During the program “(Un)success of Champions,” special guest Zlatan Ibrahimović recalled the importance of Ronaldo Fenômeno in his career, while also revealing that he found inspiration in another sports legend, Muhammad Ali, reports Gazeta Express.
“When I watched television, it was Muhammad Ali, and everything was in black and white. I carefully watched Ronaldo—how he spoke and how he behaved; he was not arrogant. I wanted to understand who he was, and I wanted to be like him in football. That’s the perspective I start from when answering. Through him, I became interested in matches and admired Ronaldo for the first time,” Ibra initially stated.
For the Swede, it was love at first sight.
“It’s clear that you start doing the things he did, you try to do them… For me, he was and still is the strongest of all time, number one. There have been many great footballers, but… There was no Instagram or YouTube. I searched for videos in libraries, I enjoyed watching his dribbling, his videos, to learn, to improve, to develop. Those ‘tricks’ are what I wanted to do as well, and I built my style by taking Muhammad Ali and Ronaldo Fenômeno as examples and role models,” Ibrahimović concluded.
