📍Rosengård, Malmö, Sweden
1981 – 1999“Zlatan Ibrahimović was born in Malmö, in southern Sweden, in October 1981, and grew up in Rosengård, a district of concrete apartment blocks on the edge of the city, home to immigrant families from all over the world. His father, Šefik, was a Bosniak from Bosnia-Herzegovina, and his mother, Jurka, was Croatian; they had come to Sweden from Yugoslavia and separated when Zlatan was two. He lived at times with each parent, and there was often little money or food in the house; he has said he sometimes went to bed hungry. He was a wild, restless boy, always in trouble, and he stole bicycles to get around, riding them to training. At six he started playing for FBK Balkan, a club founded by Yugoslav immigrants in Malmö, and he switched between Balkan and Malmö BI, another local team, several times. His coaches remembered a boy who did not listen, who dribbled when he should have passed, but whose skill was astonishing; he loved to watch videos of the Brazilian Ronaldo and practised his tricks for hours on the pitch in Rosengård. He also learned taekwondo, which gave him the agility for his famous acrobatic kicks. As a teenager he joined Malmö FF, the city's biggest club, opening the door for other players from immigrant backgrounds. He went on to play for Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United, winning more than thirty trophies and becoming Sweden's all-time top scorer. A pitch in Rosengård bears his name, built with his support for the children of the neighbourhood.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today