Zlatan Ibrahimovic Thinks He’s Sweden’s Best Athlete

A Swedish newspaper recently conducted a poll asking readers who is the country’s greatest athlete of all time. Zlatan Ibrahimovic didn’t like the results.

Never let it be said that Swedish soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic lacks confidence.

Upon learning he had placed second in a poll conducted by Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, Ibrahimovic bristled at the results:

"“On that list I would have been No. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, with due respect to the others,” Ibrahimovic told Sky Sports. “Coming second is like finishing last.”"

Bjorn Borg, the 11-time Grand Slam tennis champion, was first in the voting.

Borg won five straight Wimbledon titles and was ranked as the world’s top player for 109 weeks. He was more kind to Ibrahimovic than vice versa.

"“We should be very proud of what he does and what he has done for Sweden,” Borg said. “I just hope he continues to play football for many more years.”"

Table tennis’ Jan-Ove Waldner was third, followed by golfer Annika Sorenstam (the top woman in the voting), skier Ingemar Stenmark, heptathlete Carolina Kluft, boxer Ingemar Johansson, Nordic skier Gunde Svan, hockey player Peter Forsburg and rower Gert Fredriksson.

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Ibrahimovic is in his third season with French club Paris Saint-Germain, where he has scored 88 goals in 104 games overall. Prior to that, Ibrahimovic played for Swedish club Malmo FF, Dutch club Ajax, Italian Serie A clubs Juventus and Inter Milan, Barcelona in Spain’s La Liga and back in Italy with A.C. Milan.

He was transferred to PSG in July 2012 for a record 180 million Euros ($219.6 million at the time of the transfer).

He also has played 101 caps for the Swedish national team since 2001, scoring 51 goals in senior international competition.

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