Zlatan Ibrahimovic has many things – a larger than life personality, an enduring knack for goal-scoring, a famous ego that breeds boundless confidence, and a combined 12 league titles won across four different countries.
One thing the 41-year-old Swede doesn’t have is regret.
Ibrahimovic played for six months without an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) last season, taking regular injections, draining fluid from his left knee, and gobbling painkillers, so he could fulfil his promise to the AC Milan faithful and help deliver a first scudetto to the Rossoneri since 2011.
He stayed true to his promise but also exacerbated his knee injury, needing surgery in May to reconstruct the ruptured ACL. He hasn’t competed since.
Currently in Dubai, where AC Milan are having a winter training camp, Ibrahimovic is following a strict rehabilitation programme for his knee, hoping to return to action at some point this season.
The former Barcelona, PSG and Manchester United forward knows he actively made his injury worse but insists it was a price he was willing to pay.
“So I was injured let’s say one year ago. And since then, every day I put my foot on the field was a consequence, but we knew, we knew every time I went out to try to do something, there was a consequence that things would get worse,” Ibrahimovic said in Dubai.
“But I have no regrets, I would redo it every time if I could choose, just to win the scudetto because my mentality is that.
“I mean the drive to win, do everything to win, help my team to win. And I knew I was not 100 percent in condition and every time it got worse and worse but I have no regrets and in the end we won, so now I am paying for what I went through.
“Let’s say every trophy has its price, and this price was my knee.”
Ibrahimovic says his rehab is going well but that it was a long process.
“The key here is having patience,” he added.
“There is no date where I’m supposed to be back or when I have to be back. Here it’s all about feeling good, with your health, and when the health is good, then the second step is to play football.”
Ibrahimovic’s triumph with Milan last season was his second Serie A success with the club, having also won with them in 2010-2011.
“We had a team that was really phenomenal and everybody expected us to win,” recalled Ibrahimovic of that squad from 11 years ago.
“We were one of the favourites to win and we had amazing players that won a lot of trophies and they were in the last part of their career, more or less like I am now. And individually they were really phenomenal.”
His second stint with the club has been quite a different story.
“I came to a second wave Milan this time and it was a different Milan. A Milan that even playing Champions League for I don’t know, eight, nine years, didn’t win any trophies,” he said.
“[No] Scudetto since 2011, and was a young team, different owner, so the situation was completely different. But the bigger satisfaction was this trophy because nobody expected us to win because everybody said we will not even come top four.
“When I came to the first press conference, I said I will bring them back to the top and we will win. And people were laughing, they said no chance, because they said I’m too old, I will not make it, I should stop playing football.
“Instead I’m sitting here a champion of Italy and I won. So people they should be careful before they judge my words. Because my words are very important.”
Milan lie second in the Serie A table at the moment, eight points adrift of leaders Napoli. Ibrahimovic is feeling “positive” about his side’s chances of catching up, and says a lot will depend on how teams react to the unusually long midseason break all leagues were forced to take because of the World Cup.
“It’s a different season. But we are ready, we work hard, we have experience from last year, we’re the reigning champion, so we know what we need to do,” he declared.
Although there is no concrete timeline for his recovery, Ibrahimovic refuses to entertain any talks of retirement. He doesn’t think too much about his future post-football, saying he prefers to “carpe diem, take the day like it comes”.
Either way, the Swede will never be short on options. He recently made his acting debut by taking on a role in the upcoming French action-comedy, 'Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom', and he has a wide range of businesses and investments in sports, food and finance.
Does he see himself coaching in the future?
“I don’t know,” he responds. “I think being a coach is not easy because, and I’m going against myself, because if you had a career like me, and you’re the player like me, it doesn’t mean you’ll be a great coach.
“Because I think once you start with something else, and not being an active football player, you should start from zero, and then you build yourself up. So if I choose to be a journalist, I’ll have to start from zero, and take my steps up and learn, develop, grow; and I think the same thing as a coach.
“You start as a novice, even if you have been a great player and had a fantastic career. Because being a coach is managing 25 players, being a player you’re managing yourself. So it’s not easy.
“But we have seen that great players have done a great job as a coach. But I’m not there yet. Because if I start to think about being a coach, it means in my mind I’m already retiring, so my football is not important. And in my mind I’m not retired, I’m still active.”
When the day eventually comes and Ibrahimovic decides to walk away from the sport, he knows it will be an emotional affair.
“I think whatever happens in that moment you should let it go because don’t act super mental, don’t act like a Hulk, don’t try to hold your tears, if the tears come,” he said.
“For sure it will be an emotional moment and it’s not easy. Because this is what we’ve been doing for all our life and we are the best in what we’re doing. And you will leave that thing in one day, that’s why you keep pushing always. You want to continue because you still want to have that feeling that you’re alive, because that’s how we feel alive.
“And then I think also you have to be realistic and ready for the second chapter of your life, that’s without football.”
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
'Brazen'
Director: Monika Mitchell
Starring: Alyssa Milano, Sam Page, Colleen Wheeler
Rating: 3/5
'The Predator'
Dir: Shane Black
Starring: Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key
Two and a half stars
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
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Visit Abu Dhabi culinary team's top Emirati restaurants in Abu Dhabi
Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe
For the karak and Yoodo's house platter with includes eggs, balaleet, khamir and chebab bread.
Golden Dallah
For the cappuccino, luqaimat and aseeda.
Al Mrzab Restaurant
For the shrimp murabian and Kuwaiti options including Kuwaiti machboos with kebab and spicy sauce.
Al Derwaza
For the fish hubul, regag bread, biryani and special seafood soup.
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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FIGHT%20CARD
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The five pillars of Islam
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
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Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
8 UAE companies helping families reduce their carbon footprint
Greenheart Organic Farms
This Dubai company was one of the country’s first organic farms, set up in 2012, and it now delivers a wide array of fruits and vegetables grown regionally or in the UAE, as well as other grocery items, to both Dubai and Abu Dhabi doorsteps.
www.greenheartuae.com
Modibodi
Founded in Australia, Modibodi is now in the UAE with waste-free, reusable underwear that eliminates the litter created by a woman’s monthly cycle, which adds up to approximately 136kgs of sanitary waste over a lifetime.
www.modibodi.ae
The Good Karma Co
From brushes made of plant fibres to eco-friendly storage solutions, this company has planet-friendly alternatives to almost everything we need, including tin foil and toothbrushes.
www.instagram.com/thegoodkarmaco
Re:told
One Dubai boutique, Re:told, is taking second-hand garments and selling them on at a fraction of the price, helping to cut back on the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of clothes thrown into landfills each year.
www.shopretold.com
Lush
Lush provides products such as shampoo and conditioner as package-free bars with reusable tins to store.
www.mena.lush.com
Bubble Bro
Offering filtered, still and sparkling water on tap, Bubble Bro is attempting to ensure we don’t produce plastic or glass waste. Founded in 2017 by Adel Abu-Aysha, the company is on track to exceeding its target of saving one million bottles by the end of the year.
www.bubble-bro.com
Coethical
This company offers refillable, eco-friendly home cleaning and hygiene products that are all biodegradable, free of chemicals and certifiably not tested on animals.
www.instagram.com/coethical
Eggs & Soldiers
This bricks-and-mortar shop and e-store, founded by a Dubai mum-of-four, is the place to go for all manner of family products – from reusable cloth diapers to organic skincare and sustainable toys.
www.eggsnsoldiers.com
Barbie
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
