Zlatan Ibrahimovic was natural on October 3, 1981, in Malmo, Sweden, to a Bosnian father named Šefik Ibrahimović and a Croatian mother named Jurka Gravic. His father was a Muslim Bosniak from Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, while his mother was a Catholic Croat from Prigorje Brdovečko, Croatia.
Ibrahimovic has spoken publicly about his mixed heritage and how it has influenced his upbringing and career. He has described his father as a hard-working man who instilled in him a strong work ethic and discipline. On the other hand, his mother provided him with emotional support and taught him to respect everyone.
Despite their different backgrounds, Ibrahimovic has stated that his parents had a happy and loving marriage, which he credits for shaping his values and outlook on life.
An Overview of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Family Background
A story from Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s childhood goes a long way toward describing how a skinny, awkward boy would become one of his generation’s best soccer players.
Ibrahimovic fatten up poor, one of five children living in a dangerous housing project in Malmo, Sweden’s third-largest city. He talked with a lisp, was self-conscious about his big nose and admitted he went to school mainly for the free lunches.
When the school hired an exceptional teacher to work with him, the added embarrassment was more than he could bear.
So when the woman approaches to watch him play soccer one afternoon, Ibrahimovic borders a long-distance shot off her head. A few days later, the teacher left, and a lesson was grasped: The world can be cold and cruel, but with a soccer ball at his feet, Ibrahimovic could construct that world bend to his will.
“I desire to stand up to the whole world and show everybody who’d doubtful me who I was,” he wrote in his autobiography “I Am Zlatan.”
“And I couldn’t imagine anyone who could stop me.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Education and Schooling
Few have run that in the more than two decades since, with Ibrahimovic organization himself to Major League Soccer last week by limping off the Galaxy pew to score the game-tying goal on a jaw-relinquish 40-yard strike, then knock in the victor on a stoppage-time header, capping the most remarkable comeback in league history.
It would have been an incredible show if he hadn’t done it before, get in his entrance with four other teams. In 20 seasons, he’s won 33 championships, counting 11 titles in four of Europe’s summit leagues, receiving tens of millions of dollars.
Ibrahimovic is remainder driven and will suit up for his second pastime with the Galaxy on Sunday. And at 36, less than a year detached from a knee injury that would have finished many careers, he also defies convention.
Having defeated most of Europe, he came here to destroy the colonies. Having made millions on the continent, he allegedly revolves down a $100 million offer from an unnamed Chinese team for a two-year, $3-million deal with the Galaxy.
And to ensure no one questioned his dedication, he came to Southern California with his chronic partner Helena Seger, a businesswoman 11 years old, and the pair’s two sons, 11-year-old Max and 10-year-old Vincent. Smooth, the family’s dog, a brown-and-white bulldog named Trustor, had its seat on the Bombardier corporate jet for the 10-hour flight from England.
“I’m not here only for one game, and I’m here for the flavour,” said Ibrahimovic, who clasp questions at his initial press conference in English, Spanish, Swedish and Italian.
“I know what I require to do to perform. I’ve played 700, 800 games, and I have almost 500 goals and more goals than players have in games. I know what I’m doing and must keep doing it.
Ibrahimovic was born in Sweden to newcomer parents from the former Yugoslavia. His mother was a wash lady, and his father was a property caretaker who separated before Ibrahimovic’s second birthday. As an outcome, the boy and his siblings frequently walk between their parents’ tiny penthouse, rarely spending additional than a year in one place.
The Beginning of a Phenomenal Career
When a bloody civil war was penniless out back home, Ibrahimovic’s father, Sefik, became growingly withdrawn, drinking most nights and listening to music from his broken homeland. The refrigerator often holds nothing but beer, leaving the children to fend for themselves, and social services intervened more than once.
Ibrahimovic has given few divulged interviews, but he discusses his childhood publicly and at length in his autobiography.
“My dad was ne’er there,” Ibrahimovic said. “I looked after myself. Maybe it did hurt, and I can’t tell.”
If he hadn’t established soccer, Ibrahimovic said, he may have been imprisoned. As a boy, he was a gifted thief, learning to pick locks and steal bikes. He once inadvertently stole a mailman’s delivery bike, pinching the neighbourhood’s letters and packages in the process—another time, he made off with his coach’s bicycle from outside his team’s locker room.
