<span class="titolo">'Ibra' Silences Even His Biggest Critics</span></p> <span class="sommario">Maxi Gabriel looks back to the events of Saturday at the Rasunda - and the Swedish media's reaction - when Zlatan 'Ibra' Ibrahimovic proved that he's still invaluable at international level...</span></p> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">In Saturday's game, Zlatan 'Ibra' Ibrahimovic was involved in practically all constructive play of the Swedish side.</font></p> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> He played what seemed to be his best game yet with the national team, even receiving a standing ovation when he left the pitch in the final minutes. Both players and the press praised him after the match, followed by rave reviews in the papers the next day.</font></p> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">But this has not always been the case.</font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Zlatan Ibrahimovic has always been somewhat controversial. For more or less all teams he has played for, his relationships with the press have been rocky. His background is somewhat atypical for the Swedish national team. Both his parents are non-Swedish - from the former Yugoslavia - and he grew up in Rosengård, the Swedish equivalent of 'the ghetto'.</font></p> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Of course, there are qualifications. He did not live exclusively in Rosengård, but this connection is nonetheless emphasized in the media. Furthermore, in comparison to other European ghettos, Rosengård has a high standard of living and is relatively free from crime, etc. Nevertheless, it is stigmatized, especially in the press, and Ibra has often been characterised in such a way.</font></p> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Ibra's problems with the press developed to the extent that he boycotts the Swedish media, who can only hear from him in press conferences with the national team. Indeed, Juventus went to great lengths to guard their player from Swedish journalists during his spell with them.</font></p> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Since he moved to Inter, he has been a little more outspoken but, for the most part, Ibra talks to Italian newspapers, not Swedish ones.</font> </p> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">It's quite a case: there is even a Master’s degree essay from 2004 on this subject, on how Ibra has debatably been stigmatized and discriminated against by the Swedish press. He has been forced to endure the same treatment as many other immigrants, or in this case, son of immigrants. And this has probably led to a great change in the way he confronts the media.</font></p> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Earlier in his career, he was in fact very hospitable to questions, and something of an interviewer’s delight: he offered an ironic flare to interviewers, going beyond the usual footballing cliches. Since then, he has clamped up, and you can only see glimpses of the ‘old’ Zlatan.</font></p> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">This is, by the way, how the Swedish press refers to him: ‘Zlatan’. Contrary to all other players, he is called by his first name, and not his second. It was not until he came to Italy that he became ‘Ibra’.</font></p> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">He has recently returned from a boycott of the national team, the last controversy of many. He has long been criticized for not performing at the same level for the national team as for Inter, or before that, Juventus. It was a massive source of tension.</font></p> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Last Saturday, though, this changed, as he finally got his breakthrough at the international level. He played what is generally considered his best game yet, showing his very special football magic, and, moreover, maintaining a high level the whole game.</font></p> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">This is probably the greatest difference in recent times: his consistency on the field. And even if he did not score, which he so greatly deserved, he showed even his greatest critics that he can “make it” in the national team. Now he is the undisputed number one.</font></p> </p> </p>
He is a great player... I am happy he is starting to find his form again. And you have some great threads.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MainEvent)</div><div class='quotemain'>He is a great player... I am happy he is starting to find his form again. And you have some great threads.</div></p> Thank you. </p> I agree, a great player Ibra is. Too bad he didn't play for Bosnian national team. Try and help them get to a world cup or euro cup. lol</p> </p>
