Ibrahimovic celebrates his 42nd birthday. Recall the best catchphrases of the Swedish God

It’s exactly 42 years today since the boy Zlatan Ibrahimovic was born in Malmö. At that moment, nobody knew how big a mark he would leave on football. And not just with his performances on the pitch, but also with his catchphrases off it. Recall the best ones.

Some loved him, others hated him, but no one was indifferent to Zlatan. He called himself a football God, his confidence and big ego never lacking. Even at a young age.

“When I was 17 years old, Arsene Wenger wanted me on trial at Arsenal. I refused. Zlatan doesn’t do auditions, ” he uttered, explaining why he never played for Arsenal even though they were interested in him.

He met coach Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, but they certainly didn’t hit it off. “When Guardiola started philosophising, I didn’t listen to him. Why should I? It was blood, sweat and tears, that kind of crap. We don’t need a philosopher, me and the leprechaun can do it all by ourselves.”

By contrast, he had an excellent relationship with another star coach, José Mourinho. “José is a big star, I like him, he’s really cool. When he first met my wife, he said to her: ‘Helena, you only have one job. Feed Zlatan, let him sleep, keep him happy,” Ibrahimovic entertained.

” José Mourinho is the opposite of Pep Guardiola. When Mourinho brightens the room, Guardiola draws the curtains.”

“You have no balls and you shit your pants in front of Mourinho. You are nothing compared to him,” he also once lashed out at the Catalan coach.

But he won’t get into the coaching business himself. “Becoming a coach? I think I’d rather not. I would slap at least two players during the game and eight more after the game.”

After leaving Barcelona, he also did not forgive himself for poking fun at Lionel Messi. “I don’t have four Ballons d’Or, but I also don’t need a stool to buy a snickers in the vending machine,” he said of the Argentine.

Ibrahimovic once clashed with Finnish defender Sami Hyppia on the pitch. He sort of assessed his defensive qualities in his own way. “I went to the left, he went too. I went right, he went right. Then I went right again and he went to the sausage stand.”

But in his own way, he also deflected the journalists’ intrusive questions. When a reporter once asked him if he was gay, he replied in his own way

And when a reporter once asked him what caused the scratches on his face, he gave a roughly similar answer. “Ask your wife at home,” Zlatan replied with a smile on his face.

Source: ESPN, Givemesport