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I Am Zlatan: My Story on and Off the Field
I Am Zlatan: My Story on and Off the Field | Zlatan Ibrahimovic
6 posts | 18 read | 6 to read
Daring, flashy, innovative, volatile no matter what they call him, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of soccer s brightest stars. A top-scoring striker and captain of the Swedish national team, he has dominated the world s most storied teams, including Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, and Paris Saint-Germain. But his life wasn t always so charmed. Born to Balkan immigrants who divorced when he was a toddler, Zlatan learned self-reliance from his rough-and-tumble neighborhood. While his father, a Bosnian Muslim, drank to forget the war back home, his mother s household was engulfed in chaos. Soccer was Zlatan s release. Mixing in street moves and trick plays, Zlatan was a wild talent who rode to practice on stolen bikes and relished showing up the rich kids opponents and teammates alike. Goal by astonishing goal, the brash young outsider grew into an unlikely prodigy and, by his early twenties, an international phenomenon. Told as only the man himself could tell it, featuring stories of friendships and feuds with the biggest names in the sport, "I Am Zlatan" is a wrenching, uproarious, and ultimately redemptive tale for underdogs everywhere. Praise for "I Am Zlatan" Terrific . . . Far more insightful than your typical jock memoir, Ibra s book tells his story of growing up as the son of immigrants in Sweden and pulls no punches when it comes to his opinions of some of the biggest names in the game. "Sports Illustrated" The most compelling autobiography ever to appear under a footballer s name. "The Guardian" The story of Zlatan from his days as an immigrant kid juggling a soccer ball so he won t get bullied to his emergence as the genius player who scored the greatest goal ever is as compelling and fancy-footed as his game. Aleksandar Hemon, National Book Award finalist and author of "The Lazarus Project" I love this book. I love it because it s so much bigger than soccer."I Am Zlatan"is a story of hope and grit and what an immigrant kid who comes from nothing can accomplish with hard work and belief in himself. It s also a beautiful window into our new, more open, more diverse world. Marcus Samuelsson, bestselling author of"Yes, Chef" Probably the bestselling European immigrant s tale since Zadie Smith s"White Teeth." . . Once you get past the obligatory snigger prompted by the phrase footballer s autobiography, you can see that Zlatan s book strangely resembles an earlier immigrant s tale: "Portnoy s Complaint." " FinancialTimes" He is skillful. He is outspoken. He is Zlatan. "The New York Times" "" The best sports autobiography in years. "PolicyMic""
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review
Bmichell1
Io, Ibra (VINTAGE) | Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Davide Lagercrantz
Mehso-so

Interesting in parts where he offers insight into his background and a strong opinion on some people in the game. Fairly formulaic sports bio in many other ways.

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Tanisha_A
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I like watching football, and this guy's story is interesting from what I know. Borrowing from my brother's bookshelf. 😀

RadicalReader @Tanisha_L the cover is most certainly a mouthful no clue how to pronounce it lol rotfl 6y
39 likes1 comment
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GoneFishing

The Barca players were like schoolboys, following the coach blindly, whereas I was used to asking why should we?

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neet_reads
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I've been meaning to read this for ages. Now is definitely the time to do so!

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MyBookLife
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Today Euro16 starts for real! Go Zlatan! Go Sweden! Anyone else who loves football? (The real kind, not the american crap 😉)

mllemay Me 🙋🏻! But with the time difference, it makes it hard to actually watch the matches...I'm keeping myself updated though :) 9y
MyBookLife @mllemay I know the feeling!! How many times have I set the alarm on 3 am to see Sweden play 🤔 But now when it is only countrys from Europe the times work out perfect 🙃 9y
mllemay @MyBookLife you guys are so lucky! I'm in Canada so the games are right in the middle of the day for us...work/school interferes 😒 9y
See All 21 Comments
Simona @MyBookLife I like your enthusiasm, but football - not at all. 9y
Ais Go Ireland💚⚪️🔶🇮🇪🇮🇪😊 9y
MyBookLife @mllemay @Simona Yes, football!! It is really big here, and I love it! Too bad that some people just go there to fight. It takes away some of the happiness... 9y
MyBookLife @Ais WHAT!!?? 😱😱😭😭 *unfollowing you* 😉 9y
mllemay @MyBookLife ugh the violence 😡 that kind of behaviour is disgusting 9y
MyBookLife @mllemay Right? Disgusting!! 9y
Lindsy I'm obsessed! Go Wales! 9y
Ais @MyBookLife yup😊😊 good game though, lovely to see the fans on both sides singing Dancing Queen together before the game - no violence there!! 9y
QueenAnne Football as intended YES! No offence to the US but how is theirs football, when they carry the ball with their HANDS hihihi 😉 sad to see my country not participating🇳🇱, but I've always been a Zlatan fan (he used to play for Ajax ❤️) so go Sweden go! 9y
MyBookLife @Ais The first half was not great for either of the teams, but the second was really good!! Lots of feelings 😅😅 9y
MyBookLife @QueenAnne It is always sad when your own country doesn't qualify. We were close too 😅 I remember, but that was quite a few years ago now I believe!? That was before Barcelona, Inter and PDG if I remember correctly? He is such a success story I don't know how the whole world can't cheer for us 😉 9y
Ais I'm watching the Belgium v Italy game now...nothing too worrying for us just yet 😆 9y
QueenAnne @MyBookLife yes that's correct, it's quite some years ago! But it was a great pleasure of watching him play, in those days Ajax used to win 6/7-0😍 so for sake of sentiment, I'll cheer with you! 👍🏼🍀 9y
MyBookLife @QueenAnne Didn't Tomas Brolin also play in ajax? Before Zlatan that is.. 9y
MyBookLife @Ais I'm watching it a bit too. I'm hoping we can beat them, but you never know... 9y
QueenAnne @MyBookLife I'm not sure actually.. I was very young when he quit 9y
QueenAnne @MyBookLife so my dad has told me hihi. He also said Brolin didn't play in NL but in England.. Among other places 9y
MyBookLife @QueenAnne Yes, my bad, he played in Leeds! 9y
30 likes1 stack add21 comments
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kujerruksia
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When people told me that I, Zlatan is a great book I didn't really believe them. Now I wholeheartedly agree with them, what an interesting biography and personality! Still one cd to go.

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