41-Year-Old Ibrahimovic Announces Retirement: “I Will Be a Milanista for Life”

スポンサーリンク
Sport

Last Updated on 06/05/2023 by てんしょく飯

 

Milan’s Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimovic has announced his retirement.

 

スポンサーリンク

 Ibrahimovic, whose contract has already expired, will leave Milan at the end of this season.

Ibrahimovic announced his retirement at a ceremony after the Serie A match against Verona (3-1) on June 4.

 

According to Italian media outlet Football Italia, with tears in his eyes, Ibrahimovic began by saying, “This stadium is filled with so many memories and emotions,” and thanked the fans for their support.

 

The first time I came here you gave me happiness, the second time you gave me love. I want to thank my family and those close to me for their patience. I also want to thank my second family. I want to thank all the players, coaches, and staff who have given me responsibility, and the coaches who have given me opportunities.

 

Last but not least, I want to thank my fans from the bottom of my heart. I would like to thank all the players, coaches, staff, and coaches who have given me the opportunity. I will be a Milanista for life. The time has come to say goodbye to football, but not to you. It is too difficult and too full of emotions. With any luck we will meet again. Forza (good luck) Milan, goodbye.”

 

Ibrahimovic, now 41, has played for Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester U, and the Los Angeles Galaxy, and returned to Milan in January 2020 after seven and a half years. In the 2021-22 season, he was the leader of the team, despite repeated injuries and withdrawals from the team. He scored eight goals in 23 Serie A appearances and played a key role in the club’s first championship in 11 seasons.

 

After undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee at the end of last season, he made his first Serie A appearance this season in February against Atalanta in the 24th round of the Serie A. In the 27th round against Udinese on March 18, he became the oldest player in Serie A to score a goal, but he injured his hamstring while playing for the Swedish national team that same month. However, he injured his hamstring during an activity for the Swedish national team in the same month. He returned to the squad about a month later, but was forced to leave again when he was injured during warm-ups for the 31st match of the season against Lecce on April 23, and he will retire from the game.

 

In Milan, he scored 93 goals and 35 assists in 163 official appearances, and in his 827-game career, he scored 496 goals and 204 assists. According to the data site OPTA, Ibrahimovic has scored a total of 156 goals in Serie A, making him the highest scorer among foreign players in the league since the 2004-05 season, when he made his debut.

 

In addition to winning the Serie A title five times, he has also won the league championship in four different countries: four times in Ligue 1, twice in Eredivisie, and La Liga, as well as being the top scorer in Serie A twice and in Ligue 1 three times.

 

Ibrahimovic, who made his debut for the national team on January 31, 2001, at the age of 19, has scored 62 goals in 122 appearances for the national team, the most of his career, and retired from the national team after EURO 2016 in June 2016, but was called up in November 2021 for the first time in nearly five years and has played in four games since. He made his last appearance for the national team on March 24, 2023, in the 73rd minute against Belgium.

 

 

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