Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s autobiography covers the Calciopoli scandal, Luciano Moggi in tears and the battle to “break down Inter’s clans.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s autobiography covers the Calciopoli scandal, Luciano Moggi in tears and the battle to “break down Inter’s clans.”
The Milan striker is going to release his book, titled ‘Io Ibra’ on Friday, but the Gazzetta dello Sport has leaked some intriguing excerpts about the 2006 Calciopoli trial.
“It was all rubbish, at least most of it,” wrote the Swede. “Referees did us favours? Oh come on! We fought hard on the pitch. We risked our legs and did it all without having any help from referees. It’s all a load of c**p.”
The scandal centred around wiretapped phone calls made by Bianconeri director general Moggi and Ibrahimovic reveals what happened in a crisis meeting to discuss the situation with the squad.
“He started crying, right there, in front of all of us. It was like a punch in the stomach. I had never seen him weak before. This man always irradiated a sense of power and strength. Now, suddenly, I felt compassion for him.
“The first time I met Moggi, he was wearing a very elegant suit and fiddling with a large cigar. You could understand straight away this was a powerful man.”
Ibra left Juventus when they were demoted to Serie B during the scandal in 2006 and joined their rivals Inter, but found problems here too with Brazilians against Argentines.
“The real challenge at Inter was breaking down the cliques. I hated them from the first day. All teams perform much better when there is cohesion in the ranks. It was the opposite at Inter.
“I went straight to President Massimo Moratti and told him we had to break down these damn clans. We cannot win if the locker room is not united.”