a troubled immigrant neighborhood of Malmo to a Croatian mother and Bosnian father.
1995
Joins hometown club Malmo FF.
1999
Plays for Malmo in the Swedish second division. Scores 12 goals in 26 appearances and help his team win promotion to Allsvenskan.
2001
January 31: Makes National team debut against Faroe Islands.
July: Joins Ajax for a record 7.8m euros fee.
October: Banned for five matches for elbowing the Groningen defender Melchior Schoenmakers.
2002
May: Wins double of Eredivisie and Dutch Cup titles with Ajax; Scores the winning goal in the Dutch Cup final.
June: Selected in the Sweden squad at the World Cup finals.
2004
May: Wins second Eredivisie title with Ajax.
June: Scores 2 goals at Euro cup with Sweden.
August: Signs for Juventus in a 19m euros transfer.
2005
May: Wins Serie A title with Juve, Zlatan contributed with 16 goals in the season.
August 5: Ibrahimovic underlines his desire to leave Juventus by refusing to travel with the Italian side for a pre-season friendly fixture.
August 10: Zlatan Ibrahimovic became the latest big name to desert Juventus when he moved to Italian rivals Inter Milan for 24.8 million euros. The Sweden striker signed a four year contract, Inter said on their Web site after completing the most expensive incoming deal in Italy of the close-season.
August 26: Member of the Inter Milan team that won the Italian Super Cup after a three-goal deficit for a 4-3 victory over AS Roma in Milan.
September 04: Sweden sent home Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Olof Mellberg and Christian Wilhelmsson for staying out too late on Sunday ahead of the Euro 2008 qualifier with Liechtenstein.
September 15: Ibrahimovic told national team coach Lars Lagerback he will not be available for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Spain and Iceland next month in a dispute over recent disciplinary matters.
2007
April 22: Member of the Inter Milan squad that won the Serie A championship with five games to spare, matching the record set by Torino (1947/48) and equalled by Fiorentina (1955/56).
November 13: Zlatan Ibrahimovic won the Swedish Golden Ball award for footballer of year.
2008
January 14: Became the first individual footballer to win the public vote for Sweden's Sports Personality of the Year.
May 18: Having not played since March because of a knee injury, Zlatan took the pitch in the 51st minute and scored both goals as Inter Milan won 2-0 at Parma FC to snuff out AS Roma's hopes of stealing the Scudetto.
June 10: Put an end to his 13-game international goal drought with a superb strike that helped Sweden to a 2-0 victory over European champions Greece. Zlatan received the Carlsberg Man of the March Award for the strike and for being "undoubtedly the crucial performer."
November 18: Named Sweden's player of the year for an unprecedented third time at the Swedish annual football awards ceremony at Stockholm's Globe Arena.

FIFA World Cup™ Germany 2006 player's profile

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the man with the golden boots and he does seem to have found the Midas touch when it comes to scoring important goals for his country.
He hit the headlines with an incredible strike against Italy in the 2004 UEFA European Championship as Sweden advanced to the quarter-finals. He followed that performance by leading Sweden to the finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ by scoring eight goals in ten qualifying matches.

However, what really sets the 24-year-old striker apart from his compatriots is his personality. “I don’t think there has ever been a Swedish player who is as confident in himself as Zlatan,” said international team-mate Niclas Alexandersson.

“It really is different from a lot of Swedes. We don’t like to say we’re the favorites to win or things like that, but Zlatan is very confident and he has the ability to back it up. He has done tremendously well.”

Ibrahimovic came to prominence when he agreed a Swedish-record €7.8m transfer to Ajax in 2000. He spent three seasons with them in the Netherlands, where we won a Dutch Cup and Eridivisie title.

He scored the winning goal in the 2002 Dutch Cup final and when Juventus came calling, few were surprised and he moved to Italy for €19m in 2004. Ibrahimovic, by now known to all simply as ‘Zlatan’, quickly cemented his place in the first team and he won the Italian league title with Juventus in 2005.

His performances in the qualifiers for Germany 2006 convinced people he really could do it all. He finished third in scoring overall in Europe and national manager Lars Lagerback is naturally delighted to have him in his side. Lagerback said: “Zlatan is big and strong and has an almost un-Swedish technique: He can dribble as well as shoot, and his mobility and team play are extremely good.”

Ibrahimovic made his international debut on 31 January 2001 in a scoreless draw against the Faroe Islands and, up to early 2006, had scored 16 goals from 38 games for his country. Swedish football recognised the brash youngster in 2005, naming him their player and forward of the year and a man with that much talent should finish his career with a lot more titles to his name.

© 2001-2006 FIFA, All Rights Reserved

UEFA Champions League 2005-06 player's profile

Occasionally irrational and hot-tempered, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is an enigmatic striker who possesses skill in abundance. His fine technique and ability to retain possession make him a useful foil, although scoring remains his primary focus.

National team
A place in the Sweden squad at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals marked his arrival on the international scene at the tender age of 20, Ibrahimovic having made his debut against the Faroe Islands in January 2001. A substitute in UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying, he claimed a starting place alongside Henrik Larsson in Portugal as Sweden reached the last eight, scoring against Bulgaria and, stunningly, Italy to help take his team through. Remains a key compenent of their World Cup qualifying side.

Club
Born in 1981 and a prodigiously talented youngster, Ibrahimovic joined his hometown club Malmö FF in 1995 after starting his career with amateur side FBK Balkan. In 2000 Arsenal FC tried to sign him, but it was AFC Ajax who won the battle for his signature, bringing him to the Netherlands for a record €7.8m fee.

2001: Ibrahimovic grabbed the winning goal in the 2002 Dutch Cup final and scored four UEFA Champions League goals in 2002/03 and ten in the league as Ajax finished second. The following year, despite missing three months of the season following groin surgery, the Swede struck 13 goals in 16 games as Ajax wrested back the Eredivisie title from PSV Eindhoven.

2004/05: Having scored a memorable solo goal against NAC Breda in what turned out to be his penultimate Ajax appearance, he signed for Juventus FC in a €19m transfer on 31 August 2004 and struck 16 Serie A goals as Juve won the Italian title for the 28th time.

Did you know?
After previously wearing his first name Zlatan on the back of his shirt, he opted for Ibrahimovic at the start of 2004/05 as a sign of gratitude to his father.

©uefa.com 1998-2006. All rights reserved.

UEFA EURO 2004™ player's profile

Occasionally irrational and hot-tempered, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is an enigmatic striker who possesses skill in abundance. His fine technique and ability to retain possession make him a useful foil, although scoring remains his primary focus.

National team
A place in the Sweden squad at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals marked his arrival on the international scene at the tender age of 20 having previously made his debut against the Faroe Islands in January 2001.

UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying
Tommy Söderberg and Lars Lagerbäck continued to nurture Ibrahimovic's talent by using him sporadically, but to great effect. The striker scored twice in his only full outing against San Marino having already registered a crucial equaliser against Hungary at the Råsunda.

Club
Born in 1981 and a prodigiously talented youngster, Ibrahimovic joined his hometown club, Malmö FF, in 1995 after starting his career with the amateur side FBK Balkan. In 2000 Arsenal FC tried to sign him - manager Arsène Wenger going as far as giving him a No9 shirt with his name on the back.

2001: But it was Ajax who won the battle for his signature, bringing him to the Netherlands for a record €7.8m fee. In October 2001, he was banned for five matches for elbowing the FC Groningen defender Melchior Schoenmakers. Still, there would be a happy ending to 2001/02 for the giant striker, Ibrahimovic grabbing the headlines with the winning goal in the 2002 Dutch Cup final. He scored four times in 13 UEFA Champions League outings in 2002/03 and ten in the league as Ajax finished second.

2003/04: Despite missing three months of the season following groin surgery, Ibrahimovic struck 13 goals in 16 games as Ajax wrested back the Eredivisie title from PSV Eindhoven.

Did you know?
His eleventh-minute strike against Olympique Lyonnais on 17 September 2003 was the first of that season's opening group stage.

©uefa.com 1998-2006. All rights reserved.