Zlatan Ibrahimovic against Cristiano Ronaldo in a heated duel.
With Eric Cantona as host.
This classic commercial really has it all.
Say what you want about today’s football, but the advertisements were much better in the past. There are some truly classic and unforgettable commercials, and Nike has always been at the forefront. Perhaps the most classic is the one when Ronaldinho walks out onto a pitch, and seemingly shoots five crossbar hits on a volley – in succession.
Unforgettable advertising
Nike also launched its classic Joga Bonito commercials, with king Eric Cantona in the role of host. Joga Bonito means “play beautifully”, and that’s exactly what the commercials were about. To do that little extra, to put on a show – and to play football as it is meant to be played, with finesse.
And of course Zlatan Ibrahimovic was also involved in a corner most of the time. Zlatan has always been sponsored by Nike and has often been the face of some really classic commercials. Perhaps the most memorable came when the Swede ended up in a heated duel with none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. Once again, it was Cantona who was the host, and the whole commercial was about Ronaldo and Zlatan competing to see who could do the best tricks with the ball.
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Total playhouse
The commercial was created when both Zlatan and Ronaldo were two of the world’s best strikers, but still young. In retrospect, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has admitted that he and Ronaldo never actually met during the filming, and that he “didn’t care that much”.
But for everyone who saw it, it was an instant classic.
“We were the two poster names for Nike and we had made a commercial together, a duel where we did tricks and shot at the goal, a fun thing with Eric Cantona as the presenter. But I didn’t know him. We never met during filming. Everything happened remotely, and I didn’t care about that media stuff either,” Zlatan has said about the whole thing.
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