Zlatan Ibrahimović

Zlatan Ibrahimović (born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for French club Paris Saint-Germainand the Swedish national team for which he is captain.

Ibrahimović started his career at Malmö FF in the late 1990s before being signed by Ajax, where made a name for himself under Ronald Koeman. He later signed with Juventus for €16 million, and gained fame in Serie A by benefiting from his strike partnership with David Trezeguet. In 2006, Ibrahimović signed with rivalsInternazionale, where he won individual awards such as the Italian Oscar del Calcio and the SwedishGuldbollen, and was named in the 2007 and 2009 UEFA Team of the Year, in addition to finishing as the league's highest scorer in 2008–09 while winning three straight Scudetti. In the summer of 2009, he transferred to Barcelona. His time at Barcelona was short-lived, however, moving back to Serie A football with A.C. Milanthe following season, in a deal which made him one of the highest paid footballers in the world and cost the Italian club €24 million. He signed with Paris Saint-Germain in July 2012.

Ibrahimović is one of ten players to have made 100 or more appearances for the Swedish national team, and is the country's all time leading goalscorer in international matches with 51 goals. He has represented Sweden at the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups, as well as the 2004, 2008 and 2012 UEFA European Championships.

With his playing style compared to Dutch legend Marco van Basten, Ibrahimović is one of the best finishers in the game and is regarded to be one of the best footballers of his generation.His spectacular bicycle kick for Sweden against England won the 2013 FIFA Puskás Award for Goal of the Year. In December 2013, Ibrahimović was ranked by The Guardian as the third-best player in the world. In December 2014, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter named him the second-greatest Swedish sportsperson of all time, after Björn Borg.

Club career
Paris Saint-Germain

2012–13 season

On 17 July 2012, Paris Saint-Germain confirmed that they had reached an agreement to acquire the sporting and economic rights of Ibrahimović from A.C. Milan, having already agreed personal terms with the striker, for an initial transfer fee of around €20 million, making Ibrahimović the most expensive footballer in combined transfer fees. Valued at €180 million, these combined fees eclipsed those commanded by Nicolas Anelka. His three-year contract would see him receive a net annual salary of €14 million including bonuses (which would be €2 million more than what he was earning per year just before he left Milan), and make him the second best paid footballer in the world behind Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o.

The following day, Ibrahimović signed the contract and made the following statement during the press conference: "It is a big step in my career and another dream come true. I am very happy because it is a project that I want to be involved in. I want to be part of the history of the club. I am here to win and nothing else."

Ibrahimović scored twice in the second half for PSG to help them rally from 2–0 down at half-time to salvage a 2–2 home draw with Lorient in their opening 2012–13 Ligue 1 match. He scored two goals in the first half to help PSG to a 2–1 win over Lille which was PSG's first Ligue 1 win after three successive draws in the first three league matches of the 2012–13 season.

In the opening 2012–13 UEFA Champions League Group A match against Dynamo Kyiv on 18 September 2012, Ibrahimović scored his sixth goal in only his fifth appearance for Carlo Ancelotti's side through a penalty. He thus became the first man to score for six clubs in the UEFA Champions League. On 8 October 2012, Ibrahimović became only the third player (after Ronaldinho and Laurent Blanc) to have played in the El Clásico in Spain, theDerby della Madonnina in Italy and the Le Classique, the derby between Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain. He scored both of PSG's goals (the first goal was from a backheel and the second was from a free kick) in the Ligue 1 Classique derby at theStade Vélodrome on that day, with the match finishing 2–2. On 11 December 2012, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 away win against Valenciennes.

In January 2013, Ibrahimović was handed the number 10 jersey after the departure of Brazilian winger Nené. In April 2013, Ibrahimović scored in a 2–2 draw against his former club Barcelona in the quarter finals of the Champions League. However, PSG were knocked out on away goals after drawing 1–1 at Camp Nou in the second leg. He ended the season as assists leader in the 2012–13 Champions League, providing 7 assists.

On 12 May 2013, Paris Saint-Germain won the Ligue 1 title after a 1–0 away win against Olympique Lyonnais, their third title and first since 1994.He ended the year as Ligue 1's top goalscorer with 30 goals, becoming the first player to reach that mark in the French top flight since Jean-Pierre Papin in the 1989–90 season. On 20 May 2013, he was named as Ligue 1's player of the year by the Union nationale des footballeurs professionnels (UNFP).

2013–14 season
Ibrahimović netted his first goal of the season on 31 August 2013, scoring deep into stoppage time as PSG recorded a 2–0 victory over Guingamp. On 24 September, it was announced that Ibrahimović had extended his contract with Paris Saint-Germain, which now will expire in 2016. A week later on 2 October, the Swede scored twice as PSG ran out 3–0 winners over Benfica in a Champions League group match.

On 19 October, he scored two goals in PSG's 4–0 win over Bastia, one an audacious volleyed back heel as he reached behind the defender to fire the ball into the net. The goal was later named as Ligue 1's goal of the season. Four days later, Ibrahimović scored four goals in PSG's 5–0 away win against RSC Anderlechtin the Champions League - he scored the eighth-fastest hat-trick in the competition's history and become the eleventh player to score four times or more in aChampions League match. The third goal of the four was clocked at a speed of 93 mph.

On 16 March 2014, Ibrahimović scored both goals in a 2–0 win over Saint-Étienne to surpass Carlos Bianchi's club record of 39 goals in a season. On 11 May, he was named Ligue 1's player of the year for the second consecutive season.

Ibrahimović ended the Ligue 1 season as top scorer with 26 goals as PSG won a second consecutive league title. Overall, he scored 41 goals in all competitions, including ten in eight Champions League matches.

2014–15 season
Ibrahimović scored his first two goals for Paris Saint Germain on 2 August 2014 against Guingamp in the 2014 Trophée des Champions, winning his first silverware of the season. In the first league match of the season, Ibrahimović scored twice but also missed an open net and had a penalty saved as PSG drew 2−2 withStade de Reims. Ibrahimović scored his first league hat-trick of the season in a match against Saint-Étienne on 31 August.

In the quarter-finals of the Coupe de la Ligue on 13 January 2015, Ibrahimović scored the only goal to win away at Saint-Étienne. The home team argued that the ball had not crossed the line, and fans threw objects onto the pitch, disrupting play for 10 minutes.

On 11 March 2015, Ibrahimović received a straight red card in a Champions League round of 16 match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. PSG drew 2–2 after extra time to qualify for the quarter-finals on away goals. On 20 March 2015, Ibrahimović scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 win over Lorient at the Parc des Princes.

International career


At the Euro 2012 finals, Ibrahimović scored the opening goal in Sweden's first game against Ukraine He then scored with a volley, later considered the goal of the tournament, to open the score in Sweden's 2–0 win against France in the last group match. Despite the victory, Sweden was knocked out in the group stage.

In October 2012, Ibrahimović scored Sweden's first goal as they came from 4–0 down to draw 4–4 in a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Germany in Berlin. It was the first time in its history that the German national team had not won a match after leading by four goals.

On 14 November 2012, he scored all four goals in a 4–2 win over England in the first ever match at the Friends Arena. His fourth goal, a 35-yard overhead kick with his back to goal, won him praise from players and pundits, with the BBC describing it as a goal that "combined unfathomable imagination and expert technique". It would win the 2013FIFA Puskás Award for Goal of the Year.

On 14 August 2013, Ibrahimović scored another international hat-trick at the Friends Arena, scoring Sweden's first three goals in a 4–2 friendly win against Scandinavian rivals Norway. Ibrahimović ended Sweden's qualifying campaign with eight goals, including two in a play-off defeat to Portugal, as the team failed to reach the 2014 World Cup.

On 4 September 2014, Ibrahimović scored his 50th international goal in a 2–0 friendly match victory over Estonia, making him the Swedish national team's all-time leading goalscorer. Earlier in the same match, he equaled Sven Rydell's record of 49 by scoring the opening goal. On 8 September, he made his 100th appearance for Sweden in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Austria at the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna.

Style of play
Ibrahimović has been described by ESPN as being "good in the air, tall, strong and agile, he plays well with his back to goal and boasts some of the best finishing, vision, passing and ball control around." Although he has been criticised for his work-rate in big matches, he has scored in some of the biggest matches in football including the Milan Derby in Italy, El Clásico in Spain, Le Classique in France, and UEFA Champions League and UEFA Euro Championship games against some of the strongest opponents in football. Ibrahimović is the only player to have scored for six different clubs in the Champions League.Tactically, Ibrahimović is capable of playing anywhere along the front line, although he is most often deployed as a striker, or as a creative supporting forward, which allows him to provide assists for team mates.

Due to his prolific goal scoring and spectacular strikes, Ibrahimović is regarded by many in the sport to be one of the best players in the world and one of the most complete strikers of his generation. He has however been criticised for his aggression and rebellious character at times. Due to his powerful shots and volleys from inside and outside the penalty area with both feet and on dead ball situations, his agility, acrobatic ability in the air, physicality, skill, finishing and technique, Ibrahimović has frequently been compared to Dutch legend Marco van Basten. Despite this comparison, Ibrahimović has stated that his main influence was his idol, former Brazilian superstar Ronaldo, whom he regards as the greatest player of all time.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/