In connection with the European club organization EFC's meeting in Rome, Zlatan Ibrahimovic talked about the move from Ajax to Juventus in 2004.
It was like a fantasy world. In the dressing room sat players like Thuram, Buffon, Cannavaro, Del Piero, Trezeguet. All big stars that I had played Playstation with the week before. The week after, I sat with them in the dressing room, says Ibrahimovic.
He also tells about the first meeting with coach Fabio Capello when he tried to start a conversation at breakfast.
Asked about respect
I said "good morning, mister". He did not react and I waited, five-ten minutes. Then he put away the newspaper and left.
When he later got the chance to talk to Capello, the Swedish striker asked how the coach got respect from the world-class players who all thought they were the best in the world.
He said that "I do not ask for respect, I take it". That's what he did with me at the breakfast table, says Ibrahimovic.
Ibrahimovic says that Capello was demanding and had tough discipline.
"Raised me"
He raised me. One day I could be the best in the world, the next day he said I was the worst. It triggered me and brought out the best in me. He created my mentality. From a normal person, I became an animal.
In Juventus, Ibrahimovic was involved and took two league titles, which the club later lost in the so-called Calciopoli scandal. The Swede then won the Scudetto five more times, three with Inter and two with Milan.