Zlatan Ibrahimović kod Slavena Bilića | Prvi dio | Neuspjeh prvaka #13

Summary

No sporting event is covered in the video; it is an interview, and the subtitles do not include timestamps.

Slaven Bilić welcomes Zlatan Ibrahimović to Milan to discuss life after football, his upbringing, and the beginnings of his career. Ibrahimović says his competitive drive has not changed since retiring: whatever he does, he wants to win and be the best. Now an adviser to Milan’s owner, he is learning to help the club in a different way. He misses stepping onto the pitch and contributing directly, but is taking time to understand the business side of football.

Coaching and football

The two discuss how coaching differs from playing. Ibrahimović argues that a successful player does not automatically make a good coach. Coaching requires a different skill set, should be learned step by step, and leaves room for mistakes. He also warns against starting at the very top, where errors can follow a new coach’s reputation. In his view, football tactics have changed, but the game still depends on recognizing players’ qualities and building a team around them.

Childhood and family

Ibrahimović recalls growing up in Rosengård, a multicultural neighborhood in Malmö that was his whole world as a child. He did not visit Malmö’s city center until he was about 16. Sometimes he walked or ran to school and training—or rode a bicycle he had stolen—because he could not afford a bus ticket. When he finally went into the center, he felt he had discovered a new world.

He describes himself as a wild, sometimes aggressive child. In Sweden, he says, people often treated him as different because of his appearance, background, and manner. He felt Swedish, but did not always feel accepted as such. He is especially proud that his success at Malmö helped open a path for other players with immigrant backgrounds.

His childhood was also shaped by his parents’ hard work and limited means. His mother cleaned offices, while his father did practical jobs and was, Ibrahimović says, a strict but influential presence. His father taught discipline without hitting him: a look was enough, and if Ibrahimović was told to be home at nine, he was home at nine. He remembers living on simple food, including bread, milk, and his father’s Bolognese. He now teaches his own children to value what they have, respect others, and become independent.

After his parents separated, Ibrahimović spent time between their nearby homes. He says his family shielded him from much of the war in the Balkans. He remembers his father making frequent calls to relatives in Bosnia and being kept away from painful family events. Ibrahimović says he did not experience the war as those who lived through it did, and does not claim to speak for them.

Early football and discipline

Football became Ibrahimović’s focus from an early age. He played for local clubs before joining Malmö and also trained in taekwondo after watching martial-arts films and Muhammad Ali videos with his father. He believes the training may have helped his agility and unusual control for a tall player.

He describes himself as intensely disciplined. In training, he would touch every line he was meant to reach and complete the full distance assigned. To illustrate that determination, he tells a story about finishing a treadmill interval workout after he had soiled himself rather than stopping before it was done.

At Malmö, some people saw him as arrogant and aggressive. Confident even as a teenager, he openly said he was the best player in Sweden, which clashed with expectations of modesty and conformity. After a physical incident with another youth player, the player’s parents reportedly circulated a petition to have Ibrahimović removed from the club. A coach protected him, treating the incident as a mistake to learn from rather than a reason to expel him. Ibrahimović says he has tried to carry that sense of fairness into his work with academy players by giving them equal treatment and opportunity.

Idols, confidence, and early attention

Ibrahimović names Muhammad Ali as an early model for confidence and Brazilian Ronaldo as a football idol. He studied Ronaldo’s moves—sometimes sneaking into the school library instead of class to watch clips—and practiced them until he developed his own style. Ibrahimović distinguishes confidence from arrogance: in his view, words matter when a person’s actions back them up.

The interview also touches on the sudden attention that came with his early rise. Swedish media and paparazzi began following him, and he says even experienced footballer Henrik Larsson could not offer a precedent for handling the attention. Ibrahimović concluded he would have to manage it himself.

When he signed for Ajax, his mother saw his photograph on television and briefly feared something had happened to him. After he explained that he was going to play professionally, she initially thought he was joking. He says he had no mentor or support system to guide him through those early changes, so he had to find his own way.

Presenters and sources

• Host: Slaven Bilić
• Guest: Zlatan Ibrahimović
• Video source: (Ne)uspjeh prvaka