Zlatan Ibrahimovic does not have many idols.
But he has – to say the least – strong feelings for a Swedish athlete.
– He is the only one who has risen to my level, said “Ibra”.
When Dagens Nyheter was once going to rank Sweden’s 150 best athletes of all time, Zlatan Ibrahimovic ended up second. He was, unsurprisingly, moderately pleased with it, jokingly saying afterwards that he is “1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th”, followed by “with all due respect to the others “.
The Swedish role model
Björn Borg was number one on the list, and of course it was all a joke with the twinkle in Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s eye. That’s how he’s always been, but when it comes to Swedish athletes in history, there’s one in particular that has earned Ibrahimovic total appreciation. In football, Zlatan has always said that it is Ronaldo who is the big idol, but there are others he looks up to.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has previously, in his book “Adrenalina”, said that he was starstruck the time he met Björn Borg, and that the tennis icon is the only one that Ibrahimovic “was really happy” to meet. Ibrahimovic has rarely expressed the same kind of admiration for icons like Stenmark or Svan, but there is something extra about Björn Borg, Zlatan thinks.
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Incredible tribute
A few years ago, Ibrahimovic took part in a long interview in the newspaper Café, and then revealed that Borg is the only Swedish athlete who has achieved similar things as Zlatan himself has done.
– Björn Borg. His achievements trigger me. Just like me, Björn came from nowhere and showed that everything is possible. He is the only one who has risen to my level and made a difference, Ibrahimovic said.
When Ibrahimovic came up with his statement that he was first, second, third, fourth and fifth on the list, Borg responded with a real tribute to Ibrahimovic, and there were no hard feelings to say the least.
– Ibra is funny, he has a nice personality and also he is more well-known around the world than Ikea, and is more famous than I was in my time, said the icon.
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