Zlatan
Ibrahimovic collected the Sweden Player of the Year award for an eighth
consecutive time before making a heart-felt speech about his brother
Sakpo's untimely death.
The
Paris Saint-Germain striker has won the so-called Guldbollen (Golden
Ball), decided by tabloid Aftonbladet and the Swedish Football
Association, for nine out of the last 10 years.
Ibrahimovich attended the gala ceremony where he spoke of Sapko, who passed away after a long illness in April.
The 34-year-old captained Sweden during their unsuccessful World Cup 2014 qualifying campaign
The
event already carried a sombre tone with the nation in mourning
following the deaths of Klas Ingesson, a former midfielder who was part
of the squad that finished third at the 1994 World Cup but sadly lost
his battle with cancer, and former IF Brommapojkarna defender Pontus
Segerström who suffered a brain tumour.
Upon
taking the stage, Ibrahimovic, 33, said: 'All these awards that I've
received, it means that I've achieved something; and that I'm good at
what I'm doing but it's overshadowed by what happened to Klas Ingesson
and Pontus Segerstrom.
Ibrahimovic scores his famous 'propeller kick' goal against England in late 2012
'I
had a brother who passed away a couple of months ago in a similar
disease. There's a life besides football that is much more important
than this. So... may they rest in peace.'
The
charismatic former Barcelona, Juventus and Milan striker struggled to
contain his emotions before leaving the stage to a standing ovation from
the guests.
The last player to win the Guldbollen award that was not Ibrahimovic was former Arsenal star Freddie Ljundberg in 2006.
0 comments :
Post a Comment