Even the colossus "Ibra" is caught up by the passage of time: Zlatan Ibrahimovic announced Sunday that he was ending at 41 years of age a career where he collected titles, goals, rants and, at the end, injuries.
"It's time to say goodbye to football, not just to you. There are too many emotions now, go Milan and goodbye, "said the Swedish striker at the microphone, on the field of the stadium of San Siro, after the victory of his partners against Hellas Verona (3-1) on the 38th and last day of the Italian Championship.
"Thank you all, from tomorrow I am a free man. It's been a long career, of which I'm proud. Thank you," he said later at a news conference.
AC Milan, the club where he returned at the end of 2019 and which he largely contributed to bring back to the top, including the title of Italian champion in 2022, had announced the day before that he would not extend his contract.
Due to repeated injuries, the forty-year-old has hardly been able to play this season. He returned to competition in February after undergoing surgery on his left knee in May 2022.
The Swede started just one game in 2002-23, in March, in the 3-1 win at Udinese. He became the oldest goalscorer in Serie A history.
"It's sad"
At the end of March, he still hoped to be able to play Euro 2024, next year in Germany.
But he then injured himself again, a calf, during a pre-game warm-up in April, and has since finished the season on the sidelines, where he was still for the last game of his career Sunday night.
"We can only thank him for everything he has done for us. And it's sad that a champion like that doesn't play football anymore," coach Stefano Pioli told Milan channel.
Considered one of the best centre-forwards in history, "Zlatan" has won almost everything at club, with the notable exception of the Champions League which has always refused him.
His achievements include league titles in four different countries: two in the Netherlands with Ajax Amsterdam (2001-04), five in Italy (three with Inter between 2006-09, two with AC Milan between 2010 and 2012 and from 2020 to 2023), one in Spain with FC Barcelona (2009-11) and four in France with Paris SG (2012-16).
We must add a Europa League with Manchester United (2016-18) and no title in the colors of the Los Angeles Galaxy from March 2018 to November 2019, but a few good words for the American public who loved his outgoing personality and his showman side.
"Go back to baseball"
"You wanted Zlatan, I gave you Zlatan. You're welcome. The story continues... Now go back to your baseball games," he tweeted as a farewell to his American fans.
At PSG, "I arrived like a king, I leave like a legend," he said a few months earlier as he left the club where there was "nothing" before him.
Born in Malmö on October 3, 1981, to a Bosnian father of Muslim faith and a Croatian Catholic mother, "Ibra" first became passionate about taekwondo as a teenager.
His past in this martial art, he used it to delight fans with his "kung-fu" goals, in extension, or his brilliant inspirations like his return of more than 35 meters against England in 2012, or his slalom in 2004 with Ajax Amsterdam, dribbling six players before beating the goalkeeper, an action that launched his career.
In addition to his XXL ego, the Swede was above all an exemplary professional, as Carlo Ancelotti had said. In a book, "My Coaching Secrets", he explains that he was introduced to Zlatan as "a difficult player to manage".
But he discovered at PSG a player "very available and professional, always focused on his work".
What will be the future of the one who is the top scorer in the history of the Swedish selection (62 goals in 122 caps)? Coach? Probably not? "Ibra" who already has a statue of him in Malmö did not hide his interest in cinema when he lived in Los Angeles.
"Let's enjoy the future, a new chapter begins," he simply launched Sunday night.
(AFP)
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