The Swedish ace is set to be immortalized by the Swedish FA with a statue to recognize his immensely prolific career and contribution to the national team
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has added yet another feather to his cap in his illustrious career after the Manchester United forward was awarded with the Guldbollen for a record eleventh time.
The Golden Ball is annually awarded to Sweden’s best player, as decided by the Swedish football association alongside Swedish tabloid, Aftonbladet, with the former PSG former striker winning the award incredibly in a row from 2007 to 2016.
Widely considered as the greatest Swedish player of all time, the 35-year-old hit-man is also set to immortalized with a 2.7 metre statue by the Swedish FA. The said statue will be erected outside the Friends Arena in Stockholm, which serves as the national stadium for the Swedish team.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic retired from the intentional level in June as the all-time top-scorer of Sweden, with a record of 62 goals in 112 appearances.
On the event of this momentous occasion, Zlatan Ibrahimovic sounded very emotional.
‘It feels unreal. Many are thinking “Why him?” and so on, but after all the hard work over 15 years in the national team and 20 years in my club career, it feels like it’s being appreciated.”
”You usually get this (a statue) after you die, but I still feel alive. When I die, this statue will live on forever.”
There was also a special message from former teammate David Beckham during the ceremony, who congratulated the Big Swede for his remarkable achievements.
“I had the pleasure of playing with him. Zlatan is a player who has class, who always wants to win. He was one of those players that it didn’t matter if we were playing in an important game or on the training field, he wanted to win.”
The legendary Englishman claimed Zlatan is among the greatest footballers to have ever played the game and stated his delight at the fact that he was now playing for Manchester United.
